Helmerich & Payne’s $100 Million Upgrade: Thinking Drills

Source: Oil & Gas Investor

Like the craze over self-driving cars, high-tech oil services companies are striving to create their own hands-off steering system: computer-guided directional drilling.

In a bid to capture such technology, Helmerich & Payne Inc. said May 22 it entered an agreement to acquire Dallas’ Motive Drilling Technologies Inc. for $75 million payable at closing. The deal includes a potential $25 million in earnout payments based on future performance during the next few years.

The acquisition is part of a broader shift toward using technological advancements in the oil field, with service companies looking for an edge in the ultra-competitive race for efficiency.