Customer Feature: Union Drilling – Success Comes from Reliable Partners
In the high-stakes world of energy exploration, Union Drilling commits to its business partners and expects commitments in return. Cleveland Brothers and Cat® equipment have been among those partners as Union Drilling has built the largest rig east of the Mississippi – an $18 million giant, capable of pulling 750,000 pounds from the earth and standing 136 feet tall.
While typical rigs drill 8,000 to 12,000 feet, this rig can reach 20,000 feet if necessary. Union Drilling, founded in Buckhannon, W. Va., and now based in Fort Worth, Tx., has extensive experience in contract land drilling and equipment, working the natural gas fields of Oklahoma and Texas, as well as in the Northeast.
When Dallas-based Chief Oil and Gas, a previous partner in Texas, approached Union Drilling about designing and building a more mobile rig to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in the mountainous Appalachian Basin, Union delivered. In return for the special order, Chief Oil & Gas committed to a three-year contract to operate the rig.
“Here in the Appalachian Basin, we certainly have a different geographic structure than the flatlands of Texas and Oklahoma,” said Doc Musselman, Union Drilling’s general manager. “One of the problems is moving this bigger equipment around in order to drill these wells. We’ve had to go back and look at building and designing rigs that will fit this area plus meet our customer’s needs. The biggest thing is that we have restrictions on height, weight and width – more than the Western states, because they don’t have to deal with lower overpasses, and they have wider roads there. If you detour in Texas, you just get on a side road for a mile or two. If they detour you in the Appalachian Basin, you may have to go 50 of 60 miles out of your way.”
The big rig operates in Northeast Pennsylvania’s Bradford and Lycoming counties. Once onsite, it may run from 20 to 30 days or 30 to 45 days, depending on well depth. It runs 24/7, 365 days a year, powered by three 1,365-kw generators that use less fuel and create less pollution than mechanical rigs – or as Musselman put it, leaner on fuel, greener on the environment.
Those generators rely on three Cat® 3512C engines – usually running two at a time, plus one backup – for power. Cleveland Brothers provides service whenever it’s needed, even in the middle of the night.
“What I use 95 percent of the time is Cat power,” Musselman said. “It’s very reliable, but more important is the service. You can get the best product in the world, but if you don’t get service with it, you haven’t gotten much. Cleveland Brothers and Caterpillar® have excelled at service. We have rigs scattered from here to New York. If we’re down, we’re not earning revenue, and if we’re not earning revenue, that’s not a good thing.”
Cat equipment also plays a role in running the sites and the complex rig-transport operations. A Cat dozer and forklift grade earth and move heavy equipment during operations. When it’s time to pack up, the dozer helps move the specialized trucks carrying the rig’s 55 pieces, pulling when the drive axle loses traction or when roads are slick with ice or heavy with mud. Union Drilling has 10 rigs operating in the Marcellus play and continues to expand, acquiring fit-for-purpose equipment as business relationships demand, Musselman said. That includes the development of six new 1,300-hp pumps, each powered by a Cat 3512C engine.
“I don’t want to get where we have six different engines out there,” Musselman said. “We deal with one company, and as long as we’re getting a good product for a good price – and we certainly get the service – that is what’s important to us.”
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