Integrated Petroleum Technologies maintains its founding vision during the downturn by continuing to innovate and increase its operations overseas.

By Janice Hoppe-Spiers

Integrated Petroleum Technologies (IPT) Inc. began with an engineer’s desire to bring technology from the lab into the field and the company has remained the industry leader in innovation ever since. “There seemed to be a mismatch because things were being learned in the labs, but nothing was getting into the field,” President Todd Poulson says. “IPT founder Billy Aud wanted to bring technology into the field.”

Aud started the company in 1991 as a production company, but it quickly evolved into an independent petroleum consulting firm. Early on, IPT worked with the Gas Research Institute to develop new technology that is still used in the field today. The company has remained committed to understanding petroleum engineering technologies and what it takes to get the maximum response from a well. “Most people say to get IPT if you want top-notch engineering work,” Poulson says. “We are the experts on fracturing and have the best background in understanding the analytics and academic side of it.”

Poulson became a part-owner in 1998 and fourteen years later sold part of the company to a private equity firm that wanted to help IPT grow. In 2012, IPT joined forces with Peterson Energy, founded in 1989 by Andy Peterson as a cost-effective engineering, drilling and completion solutions provider to oil and gas companies. “IPT specialized in reservoir engineering and hydraulic fracturing design and supervision and Peterson’s services were essentially everything in addition to that,” Peterson explains. “The combination of the two enabled IPT to offer a full service suite of engineering and supervisory services from start to finish, or as we put it ‘Concept to Pipeline.’”

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In 1904, the Whitmore Manufacturing Co. was tasked with developing a lubricant for the center pivot bearings and the roller bearings of the emergency dams the Panama Canal, which was then under construction. The company, which had only been in business for 11 years at that point, developed a product to meet the harsh conditions the dam equipment would regularly face. The company’s products were also used to lubricate the equipment used to excavate the canal.
Whitmore’s lubricants proved to be so successful that, following the canal project, the company broadened the markets for its products to global mining and industrial operations. Today, the company enjoys a market-leading position, with its lubricant products being used around the world on heavy surface mining and excavating equipment such as draglines, shovels and haul trucks.

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The mining industry isn’t the only market Road Machinery serves, but it is a major part of the heavy-duty equipment provider’s foundation. One of the company’s initial product lines when it was founded in 1955 was WABCO Haulpak trucks for the mining sector, and today Road Machinery continues to service the mining industry with exceptional service and products to meet its needs. Director of Mining Steve Morico says that even through the slow times Road Machinery gives the mining sector its full attention. “We’ve been servicing the mining industry since 1955, and we bring a full arsenal of services and products.”
Today, Road Machinery specializes in construction and forestry equipment in addition to mining equipment, providing sales, rentals and service of heavy equipment from Komatsu and other leading manufacturers. Among the equipment Road Machinery supplies the mining industry are dozers, trucks, excavators and graders, along with crushers and water towers.

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Ronald Lane Inc.’s business value system is the same as its family value system. They believe in honesty, respect and doing the job right. RLI began in 1979. Today, President Ronald Lane manages his pipeline company with the help of more than a dozen family members. This family management team has more than 200 years combined experience in the pipeline industry. They know what is needed to get a job done, and they have the experience to back it up. 

Lane thinks maintaining efficiency will keep the business healthy for the next generation of family members. “Efficiency is the key,” he insists. “In 36 years, we’ve learned how we need to approach these jobs. We pick our times to do the worst part of that job and watch weather conditions. There’s a lot of factors in how you go about a job. We see a lot of our competition making what we think are big mistakes.

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Although it was founded to serve the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector only five years ago, NextDecade’s leadership boasts a combined 200 years of direct experience in LNG and natural gas projects. This brings a lot of heft to the company’s work. 

“We’ve been there, done that,” founder and CEO Kathleen Eisbrenner says. “We know what works and what doesn’t. We believe that attracts customers to us. And at the end of the day, that is what’s most important.”

A relatively new company, NextDecade works closely with its customers to provide tailored opportunities that meet their unique needs. Currently, it offers services such as short- and long-term access to LNG cargoes, flexibility in the purchase of cargoes and assists in the development of infrastructure to accept NextDecade’s cargoes throughout the world. 

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