Anchor Drilling Fluids Opens $2M Plant in Wellsville
WELLSVILLE, Ohio -- Come Friday, the 12,000-square-foot Anchor Drilling Fluids Inc. plant here will begin producing drilling fluids to serve the oil and gas extraction industry.
On five acres in the Wellsville Intermodal Facility industrial park, the new plant, the first of its kind in Ohio, will produce and store "environmentally friendly fluids" for use in shale drilling, Anchor said in a prepared statement issued Monday. Anchor is based in Tulsa, Okla. The fluid is used to lubricate the drill during deep drilling.
"This is an exciting day for Anchor and the state of Ohio," said Anchor CEO Bob West. "After extensive groundwork with local and state officials and significant capital investment, we are proud to now be operational and serving our industry's customers, hiring Ohio residents and contributing to local and state tax revenues."
Anchor spent more than $2 million building the plant, which became fully operational Oct. 31, said spokesman Tom Droege. Anchor plans to ramp up production to 10,000 barrels of drilling fluid, or "mud," per day, and to hire 10 to 15 full-time employees to work in the plant. Another 20 to 30 engineers will be hired to work in the field at the drilling sites in the region.
"They'll be the ones who show producers how to use the 'mud' that's produced at the plant," Droege said.
In June, Anchor, with Georgia-based Cimbar Performance Minerals, announced a joint venture in a barite (barium sulfate) processing plant to adjoin Anchor's drilling fluids plant. The barite plant is also the only of its kind in the northeastern United States and "provides a secure, strategically located supply for the future drilling operations in the Utica and Marcellus shales," Anchor said in its release.
"The Utica Shale reportedly has recoverable reserves of over 940 million barrels of oil and 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas," said Anchor President West. "Development of this U.S. energy resource will significantly contribute to long-term economic growth and job creation in Ohio and the region."
Anchor Drilling Fluids is "the largest independent drilling fluids company for more than 40 years, states its website (http://www.anchorusa.com). The company serves Marcellus shale operations from its regional offices in Cranberry Township and Leetsdale, Pa.