Warren Cat’s Permian Basin New Engine Rebuild Center - Part 1

00:00:02 Narrator
This episode of the Energy Pipeline is sponsored by Caterpillar Oil and gas. Since the 1930s, Caterpillar has manufactured engines for drilling, production, well service, and gas compression. With more than 2100 dealer locations worldwide, Caterpillar offers customers a dedicated support team to assist with their premier power solutions.

00:00:28 Narrator
Welcome to the Energy Pipeline Podcast with your host, Russell Stewart. Tune in each week to learn more about industry issues, tools and resources to streamline and modernize the future of the industry. Whether you work in oil and gas or bring a unique perspective, this podcast is your knowledge transfer hub. Welcome to the Energy Pipeline.

00:00:54 Russell Stewart
Hey, everybody. As always, thanks for listening, and thanks to Caterpillar Oil and Gas for sponsoring this podcast. And we're going to actually, we feature Caterpillar Oil and Gas on this particular podcast in the pipeline of all things oil and gas. I have two guests on the show today. I have Steve Plemons. Steve, did I say that right?

00:01:19 Steve Plemmons
You did.

00:01:20 Russell Stewart
Okay. My Texas accent usually screws up names. And then we have Keaton Mayers. Is it Mayors or Myers Mayors? Mayors. Okay. Just like it's spelled. Okay. All right. There you go. Okay. Well, guys, thanks for coming on the show.

00:01:40 Steve Plemmons
Yeah, thanks for having us.

00:01:42 Russell Stewart
Okay, so we're going to be talking about. We're going to be talking about the Permian today. You know, that's the area that kind of leads the way in oil and gas production in the United States and actually in the world. And we're going to talk about Caterpillar's significant contribution here. So the Permian, or some people call it West Texas, although that's really, for those of you who don't know, that's a little inaccurate. It is West Texas, but it also extends up into New Mexico and the. No offense to the folks from the Midland, Odessa area or even the New Mexico area, but for those of you who don't know, and this is a worldwide audience that we're talking to, the Permian is not exactly the Texas Hill country. People would say. It's desolate might be a better word to describe it. And. But it's because of that, which is actually going to be the reason for this particular podcast. And in fact, we're going to turn this into two separate podcasts because we're going to get the perspectives from Steve, and then we're going to turn around and we're going to get the perspectives from Keaton. Steve, tell us about yourself. You're the senior VP of Power Systems at Warren Catt, is that right?

00:03:21 Steve Plemmons
That's correct. Yeah. So I've been With Warren for about five years. A little over five years prior to that, I was working for an energy service company. So I've got about 20 years of experience in the oil and gas business and located in Midland, Texas, and been there for about 30 years of my life.

00:03:43 Russell Stewart
You've been in Midland for 30 years?

00:03:46 Steve Plemmons
I have.

00:03:48 Russell Stewart
And how did you get started in oil and gas?

00:03:51 Steve Plemmons
Well, you know, I've lived in West Texas my entire life, except for one year. I went to a college in the Metroplex area and went to school at Texas Tech and started my career out in the golf industry and then kind of dabbled in oil and gas while I was doing that. And I sold.

00:04:11 Russell Stewart
Started your career in the. Started your career in the what industry?

00:04:15 Steve Plemmons
Golf.

00:04:16 Russell Stewart
Golf.

00:04:17 Steve Plemmons
I did okay. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Owned a business and sold that in 2008, and a friend of mine owned a service company and got me involved over there and went to work for him and. And just kind of progressed and gained a lot of knowledge and then in 2020, came over to Warren. Catch.

00:04:40 Russell Stewart
There's been a lot of ups and downs in the oil and gas industry in 30 years. So you've managed to survive all that, huh?

00:04:46 Steve Plemmons
I have. It's. It. It definitely has had its challenges, but it's a fun and interesting segment to be in.

00:04:56 Russell Stewart
Okay, so on the service industry side, specifically, what services are we talking about?

00:05:03 Steve Plemmons
So when I first went to work for a company called well, Testing that a friend of mine, Mike Meyer, owns it, mainly a flowback company, and then he sold that company to Oil States Energy Services, and, you know, we had frac stacks, isolation tools, wireline, so a lot of different areas in the completion side of the business.

00:05:30 Russell Stewart
So that's your primary emphasis, the completion side?

00:05:34 Steve Plemmons
Yes.

00:05:34 Russell Stewart
Okay, Keaton, tell me about yourself. Are you a West Texas boy?

00:05:42 E
I'm a North Texas boy. Grew up just south of Wichita Falls in the great town Olney, Texas. If you'll blink, you'll miss it when you're going on through. Then from there, went on to Texas Tech for four years and got a degree in mechanical engineering. Then I told myself when I was in college, I would never move to Houston, Texas or Midland. Those are the last two places I would move. Accepted a job offer with ExxonMobil to move to Houston, then ended up out here to Midland. So spent. Spent four years working for. For Exxon and then transitioned over to Warren Cat in 2022. Been here three years. A little over three years now. So enjoying it now. Regional field service manager here in the Permian, supporting and chasing all the products we have out here.

00:06:29 Russell Stewart
Okay. All right. And so let's, let's, let's talk about that. And Steve, I'm going to, as I said at the beginning, I'm going to get your perspective and then we're going to get Keaton's perspective. But the reason Caterpillar wanted to have you guys on the, on the show, and we're going to be running this at about the. People don't know it, but we're actually recording this on Halloween. So we hope there's no ghosts or goblins in the podcast here. We hope everything goes smooth. But we'll be airing this at about the time you guys are going to have something real exciting happening. Tell me about that, Steve.

00:07:10 Steve Plemmons
Yeah, so we're opening in the next few weeks our new engine rebuild facility located in Midland. It's 156,000 square feet. It has about 96,000 square feet of shop space and a 48,000 square foot parts facility. So we're excited about it and excited how we're going to be able to support our customers in a new way and, and just create success for both our customers and Warren Cat over the next several decades.

00:07:44 Russell Stewart
Okay, so let me see if I can check my production schedule here. If everything goes according to schedule and we don't have any Halloween spooks, we're probably going to be, like I said, we're going to run this podcast in two parts, but the first one is going to probably run on November 12th. Wealth, you guys are having some kind of big shin dig.

00:08:12 Steve Plemmons
We are. We're having our grand opening on the 12th. It's open to everybody in the Permian Basin. Our customers, Media, Caterpillar will be there. We'll have most of our stakeholders there and we're really excited about it. It's been a long time coming. It seems like we've been working on this for. Well, we have been working on this for about four or five years and so it's nice to see it come together and we're excited about it.

00:08:42 Russell Stewart
Well, I'm excited that we managed to time this thing right. So for all of you who listen to the Energy Pipeline podcast out in, in the Permian, this should be coming out the same day you guys are having this grand opening. I think there may be a little bit of barbecue there. Is that right?

00:09:01 Steve Plemmons
Yeah. So the annuals and energy group has just a fantastic event. It starts on the 11th. Well, it's November 11th and 12th and a lot of people from the industry are in town and it's a big advance.

00:09:19 Russell Stewart
Okay, well, great. Okay. So I talked about the Permian and the fact that it's desolate, but of course also the fact this where all the oil. You know, this is a huge active oil and gas region, you know, for the entire world. But because of the desolation and that sort of thing, it takes a lot of power generation to accomplish oil and gas activities. And that's what you guys are the experts in, right?

00:09:53 Steve Plemmons
That's correct. Yeah. We're in a great location. Really. There's no better place to be if you're in our business than the Permian Basin.

00:10:02 Russell Stewart
Okay, so. So talk to me about power generation in, in. In general out there and the level of demand, the kinds of services and infrastructure that Warren Katz prioritizing in this field.

00:10:18 Steve Plemmons
Yeah. So as power generation becomes an increasingly important part of the energy operations in both Texas and Oklahoma, Warren Cat is proactively expanding our capabilities to support customers entering the space. We're investing in both infrastructure and expertise, ensuring that we have the right equipment, parts, skilled technicians to meet the growing demand for power solutions. Our primary focus is on delivering reliable, efficient and turnkey solutions, from riddle in sales to preventative maintenance and rapid field service. We're also kind of leveraging our technologies and telematics to help customers optimize performance and minimize downtime. So really, Warren Cat is positioned to be the trusted partner for customers as they expand their operations, ensuring that they have the power and support needed to stay productive with competitive.

00:11:16 Russell Stewart
Okay, so you guys work with the drilling companies, you work with the operators, then you work with the completion services companies, and all of those require power generation. And you guys sit down with these different entities and figure out the most efficient ways to do this. That's what you're saying?

00:11:46 Steve Plemmons
Yeah, I mean, really, for what we do, we supply the power. So whether it's standby power, we're working with data centers. Now, our primary business has been with drilling, frac and gas compression companies. But this power generation is fairly new, and it's an expanding business that we're excited to be a part of.

00:12:11 Russell Stewart
So, Steve, we already talked about how the Permian Basin is one of the most active oil and gas regions in the world. So how's that level of demand shaping the kinds of services and infrastructure that Warren Katz prioritizing?

00:12:27 Steve Plemmons
Yeah, there's no better place to be located than in the Pern Woman for a Caterpillar dealer. With operators pushing to maximize production efficiency, we're investing in our engine rebuild capacity to support our customers. Needs. There are approximately 10,000 3,500 and 4,000 3,600 engines currently in our territory. Building this new facility will support our customer rebuilds and also our parts demands in the coming years. The sustained activity has driven us to focus heavily on reliability and turnaround times. Our new engine rebuild center, located in the heart of the Permian, is the most state of the art rebuild facility in the country.

00:13:15 Russell Stewart
That's going to. Because when we're talking about power generation, reliability is extremely important. And so you need the service and you need the support. And so putting this huge facility right there in the middle of all those. How many engines did you say you guys have in our territory?

00:13:35 Steve Plemmons
And our territory expands up in Oklahoma as well. There's about 10,000 3,500 engines and 4,000 3,000 six hundreds.                

00:13:46 Russell Stewart
Okay, so how does the CRC play out in supporting all those long term operations for your customers in that region?

00:13:54 Steve Plemmons
Yeah, so with the green demand for engineering, particularly in the natural gas sector, we're now fully equipped to meet our customer needs. Our customers depend on quick turnaround times to keep pace with their own operations. And in the past, our limited capacity meant some engines had to be shipped to other places, which added both cost and downtime to our customers. This new facility has changed that. Combined with our existing rebuild shop in Oklahoma City, we're effectively tripling our engine rebuild capacity. This investment ensures faster service, greater efficiencies, and stronger local support. Our customers are genuinely excited about this expansion and view it as a clear sign of our commitment to investing into their success. In addition to expanding the shop capacity, we're also making significant investments in our parts operations to meet the growing demand across the region. This includes adding 48,000 square feet of new warehouse space within this facility, giving us a greater inventory capacity and greater or faster parts availability. And to further enhance our efficiency, we've implement implemented the auto store, which is an automated system powered by robots. This technology, yeah, it's pretty amazing. We'll be putting out some videos online and we're the first retail warehouse to put this in. Caterpillar has one in their Waco facility, but this will be the first one that's for retail. So it's a pretty incredible process. There's 20 plus robots moving at all times and it'll really streamline our will call process and allow us to fulfill parts orders more quickly and accurately.

00:16:00 Russell Stewart

Wow, that's amazing. Okay, well then that probably just answered my next question. You're definitely elevating the way you serve your customers, but why Was now the right time to do this?

00:16:25 Steve Plemmons
Yeah. So with so many 3006s operating in our territory, it's critical that we got this facility right. Like I said earlier, we've been working on this for the past four or five years. And you know, we're seeing a big wave of engines coming due for rebuilds over the next several years. And without this investment, we simply wouldn't be able to deliver the level of service our customers expect and deserve. And just as important, we designed this facility with our technicians in mind. We wanted to create a workspace that they could truly be proud of. One that reflects the world class skill and commitment they bring to work every day. So this entire facility is going to be climate controlled. We've included enhanced break areas and locker rooms to provide a comfortable, high quality environment for our team and we can build a world class facility. But it's really the technicians who make it exceptional. So this investment is about supporting our people as much as it is serving our customers.

00:17:30 Russell Stewart
Okay, so, you know, my job is supposed to be to ask all the right questions. And sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. You know, an obvious question is we said this, this facility is being opened up in the Permian, but exactly where is it?

00:17:48 Steve Plemmons
Yeah, so it's located on, on Highway 1788, which is just south of the Midland International Airport. So it's almost right in between Midland, Odessa.

00:18:02 Russell Stewart
And that big a facility. I guess you can't miss it, huh?

00:18:06 Steve Plemmons
You cannot miss it. It's a, it's, you know, and we have three other buildings kind of around it, so our rental services and our rig up and then we also have a large field service office there as well. So it's, it's a massive facility. Got big signs. It's a, we're really proud of it.

00:18:31 Russell Stewart
And, and, and you guys feel like this is going to really service your customers needs and support in that region for many years to come, right?

00:18:44 Steve Plemmons
Yes, it will. It's, I mean we're going to continue to grow. We're going to have increase our technician headcount. It really just, I mean we, we didn't, we did everything right in this facility. It's, it took a lot of research and design work. And like I said earlier, our customers have been going through some tours and they're, they're really excited about our investment in them.

00:19:14 Russell Stewart
Well, and I'm excited to present it to everyone out there. As I said, Keaton, we're going to pick this up next week and get your perspective from the field services. Managers side. Steve, before we close this one out, did I miss anything?

00:19:34 Steve Plemmons
I don't think so. If I'm not sure what time this is going to air on the 12th, but our grand opening ceremony is going to be at 11:30 and welcome everybody to come out and attend and tour the facility.

00:19:49 Russell Stewart
Okay, well hopefully we can make that, make that timing work out. Steve, we're going to and Keaton, we're going to pick this up again for next week. But but for now, thanks for taking your time to talk about this. This is a really exciting thing to find out about and Caterpillar's commitment to the Permian out there in power generation for everybody out there. Hopefully we'll get this out so that if you're in the Permian area, you can check out the facility, maybe get some barbecue. And as we thank everyone for listening and for making this a top rated oil and gas podcast, post us on LinkedIn, tell your friends to listen, leave us reviews and we'll see you next time.

00:20:46 F
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