One of the wells had been shut in for thirteen years. Offshore Trinidad and Tobago, wax and mineral scale had blocked production tubing on a satellite platform. Conventional mechanical and hydraulic interventions had failed to restore flow. The difficulty was partly underground, partly above it: limited deck space, limited crane capacity, and equipment that had to fit the place where the work actually happened.
- Expro helps operators build, test, repair and eventually retire wells.
- Its advantage often comes from fitting the job’s physical constraints.
- Customers buy equipment and expertise together, sometimes under multiyear contracts.
Expro’s answer was CoilHose, a compact intervention system, paired with a bottom-hole assembly tailored to narrow tubing. The company reports restoring access across all five wells in the programme, including the long-idle one, and an immediate production uplift. That is a useful introduction to Expro. Start with the obstruction. Then consider everything preventing someone from removing it.
01 / The cupboard came first
The original business began in Great Yarmouth in 1973. John Trewhella, Humphry Green and Jim Ross established Exploration and Production Services (North Sea) in an office beneath the stairs, remembered internally as the “broom cupboard.” Its first job arrived on Christmas Eve: testing a well at Wytch Farm in Dorset.
By 1975, Expro had opened premises in Aberdeen and won production work from Hamilton Brothers at the Argyll field, which delivered Britain’s first North Sea oil. A later company history recalls the award letter’s advice: “by jealously guarding your reputation, Expro would achieve success”. In field services, the next contract can depend on how convincingly you finished the last one.
02 / The expensive part is waiting
Expro serves exploration and production companies, from national oil companies to international majors and independents. Its crews and technology work onshore and offshore. Well testing establishes what a reservoir can deliver. Flow management measures and handles what emerges. Intervention tackles trouble inside existing wells. Subsea access equipment provides controlled access to wells beneath the sea.
The business earns revenue through equipment and service contracts. An operator can buy a defined intervention or commission a larger package of production support. In September 2026, Expro announced that operations had begun under a four-year, approximately $380 million agreement in Algeria, covering production optimization and well management across multiple fields. That figure describes a programme, rather than a price list.
A smaller case makes the purchasing logic easier to see. Expro reports unloading two exploration wells within 48 hours using CoilHose and nitrogen injection. The customer selected it over coiled tubing partly for expected savings. Compact equipment allowed preparation alongside other operations, reducing competition for critical rig time. The purchase includes the time and handling demands surrounding the tool.
- 01Explore & test
- 02Construct
- 03Produce
- 04Intervene
- 05Retire
03 / A button replaces a dangerous position
Consider another repetitive job: connecting lengths of casing or tubing. Expro’s iTONG automates connection makeup and validation. In a West African deepwater campaign, the company reports cutting connection makeup time by 50%, saving an estimated ten rig hours per completion. Its iCAM analysis system evaluates connections while personnel can remain outside the hazardous rig-floor “red zone.”
The interesting combination is speed and exposure. An operation repeated many times offers repeated opportunities for delay and injury. Automating it can change both. Following that deployment, Expro says the customer began exploring wider use. A successful field result becomes the argument for the next deployment. There is no need to imagine a sudden conversion to automation.
“Our goal has been to deliver a strong capital structure from which to grow our business.”Mike Jardon, on Expro’s 2018 restructuring
04 / The company needed repairs, too
Technical usefulness did not insulate Expro from financial trouble. It entered Chapter 11 in December 2017 amid an industry downturn. The restructuring completed in early 2018 eliminated $1.4 billion of funded debt, removed roughly $80 million in annual interest payments and brought $200 million in new equity. The financial structure required intervention even while field operations continued.
In 2021, the merger with Frank’s International added drilling and completion capabilities to Expro’s well-access and flow expertise. It also explains the apparently conflicting birthdays: legacy Expro began in 1973; Frank’s history reaches back to 1938. The combination broadened the work available to one organization across a well’s life.
The accounts put a limit on any easy growth story. Expro reported $1.607 billion in 2025 revenue, down from $1.713 billion in 2024, while reporting $52 million in net income. Revenue scale and profitability are different questions. For a company maintaining equipment and field crews, the flow of cash deserves attention alongside the flow from wells.
More acquisitions followed. Coretrax brought drilling, cleanup and expandable tubular technologies in 2024. In July 2026, Expro completed its purchase of Enhanced Drilling for approximately NOK2 billion in cash. At announcement, that was about $215 million. Managed pressure drilling takes Expro further into the problem of controlling pressure while constructing difficult wells.
05 / Keep the promise measurable
Expro occupies the services layer between oilfield operators and the technical work their assets require. Its case against a broad integrated supplier, or a specialist contractor, rests on the relevant equipment, people and execution plan. The practical lesson is portable: measure the constraint before selecting the technology. A tool that saves handling time may matter more than one with a more impressive specification.
The conditions still matter. A compact intervention needs compatible well geometry, pressure conditions and an effective treatment for the obstruction. Recovering access does not guarantee an economic reservoir. Offshore schedules, operator budgets and geopolitical disruption can overwhelm a contractor’s efficiency gains. In July 2026, Expro reported that Middle East disruption had tempered second-quarter performance.
The work is also becoming digital. SafeWells V5, developed with Evoilve and announced in September 2026, connects well-integrity surveillance and workflows. It extends the same basic proposition: give operators a clearer view of the next problem. Expro’s most persuasive story remains the specific job, the measured result and the equipment that fits through the door.