Divestco is building its arsenal of software and data management to better meet the needs of its clients in the oil and gas industry.

With high operating costs plaguing the exploration industry, most firms are always looking for ways to cut costs and be more efficient. Many companies turn to their business partners for help, but working with a large number of subs can tie a firm down more than it can help it. Divestco Inc. is working to solve this problem for its roster of oil and gas customers. The company believes that by integrating its software, services, data and consulting, it can uniquely serve its customers and help them save time and money in their operations.

“Customers are really into the idea of working with one company that has a huge breadth in what it offers, which is why we are going down this path,” says Terry Barnhart, president. “We want to provide our clients with comprehensive solutions - software, data, services and consulting. That way, clients can deal with one company and everything they need works together.”

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Divestco aims to lead the industry with its offerings of software, services, data and consulting which have been designed for every member of the exploration team, including landmen, geophysicists, geologists, engineers and technicians. The company offers business and technical consulting, oil and gas data, database management, seismic data, geophysical data services, data integration, GIS mapping and seismic data brokerage, as well as software that supports these services.

“Our major focus right now is on software - it is the key in our offering of integrated solutions,” Barnhart says. “Our software ties the applications together and makes it easy to move the data and information we collect. As we grow, we will look for new software packages to offer and companies that will fit in our initiative of integrated solutions.”

One company that fit into the firm's growth strategy was Calgary-based Geo-X Systems Ltd., which Divestco acquired May 1, 2006. The company notes Geo-X Systems' processing division is Canada's leading seismic processing service provider. The main strength of the division, Divestco says, is its expertise in full-range, high-resolution onshore processing. Additionally, its strong R&D group allows it to take seismic projects beyond generic commodity processing, and instead offer competitive advantages through the application of advanced processing algorithms and expertise.

“This acquisition is a perfect fit with our seismic acquisition business and provides a natural augmentation to our existing broad product and service suite,” said Stephen Popadynetz, CEO of Divestco Inc., in a statement. “The Geo-X Processing division is highly respected throughout the industry and we look forward to the opportunities for growth and expected synergies.”

Barnhart explains the acquisition was important in growing the firm's list of services because a large breadth in its offering is important in reaching its goal of providing the complete range of products and services its clients need.

“We shoot a lot of specialty seismic surveys and use a lot of processing, and with this acquisition, we can use our own resources for this, which helps with our costs,” he says. “We are excited about our growth and ability to offer more services to our clients. Our business is scalable, so we can eventually move more into the United States and internationally. There is definitely a good potential for us to expand our service regions.”  E+P