Frank’s Casing Crew & Rental Tools Inc.
After more than seven decades, Frank’s Casing Crew & Rental Tools Inc. says it is the leading supplier in the conductor pipe and casing business. “In fact, no other company in the world has more miles of experience running casing than Frank’s,” the company declares. The Lafayette, La.-based Frank’s offers equipment and personnel for the installation, threading, welding, driving and distribution of oilfield tubulars. Frank Mosing established the company in 1938 as a one-crew casing firm.
“With a few thousand dollars in savings and no equipment or orders, Frank Mosing boldly started casing-crew operations out of his tiny garage,” the company explains. “With wife Jesse as dispatcher and a few hands, Frank believed he could get the hazardous work for drilling for oil and gas done in a safer, more efficient and honorable way.”
Setting the pace
Today, Frank’s Casing Crew remains a family owned company and employs more than 2,000 employees in locations in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. In addition, Frank’s says that it has become a multi-service tubular firm that offers strong equipment and qualified personnel in such areas as safety, pipe and fabrication, riser fabrication, connector technology, hammers, casing and handling tools, cementing equipment, completion installation services and manufacturing.
“The company’s in-house engineering and quality assurance teams make certain that its customers receive innovative solutions and revolutionary designs in every product and service offered,” Frank’s says. “Frank’s diverse range of products and services, along with its tremendous deepwater experience, allows it to remain a pacesetter in the ever-evolving oil and gas industry.”
Uniquely Positioned
Frank’s typically provides products to oil companies and drilling contractors. Head of New Product Development Jonathan Ancelet explains that major oil companies will often contract with a drilling contractor to drill their wells.
It typically offers tools to the oil companies who then key it in with the drilling contractors. Frank’s then ensures the tools interface effectively with the rig.
“Frank’s is uniquely positioned as a service company,” he says, noting that the company viewed the recent downturn as a sign of caution. “We’ve enjoyed several very successful years. At the end of the day, what we are helping our customers find is a commodity – oil and gas.”
To cope, Frank’s operates with the strategy of finding value opportunities for its tools and services. For example, in the early 1990s, Ancelet says, the company developed a product called the Fluid Grip that replaced existing products for completion activities and helped it weather a slowed economy.
In addition, the company recently introduced a tool that broke the previous weight threshold for deep-reach wells. Previous tools maxed out at the 1,000-ton level, but Frank’s was a 1,250-ton tool.
This type of innovation has helped the company continue to maintain its focus on quality instead of sacrificing for cost. “The company has a strong belief in quality laden products,” Ancelet says.
Additionally, “I’m very thankful that our management believes in quality and that our customers continue to understand the value of our products,” Ancelet continues. “Because when you’re looking at something on the price basis alone, it paints a limited picture of what your outcome will be.”
He adds that the company’s position as a manufacturer and service provider also gives it a unique position when developing new products. “I’m very proud that at Frank’s, when we get to the table to talk about existing products, it’s about how we’re going to make them better, not cheaper,” he continues.
“That’s a huge difference,” he states. “When you’re your own customer, like we are, you’re dealing with your toughest critic on a daily basis.”
Leading the Way
Frank’s says that it has taken a leadership position within many areas of its products and services, including its hammers. “Since entering the hammer market in 1960 with one diesel hammer, Frank’s has earned an industry-wide reputation as the leading provider of offshore hammer technology and services,” the company says.
At the moment, the company says it has an inventory of more than 100 hammers, which are comprised of Delmag diesel hammers and IHC hydrohammers. “To complement these products, Frank’s offers a complete line of hammer accessories and related conductor products, such as the high-penetration Speedshoe, deviated conductors and drivepipe whipstocks,” it says.
Additionally, the company says it has evolved into a worldwide leader with the most complete inventory of casing and handling tools for tubular sizes four inches and longer.
“The company offers customers a complete casing and handling package, consisting of tools such as spiders, elevators, tongs, stabbing boards, protectors and related accessories,” it says.
“As with all areas of the business, Frank’s casing division upholds the highest levels of training, testing and maintenance on all tools and equipment to ensure a safe, efficient and productive work environment,” the company says.
The firm also says it provides the most advanced cementing tools in the industry. “Frank’s cementing division offers a complete line of revolutionary patented products, including centralizers, FC-1 and FC-2 circulating tools, the FACTS cementing tool, Anaconda gripping system and the Sharkbite anti-rotation device,” it says.
“Through its multitude of innovative equipment, Frank’s cementing division has positioned the company as a world-renowned leader in cementing technology,” Frank’s Casing Crew declares.
Rising High
Frank’s Casing Crew says that it also has earned an industry-wide reputation as a first-class fabricator of custom risers. “To further enhance this reputation, Frank’s is currently making preparations to fabricate and load out joints in excess of 160 feet long,” the company says.
In addition, “The company’s extensive pipe inventory, superior fatigue resistant welds, and precise alignment and welding equipment allows Frank’s Casing Crew to fabricate custom risers safely and accurately,” the company continues.
“Once fabricated, risers are carefully handled and stored for shipment – guaranteeing that they will arrive to the customer on time and in impeccable condition,” it states.
According to Frank’s, one of the advantages of the firm’s riser division is its fabrication facility in Port of Iberia, La.. “While operating from its 80-acre, 5,000-foot waterfront property, Frank’s can fabricate, store and ship risers with tremendous efficiency,” the company says. “Frank’s direct access to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico allows risers to be loaded directly onto barges for transportation, thus avoiding the high expense of traditional trucking.”
The No. 1 Service
Frank’s Casing Crew says it has a company-wide commitment to safety, which is instilled in all aspects. “Frank’s prides itself in continuously finding new and effective methods to uphold its dedication to safety, resulting in some of the most cautious and prepared personnel in the industry,” the company says.
Frank’s notes its pledge to safety is reflected by its training approach, specialized manufacturing equipment, and focus on health, safety and environmental issues (HSE). “It is through the company’s outstanding dedication to safety that Frank’s is recognized as a leader in HSE excellence in the eyes of its employees, customers, the industry and the community,” it states.
“Taking a progressive and proactive approach, Frank’s [has] built a first-class facility for safety instruction and installed a drilling rig at its corporate location to provide hands-on safety and equipment training,” the company says, noting that its on-site rig has helped make its training program “one of the most notably unique in the industry.”
In 2008, the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. recognized Frank’s for its safety focus with the Partners in Safety Award. According to Frank’s, the award was created to honor excellence and commitment to safety in the workplace.