Dril-Quip Inc. on Sept. 1 announced the replacement for its CEO, Blake T. DeBerry, who is set to step down by year-end after roughly a decade at the helm of the Houston-based oilfield service company.

“I believe the company is well positioned for the anticipated improvement in our market in the coming years, making now a good time to transition to new leadership,” DeBerry commented in a release by the company.

In the release, Dril-Quip said its board appointed Jeffrey J. Bird as its president and CEO, and elected him to the board, both effective as of Jan. 1, 2022, to replace DeBerry. Bird, who joined Dril-Quip in 2017 as CFO and has served as the company’s president and COO since May 2020, has a wealth of both industry and senior management experience, according to analysts with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH), making him a “highly capable replacement.”

Prior to joining Dril-Quip, Bird served as CFO of Frank’s International and, prior to that, was CFO of Ascend Performance Materials. He also has served in a variety of finance and operating roles primarily in the industrial manufacturing sector including serving as a division CFO at Danaher Corp.

“We fully expect the company to be in good (managerial) hands as we turn the page to 2022,” the TPH analysts wrote in a Sept. 2 research note.

The TPH analysts also noted DeBerry’s contributions to the company, which includes 33 years serving in a number of management and engineering positions in Dril-Quip’s domestic and international offices prior to being named CEO in 2011. 

“Blake’s imprint on DRQ can be found nearly everywhere you look within the company... As an engineer by trade, Blake has been instrumental in helping bring to market a number of DRQ’s value-added (and subsea-oriented) products/technologies over the years in addition to steering the company through its first acquisition in 2016 while ensuring DRQ maintained exceptionally strong balance sheet health all along the way,” the analysts wrote.

DeBerry will continue to serve as CEO and as a member of the Dril-Quip board until Dec. 31 as part of the transition, according to the release.

“I’ve had the good fortune to work very closely with Blake over the last four plus years,” Bird commented in the release on Sept. 1, “and am confident in the strong leadership and management team at Dril-Quip and believe the future is bright with our innovative products, superior customer service and financial strength.”

John Lovoi, Dril-Quip’s board chairman, also added: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Blake for his superb stewardship of Dril-Quip as CEO and as a board member over the past 10 years and for all of his contributions since joining the company in 1988. We are also very excited to promote Jeff to the CEO position and add him as a member of the board after he has worked along with Blake and the board since joining the company in 2017 and most recently in his capacity as president and chief operating officer.”

Dril-Quip is a leading manufacturer of highly engineered onshore and offshore drilling and production equipment that is particularly well suited for use in deep water, harsh environments and severe service applications, the company release said.

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