From Well Servicing Magazine, an AESC
publication.
For Charlie Moncla of Moncla Well Service, Lafayette,
Louisiana, his career in the oilfield has always been a family
affair. "My wife and I were high school sweethearts," he said. "I
worked summers and weekends for my future father-in-law beginning
in 1964 as a roughneck and on a swab truck." Moncla's
father-in-law, Cecil Guinn, owned Pelican Well Service in
Lafayette. After college, Moncla left the family business to work
for McEvoy valve company, a division of Rockwell Manufacturing.
However, after only a year, his father-in-law offered him a job at
Pelican Well Service. "He said I would roughneck for a year and
then he would break me into sales and management, so I went to
work for him," Moncla explained.
That family tradition is still
apparent today at Moncla Well Service where Charlie works with his
sons Mike and Marc, as well as his brother Buck.
After his year as a roughneck, Charlie went into field sales
and took charge of the safety program at Pelican. "We didn't
really have a written safety program then, so I developed and
implemented one," he said. This position gave Moncla the
opportunity to get acquainted with all of the hands and listen to
their thoughts on the company and its policies. "At that point, I
really got involved in understanding the operations, seeing what
went on, and understanding what was involved in making the whole
thing happen." In 1977, Moncla became vice president and manager
of sales and operations upon Guinn's untimely death.
In 1984, Moncla left Pelican Well Service to start Moncla Well
Service. He purchased and refurbished Rig #1 and added two new
rigs. "No one had seen brand new rigs in Louisiana in several
years," Moncla stated. "Being able to see new iron was a plus. It
helped us get our foot in the door."
As the company grew, Moncla purchased mostly used equipment at
auctions and refurbished it. In the early 1990's, Moncla
completely refurbished two 24-hour units, which are working today.
In 1996 Moncla Well Service purchased another daylight rig which
was refurbished by Johnston & Lawrence. A year later, the
company purchased Lafayette Well Service adding three more rigs to
its fleet. During that same year, Moncla Well Service expanded its
operations to East Texas, opening an office in Liberty. In
November of 1998, the company will begin its 15th year in
business, with plans of continued growth through refurbishment of
equipment and other acquisitions.
The main emphasis at Moncla Well Service focuses on the needs
of the employees. Training and reward programs are a vital part of
the company's success. "You have to be confident that your people
are going to do a great job," Moncla stressed.
As part of the safety program, the company gives away cash
awards to employees for good safety records. Employees who work
safely also qualify to win a pick-up truck every year at Christmas
time. Rewards for longtime employees come in the form of pay
increases. "We have 65 guys who have been with us for over 5
years, and probably 10 or 12 of them are supervisors, the rest are
roughnecks, which is highly unusual," Moncla said. "I can remember
back when I was with Pelican, the hands would rotate between each
of the workover companies every four or five months. So when I
started Moncla Well Service, I wanted to provide incentives to
stay with our company, and we've really been fortunate in doing
that." The company also provides a profit sharing plan. "These
incentives help avoid employee turnover and makes them an integral
part of our team," he said.
The family atmosphere at Moncla Well Service is apparent the
moment you walk in the door. Moncla's sons have been a part of the
business since they were young. "Every summer the boys worked in
the yard," he said.
Now, sons Mike and Marc are involved in
sales and operations. Matt, his youngest son, is completing his
college degree. Dad has plans for him to roughneck, and then work
his way into the family business. "I had hoped, even when I was at
Pelican," Moncla began, "that someday all of us would be together.
Now that we're all at Moncla Well Service, it is a wonderful
delight everyday. I love having my children around me. Every
morning I see them at the office, we have our morning coffee, we
take our morning reports, and it's just great."
"The children have come to find that the business is very, very
hard, but it's very rewarding," Moncla said, "and it's a wonderful
feeling when you do a good job.
We get letters from customers
complimenting our crews, tool pushers, rigs and equipment. When
the boys get those letters, you can just see the satisfaction in
their faces, knowing Moncla Well Service has done another great
job. It's the satisfaction I got 20 years ago at Pelican Well
Service. I've always wanted my children to be a part of the
industry."
Moncla's first experience with the AESC was through his
father-in-law who was an active member on the local level in the
1960's and 1970's. Through the Association, Cecil Guinn knew
Charlie Holston who became one of Moncla's mentors when he was
with Pelican Well Service. "One of my favorite AESC stories comes
from a managers seminar about 20 years ago," Moncla said. "There
was a program on value pricing and Charlie Holston was asked how
he determined his prices. He explained that he based them on the
purchase value of his rig. When the question was turned to me, I
told the group that 'I'd just call Mr. Holston, hopefully get his
price, and I'd be $10 cheaper."' Well, what comes around goes
around, and now, I believe, Moncla Well Service is $10 higher,
with an 85 percent average utilization."
Consolidations continue to be a hot topic in the well servicing
industry. However, Moncla says that the changes really haven't
affected his business. "The goal is to make money in the well
servicing business," Moncla stressed.
"The large oil companies
make billions of dollars a year and the service companies are
struggling to show a 3 percent to 4 percent profit. I think that
consolidation, if anything, will help the contractors get their
rates up."
"Thirty years ago, my father-in-law told me, 'you know Charlie,
this is not a pretty job. We're kind of the janitors of the
oilfield. When everything is finished and we've cleaned out and
completed the well, we are the same people who have to clean up
the location and the rig, and move on to the next job."
"Thirty years have passed and the work remains the same, but
the industry standards have caused us to bring our professionalism
to another level in areas of operational efficiency, environmental
awareness, safety planning and programs," Moncla said. "Some might
still consider us the janitors of the oil and gas industry, but my
view has changed through the years. I believe we are the doctors
of the industry. When a well is sick, we're called in to fix
it."
Moncla Well Service continues to grow and plans are in place to
add more equipment to the fleet.
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