
n November 2020, Varel International Energy Services (VIES) announced a new path forward, which included a new brand renamed Varel Energy Solutions (VES). According to the company, the “major reset” includes “a redefining vision for business growth.” The new strategy was announced three months after the company received a multimillion-dollar investment from Blue Water Energy. The deal brought on Derek Nixon as the company’s new CEO.
Nixon worked for 12 years at VIES. Prior to taking on the role at VES, he served as the vice president of downhole products (DHP). He joined Varel as a field salesman in 2006, later becoming regional manager before transitioning to DHP in 2014.
Nixon recently joined E&P Plus to discuss the company’s new strategy and how oilfield service (OFS) companies can thrive in a price- and demand-challenged environment.
Free cash flow is obviously a must and then synergies. What sort of synergies can we find between the organization that we’re integrating into our footprint? And how quickly can we develop it?
We have the global platform ready, offices everywhere around the world, and the sales and operations infrastructure. So what can we take into that platform and really grow the business with it?
When we look back at this year [2020], the year has been extremely challenging. But it’s been a good year from a business standpoint. When we bought the business back in March [2020], we didn’t know what was going to happen. But we were planning for change anyway, and we wanted to change up the business [and] the approach. So this has really fast forwarded that a little bit, and it’s really going to allow us to go back to retooling the industry.