Page 76: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2014)

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Spotlight

By Audrey Leon

Newpark Drilling Fluid’s new North American leader focused on domestic growth n October, Newpark Drilling Fluids and cuttings.”

I named Phil Vollands president of “It’s a great training facility. We have

North America. Vollands is focused on customers come through there,” he says. growing the business and positioning In his new role Vollands has several

Newpark Drilling Fluids as the leader in goals in mind. One is to continue to focus water-based ? uid technology. on its high-performance, water-based

Vollands has plenty of industry experi- ? uids line called the Evolution system.

ence. Before coming “High-performance, water-based “We’re a growing company. to Newpark, Vollands technology is taking off in all areas of

We can be strategic about spent several years North America,” he says. “The Evolution where we focus and apply at Weatherford and System saw a quarter-on-quarter increase over a decade with of 34% in 1Q 2014. We’re drilling faster resources to gain market

Varco (now National and further.” share.”

Oilwell Varco), mov- Vollands is particularly Vollands continued, saying: “It’s all

Phil Vollands proud of the technology ing to the US in 1996. proud of the technology about improved performance, but it center Newpark Drilling Fluids opened He served as Varco’s vice president of He served as Varco’s vice president of center Newpark Drilling Fluids opened is also about doing what makes sense marketing and strategic planning. Prior to in 2013. The Newpark Technology Center for the environment, rather than using his stint with Varco, he worked as a wire- – located on an 11-acre tract of land diesel-based ? uids, the old technology.” line logging engineer in Canada and the in Katy, Texas – spans 102,685sq ft, of Domestic growth is also on Vollands

North Sea after graduating from Oxford, which 37,000sq ft is devoted to research long-term agenda, he explained, saying: where he received a BA and an MA in and development space. “We’re a growing company. We can be engineering science. The facility comes equipped with a strategic about where we focus and apply

The job at Newpark Drilling Fluids ? eld testing and services lab, designed to resources to gain market share.” appealed to Vollands for several reasons, optimize formulations during operations. And Newpark Drilling Fluids is de? - he explains. The facility is also home to the Downhole nitely looking to grow its market share in “I was looking for a company that had a Simulation Cell, a drilling simulator that the Gulf of Mexico. strong sense of mission, and in Newpark replicates downhole conditions. Newpark’s product line also includes

Drilling Fluids, I found a company that “The Newpark Technology Center is synthetic drilling ? uids, which Vollands was committed to driving technological second to none in the area of drilling called a standard in the Gulf of Mexico. change in an environmentally-friendly ? uids,” Vollands says. “We have multiple “It will be interesting to see what way,” Vollands says. “Newpark Drilling labs, and enormous capabilities in terms happens in the future there,” he says.

Fluids is a pure play. We live and die by of what we can do. We can give speci? c, “There’s certain advantages to water- how well we perform. That has fostered a tailor-made drilling ? uid programs on the based ? uids including how they handle performance-oriented culture.” basis of customer input, through samples gas, the thermo properties and the lack of compressibility.”

And indeed, Vollands believes that his company has plenty of room for future development. “I came from Varco where the top drive was deemed a huge break- through. PDC Bits, a huge break through.

Automation, a huge breakthrough. Why wouldn’t we think that through focused application of technology that drill- ing ? uids wouldn’t offer another major breakthrough? I think we’re starting to

The Newpark Technology Center. Photo from Newpark Drilling Fluids.

see that.”