Aberdeen's Deep Casing Tools (DCT) grows sales by 120% and broadens horizons

Oil and gas technology development company Deep Casing Tools (DCT) has revealed that turnover grew by 120 per cent in 2019 as it expanded headcount and its footprint in key global regions.

The company, which was established in 2008, secured investment from EV Private Equity in 2018. Picture: contributed

The Aberdeen-based firm said it increased its workforce by a fifth last year, making a series of strategic appointments to manage demand, including overseas sales managers, and a product line manager for Casing Recovery Systems, "which forms part of the company’s focus on the plug and abandonment (P&A) sector".

DCT added that the growth has been driven by a "surge" in demand for its technology over the past 24 months, which saw it secure several major contracts with top operators. This includes signing a new five-year contract at the end of 2019 with Saudi Aramco to supply its TurbocaserTM and TurborunnerTM tools, a high-speed reaming system that enables drilling teams to land casings and intermediate liners at target depth.

The Scottish firm also said it entered 2020 "on a high," announcing it had signed an agreement with a national oil company with an initial annual value of up to $13 million (£10m) for exploratory wells, which follows a tool trial with the operator in an exploration extended reach well.

DCT has been establishing an on-the-ground presence in key regions including Malaysia, Africa, Australia and Brazil through a series of strategic partnerships.

The business expects further growth this year and beyond as it focuses on the decommissioning market and the release of new technologies to meet the efficiency challenges operators face currently.

Chief executive David Stephenson said: “2019 marked a stellar year for [DCT] as we scaled our business globally. Not only are we seeing the resurgence of domestic oil and gas markets, we are experiencing increased demand for our precision-engineered technology from international operators as drilling activity recovers.

“Significantly, last year we added new late life technologies to our portfolio and extended our expertise into plugging and abandonment. This burgeoning market will see our simple and innovative technologies transform operations in 2020 and beyond, making them more predictable and reliable, thus substantially reducing the length of an operation and improving sustainability.

“Forming a key part of our growth strategy this year, we plan to develop and release new technologies to deliver operational efficiency and drive down costs for operators. We will continue to make on-the-ground partnerships in key international regions, allowing us to offer an increased level of customer service. 2020 is shaping up to be another exciting year of growth in revenue, territories, people and patents.”

DCT also noted that last year, DCT it entered into a unique partnership with the Oil & Gas Technology Centre and oil firm Total, seeing its casing cement breaker tool trialled this year on wells in Total’s Alwyn and Franklin fields. The technology is set to become fully commercial by the end of 2020.