Timeline History of Major Logging Companies

1920

1930

1940

01.2013 Dak

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

Schlumberger
Well Surveying Corp.

Schlumberger

2010
Schlumberger
Well Services

Birdwell

Seismograph Service

Well Surveys, Inc.

Baker Hughes

Dresser Industries

Dresser Atlas

Lane Wells Perforating

Elgen

Geoanalyzer
Yarbrough Guns

Perforating Guns, Inc.

Atlas Corp.

PGAC

PanGeoAtlas
Corp. (PGAC)

Westec

?
McCullough
Gun
Perforators

BakerAtlas

Atlas
Wireline
Services

McCullough Tool Co.

NL Baroid

Wireline companies

Triangle Service
NL
McCullough

Basic Surveys

?
?

Halliburton Electrical
Well Services

Halliburton
Cementing

Petro-Log

Numar
Halliburton
Logging Services

Welex

Well Explosives
Gearhart
Industries

Gearhart Owens
Oil Field Services

Computalog

Pefco
www.Discovery-Group.com

Compiled from:
Hilchie, Douglas W., 1990, WIRELINE A history of the well logging and
perforating business in the oil fields; Douglas Hilchie, Inc., Boulder, Colorado.
and personal communications with other sources.

1920

1930

1940

1950

Wireline
Electronics

?
1960

1970

?
BPB

1980

Precision

Weatherford

Reeves

1990

2000

2010
Page 1 of 3

Timeline History of Major Logging Companies

1920

1930

1940

01.2013 Dak

1950

1960

Schlumberger
Well Surveying Corp.

Schlumberger

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Schlumberger
Well Services

?
Anadrill

Baker Hughes INTEQ

Baker Hughes
Exlog

Teleco

LWD/MWD companies
Sperry Sun
Sperry Drilling

Halliburton

Pathfinder (Smith)

Precision

Weatherford

www.Discovery-Group.com
Compiled from:
Craig Barnett, Weatherford, 2010, (personal communication). and
personal communications with other sources.
Dak 2011

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010
Page 2 of 3

Timeline History of Major Logging Companies

01.2013 Dak

Comments on the Timeline Histories

The pages here are intended to show, in a general way, how the major
wireline and logging while drilling (LWD) companies merged over the
years. The displays are meant to help people who find an unfamiliar
name on a log in the files, and give them an idea of where they might
go (to current companies) to get more information. The displays are
not meant to be exactly accurate in times of creation or mergers of
companies, or in some cases, accurate in company names.
Dashed lines indicate uncertainties in time of existence of the company
or when the company was purchased. Name changes along the same
line indicate a change in the company name, while right angle lines
indicate that the company was purchased by the company to which its
line is connected.

Wireline logging started in 1927, growing out of the surface

electrical prospecting business of Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger.
While LWD patents began appearing in the 1940s, commercial
services did not appear until the 1970s, as it took that long for the
technology to catch up to the patentable ideas for the services. All
the major logging companies have both wireline and LWD divisions.
LWD initially borrowed the physics of the measurements from
wireline, and later, wireline borrowed the engineering technology
from LWD to make wireline measurements more robust. Both
wireline and LWD technology continues to improve as sensor,
transmission, and processing capabilities continue to develop.

Page 1 (Wireline) shows the wireline companies over time.

Schlumberger has remained independent and largely on its own over
time. Baker Atlas, in contrast, has seen a great deal of mergers to reach
its current state.
Halliburton and Weatherford have undergone some mergers and name
changes, but not nearly as many as Baker Atlas.
Page 2 (LWD) shows the merger of LWD companies over the same time
period. The pattern of mergers and of the number of companies is
much smaller than in the wireline case, although once again, Baker
Hughes INTEQ is the most active of the major players. Schlumberger
used for a while the name Anadrill for its LWD services. When this
chart was created, the starting and ending dates of the subsidiary were
not known. When Halliburton bought Sperry-Sun, they were required
by government regulators to divest some of their LWD holdings, and
chose to divest their own LWD business, which was named Pathfinder.
Pathfinder was a subsidiary of Smith Tool and was recently acquired by
Schlumberger.

This document is intended to be updated periodically as necessary to

include new and corrected information.
Questions and comments about this document are welcomed and
encouraged. Please contact Dan Krygowski at The Discovery Group;
DanKrygowski@Discovery-Group.com.

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