General Manager: Roger Meier
Roger Meier grew up near a large oilfield called Louden Field in south central Illinois. He was one of five children. His father worked his entire career in the Louden oilfield in Fayette County, Illinois, which was owned at that time by Exxon. Two of his brothers have also chosen careers in the oil industry. One is an engineer involved with gas production and gas handling facilities in the northwest U.S. for Exxon. Another brother is employed Chevron/Texaco as a Company Drilling Representative.
Roger was married in 1974, and he and his wife have three children. His wife works in a local hospital in Decision Support for hospital management. Two of their boys are married, of which one is a supervisor for an automobile lighting manufacturer and the other served four years in the U.S. Marines and presently works for Marathon Pipeline Company. Their daughter is attending college to become an elementary school teacher.
Roger graduated from Lincoln Trail College with a degree in Petroleum Technology. He then started his career in the petroleum industry when hired by Dresser Magcobar in 1977. Roger attended Magcobar’s drilling fluids school in Houston, Texas and, after graduating from mud school, was placed in the Illinois Basin, which was again becoming a booming area to sell and engineer the drilling fluid (mud) on rigs. In 1986, Roger was promoted to District Engineer, supervising personnel, sales and technology in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian districts. Roger continued that status through the merge of Dresser Magcobar and Halliburton Imco into what is now called M-I Drilling Fluids Company, Inc. until 1992 when M-I terminated its operations in the Northeast U.S.A. Roger then joined Schwartz Drilling Fluids Co., Inc as Vice-President of Drilling Fluids, where he continued to serve the Illinois Basin and areas of West Virginia.
In 2002, Roger joined the forces of Franklin Well Services, Inc. as Drilling Fluids Manager. Roger reintroduced Halliburton Baroid to Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky by becoming a distributor of their drilling fluid products and has expanded Franklin’s market share in the basin. In June of 2003, he was promoted to General Manager overseeing Franklin’s Cementing, Acidizing, and Fracturing operations in addition to the Drilling Fluids segment.
In addition to common well procedures, Roger has been involved with several very challenging and experimental projects. Roger was instrumental in planning of the drilling fluid program used to drill Schlumberger's equipment test horizontal well in southern Indiana. Three different types of drilling fluids (bentonite, biopolymer and oil mud) were used to drill this well, as well as fluid spacers and balanced weighted pills. While with M-I Drilling Fluids Company, Roger assembled and sub contracted several independent companies in proposing a method of sealing 28 ft. and 40 ft. diameter vertical water tunnels by creating a 4 ft. outer ring of a bentonite drilling fluid and various loss circulation materials with the inner volume remaining clear water.
Franklin Well Services, Inc. sells and services Halliburton/Baroid products. Franklin can handle all your drilling fluid needs. From writing our fluid proposal and cost estimate, to the mixing of your spud mud, to identifying a contaminant to your fluid system, to your final fluid report at T. D., you can rest assured that your well bore is in confident hands with Franklin Well Services, Inc.
Franklin Well Services, Inc. presently offers the most complete package of technical trained personnel in this Tri-State area, as well as fabricating and utilizing state of the art blending and pumping equipment. "It is my goal to improve our market share in this area and to expand to other basins in the U.S., but most importantly it is to provide our customers with products and service that is second to none."
