Estevan – If you’ve ever seen The Blues Brothers, you get a similar vibe from Estevan’s Innovative Artificial Lift Solutions (ALS). After being dispersed for several years, they’re getting the band back together.
Most of the people who had been involved with Independent Pump Co. (IPC) are now back, ironically, in the same shop they started out at in 2007. Independent Pump Co. was purchased in 2012 by Weatherford, and many of the players eventually dispersed. Now that five-year non-compete agreements are over, they’re back at it again.
There are six partners in Innovative ALS. They include Cary Wock, president, technical sales; Shawn Quinlan, general manager; Jeremy Mack, general manager; Darren Olsen, shop supervisor, Chris Lesy, shop foreman and Tyler Debacker, Virden, Man. manager.
Having started operations in Estevan June 1, it didn’t take them long to get an operation going in Virden, as well. That location opened Sept. 5.Now the company has eight people in Estevan, and six in Virden.
Wock had stayed on with Weatherford for Three years after the sale, while Mack stayed on for four. Wock had been putting in time farming, but he said, “Farming ain’t cutting ‘er. I missed the people, the sales. I decided to run an added in the paper to see what we got. We had great response, and opened it up to others to buy in.”
So are they getting the band back together? Wock said, “Basically.
“Shawn is new. We worked with him at Weatherford. He ran the Melita Weatherford store and the artifical lift stores in Estevan. Darren and Chris both worked with us at IPC. We picked the best guys we knew.”
Wock likes being independent again, being able to work without the restraints of big business.
The work they are doing is very much picking up where they left off with IPC, but with some additions.
Mack said, “We’re doing pumps, wellhead, and sucker rod, and are willing to go wherever the next opportunity takes us.”
Quinlan brings a background in wellheads to the table.
The primary focus is reciprocating rod pumps. They are using the same original supplier as they did with IPC. Wock said, “All our suppliers jumped back on with us.”
Mack added there are no restrictions now on who they can use.
Another key offering is what Lesy calls “ground-breaking tracking software.” That software is used to track pumps in the field and as they go through repair. The pump track system sees where individual pumps are in real time. It’s also useful for tracking and failure analysis.
An example might be determining sand issues, noted Olsen, trending failures over time an ever-changing well conditions to pick up trends, seeking to get the best pump life.
Their inventory includes all API pump parts, with a fair amount of stock on hand. Additional items includes things like separators and screens.
Asked about jumping into a new business venture during the biggest downturn in the oil business in decades, Wock replied, “It’s a tighter market out there.”
Olsen added, “There’s not as many producers as there were in the past. A lot of smaller companies were acquired. It’s a tighter playing field.
Mack said, “We do know that there is risk involved, however, we are optimistic that we are going to see a turn in the market.”
“We believe there is room in our area for a local independent provider that has the flexibility to use a variety of manufacturers,” said Quinlan, adding, “We are not totally dependent on drilling, as a large amount of our work is service-related.”
