Frontier Energy Group, LLC
Frontier Energy Group, LLC has become one of McKenzie County’s biggest employers. Dan K. Eberhart continues to seek out the area’s most dynamic people and companies – all while maintaining the small town feel that makes Watford City such a great place to live and work.
And Frontier is still growing: In the years since Dan’s arrival in North Dakota, six companies have joined the Frontier family – each bringing with it a comprehensive array of services and a rich mixture of history and success stories.
Frontier Wellhead & Supply, LLC
Frontier Wellhead & Supply has been a leader in wellhead and oilfield services since 1986. The company provides a variety of services in the Williston Basin and is one of the region’s premier suppliers of new and used wellheads, spare parts, equipment refurbishing, and storage.
For over two decades, Frontier Wellhead and supply has provided supplies and support to multi-national customers & smaller local customers. Frontier Wellhead’s vast inventory of new, refurbished, and hard-to-find parts –combined with its reputation for superior service and safety – has helped the company build and maintain a solid presence in the heart of Watford City, ND.
In 2008, Dan Eberhart purchased Frontier Wellhead & Supply Company. Today, the company is the foundation of Frontier Energy Group, LLC.
“The Bone Pile”
In the late 1980s, the oil boom was over: Most of the big companies that had come to North Dakota were packing up and heading for more lucrative locations. But not Frontier Wellhead. Times were tough, but the small, local company didn’t close its doors.
“We hung in there and took care of our customers.” Hovland, then-operations manager at Frontier Wellhead recalled. “We kept a low overhead and were able to cut costs here and there.” But even as the company tightened its budget, Hovland continued buying up used parts and odd pieces of left behind equipment. Today, Frontier’s two-acre “bone pile” is North Dakota’s go-to source for hard-to-find parts.
“With some of the major companies, the philosophy is, ‘you can’t buy it unless you have a sale for it.’ My philosophy is, ‘you can’t sell it if you don’t have it,’” said Hovland. “People say, ‘if you can’t find it, call Frontier, they’ll probably have it.’”
Eventually, the oil business came back to North Dakota. Business in Watford City is booming. The companies that closed up shop 20 years ago are back. And the bone pile is busier than ever.
“A few years ago, I got a call from Texaco,” said Hovland. “They needed a specific piece of equipment and they had been searching all over. There were only four of those pieces of equipment left in the country. Frontier Wellhead had three of them.”
Frontier Pressure Testing, LLC
Frontier Pressure Testing, LLC (formerly Kodiak Stack Testing) was founded in Watford City, North Dakota in 2005 and joined the Frontier in 2009. The company provides a range of services including: BOP testing, stack testing, slot recovery, hydro testing, pumping services, and equipment rental.
Frontier Pressure Testing, LLC began as a small, family-owned business, and it has remained true to its roots. Many of the company’s current employees have been there since the day it opened its doors, and workers still use retired ambulances instead of traditional flatbed pickups.
In the nearly six years the company has been in business, Frontier Pressure Testing, LLC has maintained an almost unheard-of safety record of zero days lost to on-the-job accidents or injuries. That focus on training and safety has helped Frontier Pressure Testing, LLC become one of the area’s premier pressure testing companies.
The Man Behind the Ambulances
When Bob Hvinden (pronounced Vinn-den) decided to start a business, he traveled to Billings, Montana, to purchase a secondhand ambulance. He removed the flashers, gave the vehicle a new paint job, and picked up his first steady client, Paddington Oil. One year (and countless sleepless nights) later, Hvinden had built up a steady list of clients. Soon, the workload was too much for the one-man company.
Hvinden hired more workers – and purchased more ambulances. Frontier Pressure Testing was growing. Eventually, Hvinden’s father and sister moved up from Colorado to help with day-to-day operations.
Today, as part of the Frontier, Frontier Pressure Testing remains true to its small-business roots: Many employees have been with Bob Hvinden since the early days of the company, and Hvinden still prefers ambulances to the flatbed trucks used by some of his competitors.
“Ambulances have air conditioning and heat, and they keep our guys comfortable and our equipment safe,” says Hvinden. “You just have to remember to remove the flashers. You’re not supposed to have them hooked up after you buy an ambulance. Once, we accidentally left the flashers on one of our vehicles – we noticed the mistake when cars started pulling to the side of the road as we drove to a job.”
Cable, LLC
Cable – originally called “Cable Drilling Temperature Well Servicing Company” – was founded in 1948 in Shawnee, OK. Just a few years later, the company moved to Sterling, CO for a temporary job drilling rigs for Shell Oil Company. The job was supposed to last about two months, but Cable never returned to Oklahoma. In the early 1960s, the company shifted its focus from drilling to hydro testing.
Today, the company’s iconic, diamond-shaped logo is synonymous with slickline and hydrostatic testing services in Sterling, CO. Cable joined Frontier in 2009, bringing with it over five decades of experience and a client list that includes companies like Encana and Xcel Energy.
Meet Sidney
Mike Kerker may be the boss, but Cable employees all know who’s really running the show: Sidney. On a typical day at Cable’s main Sterling office, you’ll find Mike’s dog Sidney making the rounds, dropping by someone’s desk in search of an afternoon snack or a warm lap to sit on. Unless it’s raining, that is.
“Thunder makes Sidney nervous,” Kerker says. “If there’s a thunderstorm outside, Sidney will hide out in one of the bathrooms until it’s over.”
For a “shop dog,” Sidney is spoiled rotten. Everyone in the office keeps a few treats hidden in their desk drawers, and there’s always someone willing to play a quick game of fetch during lunch. A few employees are even teaching her some new moves, like rolling over.
Not every company has a resident lap dog. But then again, Cable isn’t your average company. Employees at Cable seem more like members of a large extended family: They eat lunch most days crowded around one big table, laughing and talking. They play good-natured jokes on each other. And, of course, they all love Sidney.
Frontier Hot Oil, LLC
Frontier Hot Oil (formerly Hanson Hot Oil) was founded in Watford City, North Dakota on February 14, 1984. Since then, the company has grown to be the largest hot oil company in the Williston Basin, and it has earned a reputation as one of the premier hot oil companies in the Bakken. The company currently serves more than 100 clients in the area.
Frontier Hot Oil became part of the Frontier in November of 2010. The acquisition created one of the largest privately owned oilfield services company in North Dakota.
A History in Pictures
Every January, Debbie Hanson takes a photo of her husband, Owen, Hanson’s founder holding his birthday cake. Owen says you can track the company’s growth by looking at his clothes in the photos.
“In that first picture, I’m wearing clean clothes and my hair’s all combed,” Hanson says. “But then business picked up and I was working 40-hour shifts at a time, and you can tell in some of those birthday pictures.”
Owen Hanson bought his first truck, Unit 1, in 1984. For the first year, Owen operated Hanson Hot Oil from the cab of Unit 1. Debbie, his wife of 35 years, worked as the company’s office manager and dispatcher. Eventually, Owen got so busy that he didn’t make it home for his birthday picture – or for the surprise party Debbie had planned for him.
“It was my 35th birthday and there were all these people hiding at my house, waiting for me,” Owen recalls. “But I was so busy that night, I didn’t get home until after midnight. Eventually, everybody ate a piece of cake and left. I came home early the next morning to a half-eaten birthday cake.”
Eventually, those late nights and 80-hour weeks paid off: Unit 1 retired to make way for Units 2 through 12, and by the time Owen and Debbie sold Hanson Hot Oil to Frontier Energy Group, the company’s client list included big names like Chevron.