Wellkeeper Hits Billion Mark on Oil, Gas Readings

August 26, 2011 | Reprint from New Mexico Business Weekly;

Wellkeeper Inc., a remote data monitoring company for oil and gas operators, said it performed its one billionth customer reading Aug. 22.

The milestone reading was done for Kansas-based Russell Oil Inc., said Wellkeeper COO Jim Taylor in a news release.

“This is an exciting landmark for Wellkeeper and shows how far we’ve come in helping independent oil-and-gas producers detect trends in their operations, reduce downtime, increase production ad minimize spill frequency,” Taylor said.

Wellkeeper, based in Albuquerque, has grown rapidly since signing its first customer in 2003. Today, it monitors more than 1,000 active sites in 10 states.

The company ranked 792, the highest of any New Mexico business, on the INC 500 | 5000 list, reporting $2.4 million in revenue in 2010, and a 382 percent growth rate over three years.

Wellkeeper launched in 2001 with a patent-pending, all-in-one system for remote data monitoring, communication service and field maintenance for oil and gas producers. The company uses precision sensors and satellite, radio and digital cellular communications to generate around-the-clock data on oil and water tank levels, pressures, flow rates, compressor status and other measurements.

It has received $3 million in private equity investments since 2006, about half of that from the Verge Fund.

Wellkeeper’s data monitoring allows companies to track operations in real time while cutting costs for on-site inspections and maintenance, said Russell Oil President LeRoy Holt.

“Being able to gain additional information allows us to make more timely decisions and redirect our pumpers to wells where we see potential problems developing,” Holt said.