Staff

President and Founder

Mr. Krummrich received his mechanical engineering degree from West Virginia University and has worked in the upstream oil and gas industry for more than 35 years. He spent 15 years with Chevron Corporation in many different types of responsibility and geographic areas, from drilling and workover foreman / engineer through supervisory and training positions in […]

Mr. Krummrich received his mechanical engineering degree from West Virginia University and has worked in the upstream oil and gas industry for more than 35 years. He spent 15 years with Chevron Corporation in many different types of responsibility and geographic areas, from drilling and workover foreman / engineer through supervisory and training positions in onshore and offshore operations in areas including the mid-continent, California offshore and overseas. Mr. Krummrich then took the position of Engineering Manager for two years with Kenai Drilling Limited, a California-based drilling contractor. He spent two years as the Drilling Manager for Venoco, Inc. where he helped build a high performance drilling department that engineered and managed drilling, completion and remedial operations in seven oil and gas fields in four states and four different oilfield areas, including Platform Holly. In October of 1998, Mr. Krummrich founded KEC. Under his management, KEC has specialized in offshore California drilling, completion, remediation, and plug and abandon well work and project management of hundreds of offshore wells from 1998 to present. The KEC team is second to none in platform rig refurbishment ad equipment design and placement on California platforms. In-house knowledge of offshore wellhead systems is unique. Mr. Krummrich has operated in the position of Chief Engineer for all the projects that KEC has been involved with.  

Relevant Experience prior to founding KEC
Drilling Manager:
Workover Operations, Various Locations. Managed an eight person drilling department operating from two different offices (Santa Barbara and Denver). Supervised four engineers, a technician, and two technical assistants. Managed drilling, completion, and major workover operations in seven fields in four states, including Santa Clara CA (~8,000’ highly deviated directional wells, and one horizontal well), Willows/Grimes Northern CA (~8,000’ 12 – 14 ppg emw gas wells), Beverly Hills CA urban site (moderately deviated directional wells), Pieance Basin Colorado (6,500’ straight-holes), Big Mineral Creek Texas (highly deviated directional from offshore pads in Lake Texoma), and Gwinville Mississippi (6,000’ – 14,000’ normally pressured gas wells). Managed the refurbishment of the LA Basin Beverly Hills urban site-drilling rig that had been stacked for 15 years and brought it back to working condition and drilled two wells. Managed the construction and mobilization of a 15,000’ very versatile platform-drilling rig onto Platform Holly, located in the state-waters of California. This was significant because Platform Holly is a 30-year-old platform that has severe political, air emission, space, and power constraints. 

Project and Engineering Manager: Environmental Engineering Projects, California. Developed turnkey and managed project business. Project manager for wells drilled from 6,000’ to 11,000’ in the San Joaquin, Central California, and Coastal California areas. During this period drilled six turnkey wells and project managed the drilling of five wells. Developed a computerized well planning and wellsite reporting system used to accurately plan and track projects in real time. Trained rig pushers to effectively utilize a computer and the wellsite reporting systems. Orchestrated the development and contracting of a 3man shallow drilling rig which moved in 2 hours and fit on small production pads. Drilling Superintendent/Engineer: Chevron, Drilling of Wells, California. Engineered and supervised the drilling of wells at Lost Hills, Coalinga, and in Northern California. Initiated and managed a wellsite incentive program that helped reduce drilling costs in Lost Hills by 30%. Sr. Drilling Engineer: Chevron, Engineering Projects, California. Worked with the Chevron team of production and reservoir engineers, geologists, and facility engineers to oversee, in concert with the 

Department of Energy, the operations of Bechtel Engineering at Navy Petroleum Reserves #1 & 2 at Elk Hills. Worked alongside Bechtel engineers to plan and drill the first series of highly successful horizontal wells. Received quality management training and then helped train many Elk Hills employees in quality improvement techniques and processes. Drilling Foreman: Chevron, Wellsite Supervision, Northern California. Wellsite supervision of the drilling, completion, and remediation of straight-hole and directional gas wells in the Willows, Grimes, and Rio Vista areas. Offshore Platform Drilling Engineer: Chevron, Well Projects, California. Engineered and supervised, under the guidance of a drilling superintendent, ten highly deviated wells on Platform Hidalgo in the Point Arguello field in Federal OCS waters. Engineered and supervised an offshore exploratory well drilled from a semi-submersible drilling vessel. Construction liaison between drilling, mud, and cement contractors and Chevron platform facility groups. Responsible for negotiating initial drilling rig, cement, mud, catering contracts for Platforms Hermosa, Hidalgo, Gail, and Esther. Worked with Chevron Offshore Technology division to help design the drilling rigs and associated equipment for seismic design acceptability. 

Drilling Engineer/Foreman: Deep-Water Drilling, Spain/Mediterranean Sea. Worked with a team in Madrid to engineer the Montinaso deep-water drilling project, a well drilled in 2,500’ of water offshore Spain from a dynamically positioned drill ship, at that time, the deepest- water subsea well to date. Part of a sixman drilling foreman team that successfully drilled the well. Drilling Engineer: Chevron Training Group, Well Control Training, New Orleans, Louisiana. Taught well control at Chevron’s domestic drilling office locations and international locations: Saudi Arabia, Aberdeen Scotland, and Copenhagen Denmark. Taught advanced drilling and floating drilling courses in New Orleans and Aberdeen. Offshore Drilling Foreman: Platform Wells, La Habra/Oxnard, California. Wellsite supervision of the drilling and completion of platform wells in the Santa Barbara Channel. Wellsite supervision of exploratory and delineation wells from semi-submersible, drillship, and jack-up rigs in the Point Arguello field. Drilling Foreman: Wellsite Supervision, Midland, Texas. Wellsite supervision of the drilling, completion, remediation, and fracture and acid stimulation of wells in the West Texas and New Mexico areas. Wellsite supervision of the drilling, completion, remediation, and fracture and acid stimulation of wells in Northeast Texas and Oklahoma areas.

 

COO and Principal

Paul graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical & Petroleum Engineering in 1989.  Paul started his career with Westcoast Petroleum as a field operator and progressed to a Production Engineer responsible for Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada.  Following an Area Engineer role at NAL that included reservoir engineering […]

Paul graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical & Petroleum Engineering in 1989.  Paul started his career with Westcoast Petroleum as a field operator and progressed to a Production Engineer responsible for Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada.  Following an Area Engineer role at NAL that included reservoir engineering and A&D responsibilities as well as all operations, he joined a junior Canadian oil & gas company operating in Northern Russia as a Sr. Operations Engineer responsible for drilling, completion, and production operations.  Between 2003 and 2010 Paul was involved in starting up several businesses. The first, McGinnisCodd & Associates was an engineering firm that helped small E&P start-ups with asset evaluation, their subsequent operations, and also provided project management, operations engineering, and field personnel for international projects in S. America, N. Africa, and India.  Paul was then COO/VP Engineering for two small E&P start-ups that were built and successfully sold. Paul moved to the US in 2011, with BNK Petroleum, to familiarize himself with unconventional resources. As Manager of Engineering and Operations he was responsible for all drilling, completions, and production operations in the Woodford and Caney shales, while also managing corporate reserves and the Land Department. Paul is very experienced in managing the day-to-day operations of both production and consulting companies that also provided project management and engineering services for drilling, completions, and production operations both Internationally and in the USA.

Engineering Manager, Principal

After graduating with honors from Texas Tech University with a Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Zachry relocated to California and began a career in oil and gas as a Field Engineer for Baker Oil Tools. Jake quickly rose through the ranks at Baker Hughes and held several Field and Applications Engineering positions before ultimately becoming the Western […]

After graduating with honors from Texas Tech University with a Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Zachry relocated to California and began a career in oil and gas as a Field Engineer for Baker Oil Tools. Jake quickly rose through the ranks at Baker Hughes and held several Field and Applications Engineering positions before ultimately becoming the Western Area Engineering Manager. After leaving Baker Hughes, Mr. Zachry worked as an offshore wellsite manager in both state and federal waters before joining the Krummrich Engineering team in 2012 as a Sr. Project Engineer.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

July 2015 to Present:                                                     Krummrich Engineering Corporation
Reno, Nevada

Sr. Project Engineer
Provide drilling, workover and completion engineering services to oil and gas operators in California and Nevada. Responsible for technical recommendations, cost estimation and AFE preparation, regulatory compliance and general project management.

August 2012 to July 2015:                                            Krummrich Engineering Corporation
Ventura, California

Sr. Project Engineer
Provide drilling, workover and completion engineering services to oil and gas operators in California. Responsible for technical recommendations, cost estimation and AFE preparation, regulatory compliance and general project management.

March 2012 to August 2012:                                      Krummrich Engineering Corporation
Ventura, California

Drilling Consultant
Supervised offshore well work including completions, work-over, remedial/stimulation and fishing operations. Managed equipment, material and personnel scheduling and logistics. Worked in both state and federal waters and acted as primary on-site contact for respective regulatory agencies (DOGGR and BSEE). Responsible for regulatory compliance of well work operations.

November 2010 to March 2012:                             Baker Hughes – Baker Oil Tools – US Land
Ventura, California

Applications Engineering Manager, Western Area
Oversee applications engineering team and technical support activities in US Land, Western Area. Assist Western Area Field Engineers in career advancement and development.  Manage a team of ten engineers with varied levels of experience and education. Act as new product and technology champion for Western Area. Work with customers on high priority, technically challenging projects. Assist University Recruiting Team with recruiting and hiring new graduate engineers US Land Region.

July 2008 to November 2010:                                  Baker Hughes – Baker Oil Tools – US Land Ventura, California

Western Area Support Engineer
Provided applications engineering services and technical support for all Baker Oil Tools districts and product segments in California including Cased Hole Completions, Wellbore Intervention, Wellbore Construction and Sand Control Services. Assisted HS&E and Quality teams in implementation and maintenance of new programs and systems.

October 2006 to July 2008:                                      Baker Hughes – Baker Oil Tools – US Land Ventura, California

District Engineer
Provided applications engineering services and technical support for Baker Oil Tools Ventura district. Worked intimately with customers to design cased hole completions, fishing programs and  workover operations to best address their specific applications. Trained and mentored field engineers and field service trainees. Spent a considerable amount of time in the field supervising the installation of Baker Oil Tools equipment on land and offshore. Supervised 80+ field installations while in this position.

February 2006 to October 2006:                              Baker Hughes – Baker Oil Tools – US Land Ventura, California

Field Engineer Trainee – Cased Hole Completions
Worked in warehouse redressing and repairing used rental tools and customer equipment. Attended classes and training sessions to increase knowledge of Baker Oil Tools products and general industry knowledge. Observed field operations and trained with experienced, qualified personnel. ‘Broke-out’ and began supervising field installations independently by April 2006.

June 1999 to August 2004:                                      Erb Products
Carson City, Nevada

Centrifugal Compressor Technician
Repaired, refurbished and modified Paxton, McCollugh and Kaiser centrifugal superchargers for vintage automobiles. Used machine shop equipment to build and repair obsolete and unobtainable replacement parts. Repaired and modified heavy equipment such as bulldozers, loaders and tractors.

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Horizontal Producers                                                                                                           2015

  • Worked with a California operator to drill 3 wells near San Ardo, California
  • First well was a test well that was drilled to 2231′, logged and abandoned to surface in 4 days
  • Second and third wells were horizontal producers drilled to ~3600 MD, 1700′ TVD

Exploratory Gas Wells                                                                                                         2014-2015

  • Worked with gas storage operator to engineer and drill two exploratory wells in search of native gas near Goleta, CA
  • Drilled both wells on time and under budget
  • Engineered and supervised the completion and testing
  • Drill site located in Santa Barbara County, in the flight path of the Santa Barbara Airport, on a site of cultural significance to the Chumash tribe and approximately 200 yards from the ocean
  • Worked within environment, noise, transportation and cultural guidelines put in place by the state, county, city, FAA and other applicable regulatory agencies

Coalinga, Pyramid Hills and Midway Sunset Drilling                                             2013-2014

  • Drilled 14 wells in Coalinga
  • Drilled 38 wells in Midway Sunset
  • Drilled 4 wells in Pyramid Hills

Entire project completed on time and under budget with only one recordable incident and no recordable injuries

Directional Redrills                                                                                                               2012-2013

  • Worked with local operator and out of state partner on two challenging directional redrills
  • Wells originally drilled in the 1940s. Remedial work was required before redrilling could commence
  • Exited 7” casing 9000’+ deep and directionally redrilled 6-1/8” hole to 10,100’+ TD
  • Completed wells with high pressure liner equipment for anticipated fracture stimulation

Midway Sunset Cyclic Steam Drilling Project                                                                  2012-2013

  • Worked with independent operator to drill 22 shallow steam wells in the Midway Sunset area
  • Reduced average days per well from four to three
  • Reduced average cost per well by approximately $20,000 (10-15% savings)

Primary Production and Cyclic Steam Pliot                                                                      2012-2013

  • Worked with independent operator to recomplete two purchased wells near Coalinga and place on primary production
  • Managed primary production of wells into temporary facilities
    • Minimized daily cost while gathering invaluable production data
    • Based on success of initial program, operator has planned to drill four new wells and launch a steam pilot program

Safety Joint with Indicating Feature          US Patent Application 13151,878                2011

  • Designed Rotationally Locked Shear-Out Safety Joint with indicating collet for positive reengagement
  • Allows operator to retrieve and reuse valuable gravel-pack assembly and replace it with low-cost isolation assembly. Collet and matching housing profile provides positive indication of reengagement and verification by over-pull
  • Designed two product models: 3-1/2” and 5-1/2” nominal sizes
  • Coordinated with local machine shop to build prototypes. Conducted all function and integrity tests locally 

AT Liner Hanger Design and Marketing                                                                2010 – 2011

  • Collaborated with Region Engineering group and Area Sales group to develop a low-cost, hydraulic-set, rotating liner hanger for California market
  • Coordinated with outside suppliers to ensure compliance with BHI quality plan
  • Consulted with Area Sales group to bring AT Liner Hanger to market
  • Reduced cost of sales by over 40% and regained lost market share

Western Area Pressure Testing Initiative                                                              2008 – Present

  • Designed pump systems for hydraulic pressure testing of down-hole equipment in five district facilities
  • Liaised with vendors to procure system components
  • Assembled and installed pump systems on-site
  • Evaluated existing test enclosures and made necessary modifications to ensure compliance with Health Safety and Environmental policy
  • Wrote site-specific testing procedures and provided hands-on training and certifications for operators
  • Designed and built digital data acquisition module to record pressure tests
  • Perform yearly calibration process on data acquisition transducers

California Public Resource Code Revision                                                                           2008

  • Petitioned California Department of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) to revise antiquated regulations preventing the use of liner-top packers
  • Gathered field data demonstrating real-world benefits of liner top packers
  • Researched and presented examples of US and Canadian legislation that had been revised in light of technological advances in liner-top packers
  • Hosted several meetings with DOGGR representatives and officials
  • Succeeded in persuading local DOGGR to adopt a Field Rule allowing the use of certain liner-top packers. Field Rule was eventually nullified by DOGGR in Sacramento

Equalizing Injections Tool for Heavy Oil Conditioning   US Patent 7650941                2007-2010

  • Designed injection tool to provide equalized pressure and flow-rate while injecting fluids over long intervals
  • Built and tested prototype
  • Filed patent in 2007; Patent was granted in 2010

EDUCATION

Texas Tech University         Lubbock, TX                                      Graduated December 2005

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with Minor in Mathematics
Graduated Cum Laude in Honors Studies