Workstrings' Company History

Greg Elliott

Setting Out on His Own

In 1997, Greg Elliott was ready to start his sixteenth year as a drilling engineer with a major oil and gas company. Instead, he took a chance and set out on his own. In his years on the customer side, Greg had long been frustrated by the lack of experience and expertise at the service companies.

"The people I dealt with had never been out on the rigs or experienced well construction in a way that they could appreciate the challenges operators face," he says.

Greg wanted to add value to the industry by carrying and developing a more sophisticated, more technical rental tool line and backing it up with true design and planning expertise.

Good things happen when you surround yourself with good people. We are always striving to do better, be better — to find a better way or a better technique. It's just engrained in us. We have to constantly earn our success and take that experience to the next project.

Greg Elliott, CEO

Strategic Partnerships

Workstrings thrived by specializing on the larger, more technical projects. Greg formed close relationships with customers and vendors that let the company deliver and innovate faster than its competitors.

  • In 2001, Workstrings became part of Superior Energy Services. The leadership team stayed in place and the company now had the capital it needed to continue growing.
  • Across the globe in the UK, Premier Oilfield Rentals had been charting a similar path since 1972, sharing a focus on quality and customer satisfaction. In 2011, the two companies, each then part of Superior Energy Services, merged to form Workstrings International, LLC.
  • Five years later, WSI merged with Sub Surface Tools, one of the foremost providers of rental equipment for drilling, completion and workover operations in the industry since 1970. The combined company now had the depth and breadth to serve customers in all regions of the world, expanding its already diverse product inventory and exceptional technical expertise.

Global Footprint. History of Innovation.

"We have over 200 years of engineering experience in our company, mainly in drilling engineering," says Elliott, CEO. "There's a lot of wisdom in there. We're able to listen. When the engineer tells us what they're trying to accomplish, it's pretty easy for us to picture it."

Today, Workstrings International is headquartered in Broussard, Louisiana, with engineering and marketing based in Houston, Texas. We have facilities on six continents and operate in all of the world's major drilling regions. This global footprint, combined with an unmatched depth of inventory, field experience and engineering expertise, allows us to design and service the entire life cycle of even the most challenging wells.

As the industry leader, we are attentive to the global market and continue to grow and diversify. Our teams have been key to the success of wells around the world, setting records in depth, pressure, test depth and discovery. We have accomplished a long list of industry firsts for our customers and we continue to shape the industry.