Master of the Key
Most people would consider having dyslexia as a roadblock to achievement, but for Key Energy Services chief executive Francis John it may be the secret to his success.
Key Energy boss Francis John believes potential work to upgrade Iraq's rundown oilfield infrastructure could represent lucrative pickings for service companies like his own.
Upstream, March 7
By Candice Cowin
The 49-year-old New Jersey native did not realise he had the learning disability until later in life.
"I found out I was dyslexic when one of my two sons was being tested for reading problems around the age of five or six," John says. "As my son's therapist read down the list of associated characteristics, I realised that we both had it."
John's son worked with a tutor for several years to correct his dyslexia and is now a student at Boston University. However, John opted not to undergo tutoring. He had learned over the years to work around his difficulties with reading, balancing that weakness with his strength in mathematics.
John earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from New Jersey's Seton Hall University in three years. He graduated with a 4.0 grade average in his major course of study.
His sterling academic record at Seton Hall helped him land a job following graduation at the once prestigious accounting firm Arthur Andersen, which was discredited in the Enron financial scandal.
"I worked for Arthur Andersen for about a year. That used to be a good credential. At any rate, I hated every second of it," John says.
He recalls being handed a telephone directory on his first day at the company and being instructed to add up all the phone numbers on the first 500 pages of the book. The exercise was a cruel initiation ritual disguised as a way to teach proper use of a calculator.
Upon leaving Andersen, John took a position as manager of internal auditing for Mack Trucks, where he had worked as a janitor to make ends meet while in college. He earned his masters in business administration from a local college while working as an executive for Mack. He eventually left the trucking company to take a position with technology solutions outfit Unisys.
At Unisys, John discovered his passion for "turnaround situations" while he worked to restructure a troubled medical company. His passion for putting struggling companies back on track finally led him to Key Energy Services, which was then a large conglomerate called Yankee Companies.
"Ironically, I was brought in to get the company out of the energy business," John says.
Yankee was involved in energy and environmental services, and also had a banking component. "Banking was the wrong thing to be involved in during the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s," he recalls.
John stuck with the company through a bankruptcy and began a major reorganisation in 1992. Nearly all of Yankee's assets had to be sold off before the rebuilding process could begin.
Over the past 16 years, John has consolidated a multitude of different companies and cultures to create Key. He considers the rebirth of the integrated company as one of his crowning achievements.
Today, Key employs more than 8000 people worldwide at 150 locations, and has annual revenues of nearly $1 billion. It is a one-stop shop for onshore energy production services including drilling, oilfield construction, workover services, fishing and rental tool services and jar services, as well as truck, fluid and disposal operations.
Key is the only service outfit to have its own rig-refurbishing component. The company performs frame-up refurbishments at a rate of about 60 to 70 rigs per year from three dedicated facilities.
Indeed the company's commitment to rig refurbishment has been a key factor in its ability to go with the ebb and flow of the service tide. John's dedication to keeping his fleet in top shape has been essential to landing clients in both good times and bad. "I've been covering Key Energy Services since 1999, which was a difficult year for a lot of service companies, including Key," says Bear Sterns analyst Robin Shoemaker. "Even then, John continued with his rig refurbishment programme, and it has served the company well."
Key is currently in the midst of upgrading its fleet, despite political instability between the US and Iraq that has negatively affected drilling activity in recent months.
Computer systems are being installed on all its rigs, so that their functions may be monitored off-site in real time. The company is also working to become further integrated through satellite-enabled wireless systems that will co-ordinate communications between rigs and yard locations.
The ongoing refurbishment comes at a time when war jitters and tight budgets have kept drilling to a minimum. Still, about 80% of Key's fleet is currently under contract, and the tight natural gas market is expected to eventually boost US drilling work. New drilling opportunities may also present themselves abroad, pending the outcome of negotiations with Iraq.
"I think that Iraq is desperately in need of oilfield service companies to go in and rebuild its infrastructure, wells and reservoirs," John says.
"It would be a huge opportunity for any company under the right circumstances. We would be very interested in working in Iraq if the opportunity presented itself."
Under John's leadership, Key has become the world's largest onshore well services company, with a 47% market share.
In the end analysis, John humbly attributes his success with Key in part to his struggle to overcome dyslexia. "Having dyslexia has worked out to my advantage. It has forced me to learn how to adapt, which is a necessary skill in such a volatile industry." |
