Our Staff

Administration

Photo: Jim Clifford Jim Clifford
President 		Photo: Tom Needham Tom Needham
Vice President - Operations
Photo: Bob French Bob French
Sales Manager 		Photo: Don Boulet Don Boulet
Operations Manager - Northern California
Photo: Andy Philips Andy Philips
Technical Services Manager
Email: ajphil@geodf.com 		Photo: Chuck Cartwright Chuck Cartwright
HES Risk Manager
Photo: Travis Adams Travis Adams
Regional Sales - West Coast
Email: travis@geodf.com 		Photo: Kevin Helms Kevin Helms
Senior Mud Engineer
Photo: Brad Bush Brad Bush
Operations Manager - El Centro/Brawley 		Photo: Bob Dailey Bob Dailey
Sales Manager - Eastern Rockies
Photo: Tim New Tim New
Operations Manager - Eastern Rockies 		   

Jim Clifford

President of GEO Drilling Fluids, Inc.

Jim has 38 years of industry experience including 33 years direct drilling fluids experience. He has managed and supervised oil, gas and geothermal operations in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Michigan. Among numerous other accomplishments he designed and managed the drilling fluids program for the deepest well ever drilled in California, he designed and managed the first successful true closed loop (“dewatering while drilling”) drilling mud reclamation system, pioneered the first use of low toxicity OBM in California, and designed and supervised the successful 17.5 ppg kill fluids, for the deepest relief and intercept well (>17,000’) in the United States at the time.

Tom Needham

Vice President - Operations

Tom has 35 years of drilling fluid experience as a Mud Engineer, Field Supervisor, Regional Manager and Overall Operations manager. He has had a wide variety of deep, high pressure, high temperature experiences. His international experience includes Northern Italy, the North Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Tom came to California where he worked as a senior mud engineer on some of the most challaging wells in the state.

He then went to work for GEO Drilling Fluids in 1985 as a mud engineer, became Area Manager in 1989, and Vice President of Operations in 1992. Tom currently supervises over forty field engineers, researches and writes mud programs, and provides on site contact with customers on a regular basis.Tom has overseen the introduction of GEO’s KlayCon, low pH mud system, and a third generation water base fluid called PolyTeK+.

Bob French

Sales Manager

Bob has 38 years experience in the drilling fluids business. He graduated from Magcobar Drilling Fluids School in 1972. He also attended Dresser’s Drilling Engineers and Technical Sales Training School, along with many other seminars and training sessions on drilling fluids and sales. In June 1998 Bob graduated from California State University Bakersfield.

After completing mud school, Bob spent 2 years in Algeria and 5 years in Norway, Denmark and Scotland as an engineer, Salesman and Manager of sales and engineering. In 1979 he moved to Bakersfield where he has been in sales with Magcobar Drilling Mud Inc., Profco, and since July 1993, GEO Drilling Fluids, Inc.

Bob plays a large role in the oil field community in the San Joaquin Valley. He has helped raise money for scholarships for deserving students in the region.

Don Boulet

Operations Manager - Northern California

Andy Philips

Technical Services Manager

 Andy has been Technical Services Manager for GEO Drilling Fluids for 14 years. Prior to that he had 16 years field experience in drilling fluids. His mud engineering experience included all types of wells including deep oil base, geothermal and many water based oil and gas wells.

 For several years Andy helped develop, design, operate and manage Dewatering Services. This job took him to Siberia for extended periods. While there he trained Russian nationals in the use of a GEO designed dewatering unit as well as drilling mud testing equipment and procedures.

As Technical Services Manager Andy provides QA/QC for existing products, evaluation of new suppliers' products and development of new products. Under his supervision GEO has developed a lost circulation plug and a third generation WBM. Trouble shooting field muds on an as needed 24/7 basis is also part of his job. Testing equipment purchase and repair finds its way into Andy's busy days as well.

In addition to mud technology Andy developed and supervises the use of an electronic mud report system. He is also the Safety Officer for the company. Along with Jim Clifford, Andy developed the in house Mud School and teaches the school as part of his duties. 

Chuck Cartwright

HES Risk Manager

Chuck was born in Riverside CA. Immediately after his 18th birthday he joined the United States Army as a Combat Medic. While serving in the military, Chuck became a certified Emergency Medical Technician were he used his training and skills to work in the Emergency Room at Weed Army Community Hospital.

After leaving the Army, Chuck worked as a Field Service Engineer for US Filter Corporation where he worked with start teams in their process water division. Chuck primarily worked in power plants and in oil fields (on and offshore). In 2002 he relocated to Bakersfield. He owned and operated an insurance company were he focused on insurance programs for energy service companies. While working in the insurance industry he earned his Certified Insurance Counselor Designation from The National Alliance and his B.S Management Degree from California Coast University. He has attended Green Belt training and has many ours of safety and loss control training. Chuck is currently working on completing his Certified Risk Management Designation.

Prior to joining GEO Drilling Fluids, he worked as the Corporate Health and Wellness Administrator for a large multi-state oil field construction company. Currently he serves as the Secretary/Treasurer for the Association of Energy Service Companies and is a Board Member for t e Wounded Heroes Fund. Chuck is passionate about helping people and is looking forward to working with each and every employee.
Travis Adams

Regional Sales  - West Coast

My journey in Bakersfield started in 1989 after leaving the Imperial Valley. I grew up in Holtville, Ca., just east of El Centro. After moving to Bakersfield I attended North High School from 1990-1994. During my four years at North High I participated in football and soccer, but golf was my passion. I played golf all four years of high school, which led me to attend Bakersfield College and pursue golf further. (My father introduced me to golf at a very young age and golf continues to be an important part of my life). After B.C., I continued my education at San Diego State Univ. finishing with a degree in Business Administration.

Upon moving back to Bakersfield I worked at two country clubs here in town before going to work with GEO Drilling Fluids. My first stop was Seven Oaks Country Club where I waited tables and managed banquets. These positions taught me how to handle many different personalities in a professional manner. This has been extremely helpful out at the rig and in the offices of our customers. After working at Seven Oaks I went to Stockdale C. C. to be an assistant golf pro thinking this would be a good fit considering my golfing background. I realized working on the golf side of the country club actually meant less golf. I then accepted a position as food and beverage manager for Stockdale C.C. This position required daily and monthly inventories of food and beverages, scheduling staff, controlling monthly labor costs and event scheduling. All of these skills I use as a mud engineer in my daily activities from scheduling loads to be delivered to controlling well costs, scheduling tour treatments, and dealing with the different personalities we encounter. Also, dealing with last minute changes and staying calm under pressure are very important to both industries. Sometimes getting along with all parties involved out at the rig isn’t easy but extremely important.

Moving into the Oil and Gas industry was a great move. Over the last seven years I have run mud throughout California from Brawley to Grimes working for many of the operators in California. I moved into the office at the beginning of 2009 and have been handling regional sales since. My wife Julie and I love the Bakersfield area and have no plans on leaving. We have an 18 month old daughter named Courtney and another daughter on the way June 9th. I look forward to working with all of you for a long time to come. Thanks for everything!!!!

Kevin Helms

Senior Mud Engineer

Kevin grew up in Bakersfield, the oldest of four siblings. He received a B.S. degree from the University of California at Davis in Environmental Horticulture/Urban Forestry. Inspired by family and friends, he soon found his way to GEO Drilling Fluids in 2001 with great anticipation to experience all that the oil patch had to offer. One generation removed, both of Kevin’s grandfathers are retired geologists from Union Oil and Standard Oil. He would often hear stories of late night logging runs, well control events and overseas adventures in Europe and Bahrain during his visits with them.

After his first trip to a drilling rig and learning all that the oil fields had to offer, Kevin was inspired to pursue a career as a Mud Engineer with GEO. With GEO, Kevin began in the Diatomite fields of Belridge, then on to a 19,000’ exploratory well with Oxy. Next he was running mud up and down California, utilizing several types of drilling fluids including GEO’s oil based PetroDrill and ultra-high performance water base PolyTeK+ drilling fluids.  All that experience culminated in a promotion to the office. There he is learning the business aspects of GEO under the close tutelage of senior management. Kevin also assists Andy with his laboratory duties, including field mud trouble shooting and customer specific evaluations. Kevin helps Jim and Tom with data processing, well programming and tracking of the daily progress of drilling fluid performance on high profile wells. Kevin continues to gain valuable experience within the company and strives to be a positive influence on the growth and success of GEO Drilling Fluids.

Brad Bush

Operations Manager - El Centro/Brawley

I was born and grew up in beautiful Lander, Wyoming. After graduating high school there, I moved on to finish two years at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. In the summer after my second year of college, I got a job on the first rig I had ever seen (a workover rig). When I realized the money to be made — I went with the money and passed on the education. On Oct. 20th that same year, the temperature dropped to 12 degrees below zero, which prompted me to move on to an oilfield supply company, where I stayed for the next seven years. With them I managed stores in Dickinson, North Dakota and Gillette, Wyoming.

When the oilfield crashed in the early 80s, I ended up selling drill bits to what was left of the oilfield in Wyoming and also to waterwell drillers. After three years of lean times, I was offered the opportunity to go "roughnecking" again on a Geothermal project in Heber, Calif. That job took me to other Geothermal projects, mostly in California. I drilled on a rig in the Imperial Valley (Calif.) for 10 years, where I still reside with my wife, Joan. We have two grown children and two grandchildren.

I started my career with GEO in July of 2000. I’ve worked on Geothermal projects in the Imperial Valley, Coso Junction, Mammoth Lakes, and various places in Nevada. I’ve also worked oil and gas wells in California and Wyoming.

With our increased participation in the Geothermal industry I was asked to help out with sales and managing the growing number of Geothermal accounts. At the present time, we are staying very active with rigs in California and Nevada.

GEO has been a great company to work for and I’m very thankful for all the people that I’ve had the pleasure of working with and I am looking forward to working with a lot more of you in the future.

Bob Dailey

Sales Manager - Eastern Rockies

I grew up in South America where my father was an executive for Exxon. I went to elementary school in Bogotá, Colombia where I first became interested in the oilfields. I flew over the Andes mountains with my dad to a drilling rig in the Llanos (South American plains). We landed on a dirt airstrip and took a 10 mile jeep ride into the mountains. I remember that they delivered meals to the Roughnecks on the rig floor in metal buckets. Times have sure changed since then.

We moved to Caracas, Venezuela where I graduated from high school at Colegio Internacional de Caracas in 1976. It shocks people that this Irish guy speaks fluent Spanish.

I attended the University of Houston for 2 years and then in 1978 attended mud school with IMCO Services. (A division of Halliburton back then, today the I in M-I). I broke out as a Mudman in Tyler, Texas running mostly Low Solids Non-Dispersed (LSND) muds and Lignosulfonate systems.

My son Scott was born in Tyler in 1980. The oilfields slowed down in 1983 so I went to Louisiana Tech and received a B.S. in Marketing in 1985.

After college the oilfield was still not hiring so I moved to Florida and sold everything from copiers to underground utilities (fire hydrants, pipe, etc.). It was good training in cold calling and dealing with customers. Still wanting to get back in the "Patch" I went to work for Delta Gulf Pipeline Co. We constructed 36" gas lines for Tennessee Gas in New England.

In 1996 I moved to Bakersfield and began a career with GEO Drilling Fluids. I immediately fell in love with GEO and my second wife, Marian, whom I met two weeks after arriving. We have been married 12 years and I gained 2 more kids, Justin and Angel.

In California, I worked the Fillmore area, Calipatria (Geothermal), and the Lost Hills deep exploration projects. The Lost Hills work was all oil based fluids.

In 2003 Tim New and I started up the Rocky Mountain Operations for GEO Drilling Fluids in North Dakota and Montana. I moved here with my wife in 2005 after two years of commuting. I live in Sidney, a small town on the Yellowstone river in Eastern Montana. I don't get out in the field much anymore. Denver, Texas, and Oklahoma are my new "Rigs". I am the Rocky Mountain Sales Manager and spend most of my time calling on operators.

Today we have 12 rigs drilling the Bakken Shale formation with Invert (GEO’s PetroDrill oil base) muds. The winters are long and cold but the summers are great. We have hired a great group of Mud Engineers and our success here is a result of their hard work.

My family continues to grow with six grandkids and one more on the way. I plan to spend the rest of my working days with GEO and retire in the warm south on our family farm in Louisiana.

Tim New

Operations Manager - Eastern Rockies
 

I’m Tim New and I am the Operations Manager for the Eastern Rocky Mountain area. I live in Sidney, Montana but was born and raised in California. My father, Lee New who also works for GEO, and several uncles were all either Mud Engineers or involved in some way in the oil patch. To some extent, I guess you could say I have been around drilling rigs for as long as I can remember.

Several of us at GEO began our work careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. I started my food service career as a restaurant manager and eventually transferred to the “back of the house” where I worked my way up to the position of executive chef over a period of many years. I credit my years in the food service industry for the development of skills, such as customer relations, inventory control and forecasting, and multi tasking which have been of so much value in my current position.

In 1995, after nearly fifteen years in the food service industry, I was ready for a change and I began working as a roughneck, initially for Golden State Drilling, and later for Cleveland Drilling. At that time, my father encouraged me to think about following in his footsteps and becoming a Mud Engineer. In 1997, I took his advice and approached Jim Clifford concerning a position with GEO. I was the third person to attend our in house Mud School. For the next two years, I worked my way up through progressively deeper and more challenging wells learning everything I could about the oilfield and drilling fluids.

In 1999, I was given the opportunity to work with Jim and Bob Dailey on the Bellevue #1 blowout in East Lost Hills. Working on the relief well was the opportunity of a lifetime and I am grateful for the experience and knowledge I acquired while working on this project. When the well was killed, I continued working for the next couple of years on a succession of offset wells to the original blowout. These were high temperature, high pressure, oil base jobs to 18,000’ or more.

GEO began expanding into the Rockies around the time that the East Lost Hills project was completed. I was interested in new challenges and Jim offered me the opportunity to work in these new areas. Over the next few years, I serviced wells in Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and South Dakota. In 2004, I was offered my current position and relocated to Sidney where I met and married my wife Lorena. My current duties include oversight of our Belfield, ND warehouse, developing Drilling Fluids Programs for clients, overseeing drilling fluids and dewatering operations on the rigs we service, and scheduling our Mud Engineers.

Over the last 8 years, we have developed a solid market share in the Williston Basin, serving operators such as Continental Resources, Slawson Exploration, Brigham Oil and Gas, and many others. Services we provide include fresh water drilling fluids, PetroDrill invert drilling fluid, brine water drilling fluids, corrosion control and lubricants, liquid Calcium Chloride, and dewatering services. Currently, our staff is approximately 20 employees including Mud Engineers, Dewatering Technicians, and warehouse staff. I would like to thank this talented team for making my job easier.

I also would like to thank the management at GEO for the opportunities that I have been given. I continue to enjoy the challenges of our business and look forward to future challenges. I hope to have the opportunity to meet all of you who do not already know me. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding our operations in the Eastern Rockies.