By Annie Rowe

SDN Staff Writer

Sometimes all it takes to realize a dream is desire and a strong will, coupled with a little business savvy.

Sometimes that’s true, but not necessarily in the case of Cloyce Talbott, chief executive officer of Patterson-UTI Energy.

In 1978 Talbott, and company co-founder Glenn Patterson, had the dream, desire and savvy. But they weren’t sure exactly how to initiate the process.

“When the company first started, we just decided to sell stock and I thought that was all you did,” said Talbott. “It wasn’t long before I found out how wrong I was.”

Talbott presented an overview of the company at Thursday’s meeting of Snyder Rotary Club, and although he made light of the their humble beginnings, Patterson-UTI has emerged to be one of the strongest onshore contract drilling services in North America.

The company owns 361 land-based drilling rigs that operate in oil and natural gas producing regions in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and western Canada.

While the company could have relocated its headquarters, it has chosen to remain in Snyder and employes about 200 people locally and more than 6,000 company-wide.

Patterson completed the merger with UTI in 2001,which turned out to be a positive move.

“We had survived the energy downturn and had emerged from that when we initiated the merger with UTI. The merger began in 1995, but was not complete until 2001. It was a great merger for the stockholders,” said Talbott.

He went on to explain how the company is projected to continue on the upswing, especially in its gas exploration division due to the fact that natural gas consumption is driving the industry up.

“The fact is, we are facing a natural gas shortage in the U.S. We have reached a point in North America that we have supplied all that we can,” he said. “Natural gas is not plentiful, and it’s not cheap.”

Talbott added that the demand for natural gas would heighten the necessity for Patterson-UTI to keep the drilling at a maximum.

“We’re going to have a difficult time keeping up with the demands. As the drilling of wells increases, the price will continue to go up,” he said.

The reality is that nationally, consumers will continue to pay the price for natural gas. However, the demand declares that Patterson-UTI will remain an influential company that is growing in the energy field.

“We can’t fix this problem in the short term,” said Talbott. “The tight supply will continue and it is forecast that Patterson-UTI will remain a leading company in the industry.”