FMC Technologies
 | |
| Type | Public (NYSE: FTI) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Oil and Gas Equipment, Services |
| Founded |
1884 (as the Bean Spray Pump Company) 1928 (as Food Machinery Corporation) 2001 (as FMC Technologies, Inc) |
| Headquarters |
 Houston, Texas, USA |
| Key people |
Peter Kinnear, Chairman John Gremp, President and CEO |
| Products |
Subsea production and processing systems Surface wellhead systems Fluid control equipment Measurement solutions Marine loading systems |
| Revenue |
 $4.126 Billion USD (2010) |
| Net income |
$375.9 Million USD (2010) |
| Employees | 11,500 (2010) |
| Website | fmctechnologies.com |
FMC Technologies, Incorporated (NYSE: FTI), is a U.S.-based oil and gas equipment and services technology company. FMC Technologies] was incorporated in 2000 when FMC Corporation divested its machinery businesses. FMC has its headquarters in northern Houston, Texas.[1]
Named by FORTUNE® Magazine as the World's Most Admired Oil and Gas Equipment, Service Company in 2012, the Company has approximately 18,400 employees and operates 30 production facilities in 16 countries. FMC Technologies designs, manufactures and services systems and products such as subsea production and processing systems, surface wellhead systems, high pressure fluid control equipment, measurement solutions, and marine loading systems for the oil and gas industry.
History
In August 1927, brothers Arthur and Kirby Pennick of Houston founded Oil Center Tool (O-C-T) to produce pump liners and rods for the oilfields of East Texas. In 1930, O-C-T introduced a new type of casing head and tubing head that was an immediate success. Shortly there after the company introduced the first factory-assembled and tested completion wellheads (a.k.a “Christmas trees” in oil field slang). At the time, Christmas trees were assembled and tested on-site – an expensive, time consuming, and dangerous practice.
In 1956 two brothers Paulo and Antonio Viana, both commanders in the Brazilian Navy with experience in the Naval ship yard, went into private business together founding Mecanica CBV. CBV stood for the initials of their father’s name Carlos Barbosa Viana. Their first customer was the National Motor Factory (FNM) for whom they manufactured wheels, axles, and crossheads.
In 1957 FMC Corp (Food, Machinery, and Chemicals), a growing conglomerate with its roots in the manufacture of spray pumps for California’s orchards, acquired OCT. They had already added other brands like WECO and Chiksan to their growing portfolio of oil field related machinery businesses.
In 1961 the president of OCT (Al Wolf) was in Brazil looking for a company to manufacture OCT products under license for the Brazilian market. While visiting Petrobras he asked if they know of any potential candidates. CBV was among those recommended. He showed up at CBV unannounced around 7pm and found Commander Paulo and Antonio still at the plant. He showed the brothers an OCT product catalog (the first time they had seen a wellhead or Christmas tree) and signed a licensing agreement on the spot.
In 1967 Placid awarded OCT its first subsea project at Ship Shoals block 204 in the Gulf-of-Mexico. In 1971 OCT undertook for Placid what was then the world’s largest subsea development at Eugene Island block 296 in the GoM. These early subsea projects were installed in shallow waters (EI296 was at 200 ft) using modified surface Christmas tree technology.
In 1973 OCT was renamed as FMC’s Wellhead Equipment Division.
In 1975 FMC's Wellhead Equipment division expanded internationally, establishing manufacturing facilities in Dunfermline Scotland and Singapore
In 1974 CBV pioneered the development of deepwater oil field technology in the Garoupa field of the Campos Basin using dry Christmas trees inside Lockheed-supplied pressure chambers.
In 1977 CBV delivered their first wet deepwater Christmas tree. Soon CBV was producing diverless wet Christmas trees for ultra deep applications.
In 1980 FMC Corp made its first investments in deepwater subsea oil field technology. Previously they had concentrated on surface and shallow water applications.
With the discovery of the Ekofisk oil field in the early 1970’s in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, the Norwegian government sought to establish an undersea technology industry in Norway. In 1974 Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (“Kongsberg weapons factory” - itself dating back to 1814) established an oil division in the city of Kongsberg (“Kings Mountain”) which had a long tradition of mine engineering, coin minting, and weapons manufacture for the Norwegian state. The first project for the oil division was begun in 1978 and delivered to Elf in 1980. In 1986 the oil division was renamed Kongsberg Offshore. In 1987 the Norwegian state divested itself of all Kongsberg industries not related to weapons manufacture, selling Kongsberg Offshore to Siemens A.S. In 1993 FMC Corp purchased Kongsberg Offshore from Siemens, making FMC the world's largest subsea engineering, procurement and construction company.
In 1998 FMC acquired a controlling interest in CBV.
In 2001 FMC Technologies was spun off from FMC Corp., taking with it the Energy Production, Food Tech, and Airport Systems divisions of FMC’s machinery business.
On April 30, 2008, FMC Technologies announced the spinoff of its airport and food equipment businesses into a separate company named John Bean Technologies Corporation, JBT Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JBT is named after the spray pump inventor whose business was the foundation of FMC Corp.
On October 20, 2009, the Company acquired Multi Phase Meters AS, and on November 2, 2009, acquired Direct Drive Systems, Inc.
In July 2010 the name of the employee credit union was finally changed from OCT Federal Credit Union to FMC Technologies Federal Credit Union.
References
- ↑ "Contact Us." FMC Technologies. Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
External links
