National Oilwell Varco is an American multinational corporation based in Houston, Texas. It is a leading worldwide provider of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production operations, oilfield services, and supply chain integration services to the upstreamoil and gas industry. The company conducts operations in more than 600 locations across six continents, operating through three reporting segments: Rig Technologies, Wellbore Technologies, and Completion & Production Solutions.
Rig Technologies engineers and manufactures drilling rigs, advanced drilling equipment packages, and the related capital equipment necessary to drill oil and gas wells, as well as marine construction equipment such as heavy-lift cranes, mooring machinery, jacking systems, pipelay and cablelay systems, and marine riser tensioners. In addition, the segment provides aftermarket equipment and services such as spare parts, repair, and equipment rentals as well as remote equipment monitoring, technical support, field service, and customer training. Wellbore Technologies develops the equipment, technologies, and services necessary to maximize the efficiency and economics of oil and gas wells. The segment provides the oil and gas industry with drill bits, borehole enlargement services, and directional drilling tools and optimization/automation software and services; downhole tools for drilling and intervention; premium drill pipe and drill stem accessories; solids control and waste management equipment and services; drilling and completion fluids; data acquisition and analytics technologies; managed-pressure-drilling systems; coating and inspection services and RFID technology for drill pipe lifecycle management; and IntelliServ wired drill pipe. Completion & Production Solutions provides the equipment and technologies necessary to optimize the well completion process and production phase of a well's lifecycle. The segment produces a wide variety of intervention and stimulation equipment for pressure pumping, coiled tubing, and wireline operations; composite piping systems, pressure vessels, and structures; integrated processing, production, and pumping equipment for upstream, midstream, and industrial operations; hydrate inhibition and gas processing technologies; subsea and floating production systems, including flexible pipe and subsea water injection technologies; integral and weld-on connectors for conductor strings, surface casing, and liners; and completion tools—including those involved in multistage hydraulic fracturing—liner hanger systems, and subsurface safety valves. In late 2019 NOV bought Ershigs, a fabricator of custom pipes and tanks in Bellingham, WA, USA.
Awards and Accolades
In 2007, the Houston Chronicle ranked NOV the fifteenth best company to work for in Houston. In 2008, the newspaper ranked NOV as the best company in the city. In the same year, NOV was listed as one of the world's most admired companies by Forbes and one of the 100 fastest growing companies by Fortune. In 2009, NOV was again listed as one of the 100 fastest growing companies by Fortune and one of America's top companies by Forbes. In 2015, NOV was listed by the Houston Chronicle as one of Houston's 100 leading companies.
History
National Oilwell's two main predecessors, Oilwell Supply and National Supply, were founded in 1862 and 1893, respectively. These two companies manufactured and distributed pumps and derricks. In 1930, United States Steel acquired Oilwell Supply. In 1958, Armco Steel merged with National Supply. In 1987, National Supply merged with USS Oilwell to become "National Oilwell". Varco was founded as Abegg and Reinhold Company by Walter Abegg and Baldwin Reinhold in 1908. "VARCO" is an acronym for: Vuilleumiere, Abegg and Reinhold Company after Edgar Vuilleumiere became a partner in 1915, and Varco International in 1973. In 2000, National Oilwell merged with IRI International Corp., founded and managed by Hushang Ansary, which manufactures and sells drilling rigs and specialty steel products. In 2005, National Oilwell and Varco merged to become National Oilwell Varco. In 2014, Clay Williams took over as CEO, succeeding former CEO Pete Miller, who served as NOV's CEO for nearly 13 years. Miller will become Executive Chairman of the National Oilwell Varco spinoff company, DistributionNow. The company employs nearly 64,000 people and has over 1,200 facilities across six continents worldwide. In February 2012 NOV acquired a Russian coring company Interval Ltd.
