SULPHUR, Okla. – The United States lifts a four decade oil export ban, setting the stage for American frackers to compete against Saudi Arabia and OPEC in the world oil market.
Last November Saudi Arabia declared war on U.S. shale. With the threat of losing significant market share, Saudi Arabia increased their production as supply overflowed.
It is easy to go to war against an opposition that is unarmed: with the oil export embargo, the United States could not compete in the free market.
The oil export embargo, passed as a measure to fight the nation’s last oil war with OPEC in the 1970s, was lifted Friday, December 18, 2015. The ban prohibited the sale of U.S. oil overseas and bottlenecked the oil produced in the United States due to refining limitations. Now the United States will compete with oil giants overseas.
Saudi Arabia’s gamble to starve out American oil companies might not look like a sure bet anymore. With technological advances and a year of streamlining our companies, the American oil and gas industry is poised to fight back.
The United States specializes in a light, sweet crude that will sell as a premium in world markets. Saudi Arabia believes they can outlast U.S. shale because of the high cost of domestic oil production.
For the United States to return as a significant force among global competition, technological innovations must continually emerge.
One of the highest costs of oil extraction in the U.S. is owed to hydraulic fracturing. Service companies routinely deal with frac pump maintenance, leading to countless hours of downtime and pump part replacement expenses.
The frac fluid end, a pump part notorious for its high cost and low operating life, is a major contributor to high operating costs of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Frac fluid ends, traditionally made of carbon steel, have a typical operating life ranging between 200 to 500 hours.
Kerr Pumps, an Oklahoma based manufacturing company, has spent years researching and developing innovative pumping solutions. Meeting the current demands of the industry, Kerr Pumps recently introduced their 2016 Super Stainless frac fluid ends. Super Stainless frac fluid ends have significantly increased life over competitors fluid ends, reducing downtime and increasing return on investment for fracking companies.
“When you go from 200 hours to thousands of hours, Super Stainless™ frac fluid ends become the most economical fluid end on the market. It is a windfall of savings for service companies. Our goal is the 5,000-hour fluid end. Every day that is our focus.” said Mark Nowell, CEO of Kerr Pumps and FlowValve, “We have a lock on the best material in the industry, and with our advanced surfacing, geometries and designs, we are providing tremendous savings.”
What this means for hydraulic fracturing companies is an increase in value and sustainability. Super Stainless™ frac fluid ends reduce waste and increases longevity of the pumps operating in the field. There is also less time on site because downtime is significantly reduced along with the overall cost to frac a job because the fluid ends are lasting significantly longer.
Given the current state of the oil industry, Kerr Pumps developed solutions that will help U.S. Shale compete in the global market.
Through American innovation and continuous improvement, Kerr Pumps will join others in the American Oil & Gas industry to lead the United States to the top force among global competition.
Don’t forget Saudi Arabia, the United States invented the oil industry, and now we are taking it back!
If you would like to know more about Kerr Pumps or information on Super Stainless™ frac fluid ends please visit kerrpumps.com/superstainless.
If you would like more information in general about Kerr Pumps, please contact Jake Foster at (580) 622-4207 or email at jfoster@kerrpumps.com.