Growth through acquisitions may slow down now, but spending on research and development will continue to increase, vows Bernard Duroc-Danner, chairman, chief executive and president of Weatherford International Ltd.

During a ceremony at Houston headquarters to mark his 20th anniversary at the helm of Weatherford, Duroc-Danner told employees, "Since I joined the firm's predecessor, Energy Ventures Inc., and ...renamed it Weatherford in 1998...we have made more than 270 acquisitions in our quest for growth, as well as pursuing organic growth."

Share value has grown at a compound annual rate of 28% since 1987. "The day we stop growth, you won't see me around," he said. "I hate plateaus."

Along the way, he did divest one important part of Weatherford: "I consider Grant Prideco Inc. my baby. We grew it to 2000 and then spun it off as a 'dividend.'" The company is a major specialty drillpipe manufacturer.

Weatherford has steadily increased its R&D efforts since 2000 and, in 2006, spent about $150 million on R&D-more than Schlumberger and nearly as much as Halliburton, he said.

Going forward, the Eastern Hemisphere is where he looks for more revenue growth. Company-wide 2006 revenue hit a record $6.6 billion, including a 77% gain in revenue from the Middle East and North Africa-the company's fastest-growth areas of operations. Since 2001, the company has expanded into 200 service bases and 28 manufacturing facilities in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Duroc-Danner, the son of an oilman, said the company is not looking to be acquired or merged. "We're at $7.3 billion for God's sake, so if we kept up our 40% CAGR, we'd be the size of a small country. So we are not being bought by anyone. We're too big."

In fact, last year the company issued 30-year bonds, reflecting it and its investors' belief in the future. As more of the world's oil and gas fields get older and production declines, there will be more need for the services that Weatherford offers, especially to rework old fields and expand production in adjacent areas, he said.

"It's similar to the way pharmacies and drug companies stand to do better as time goes on, as the baby-boomers age," he said. "Our industry will grow faster than the economies of the world. What's driving it is accelerating decline rates as the reservoirs are getting old, not only here but around the world. This is the right industry to be in for the next three to five years. Beyond that, I don't know."

Comments