NOC drilling activities lead to Eastern Hemisphere investments for Varel

“Our growth has come from both the West and the East, but we are noticing that the East is growing faster,” said Bernard Pontneau, vice president, Eastern Hemisphere operations. “We attribute this to the drilling activity of the national oil companies operating in the eastern hemisphere.”

With the additional recruiting of personnel, Varel aims to serve markets in Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and West Africa. “By expanding our number of regional engineering resources, we can provide better regional service to our customers,” Mr Pontneau said.

Additionally, Varel has entered into an agreement to begin PDC drill bit assembly in Indonesia. This new facility will support customers operating throughout Indonesia. Bit assembly is slated to begin by summer 2008.