Oil-services firms join for fracking tech sales

Two of Austin’s oil-and-gas services firms Monday announced a joint venture designed to expand sales of water-management technologies in shale-gas fields across the country.

The venture, called PinnergyShalewater, will combine the size and scope of Pinnergy’s diverse oilfield services business with Shalewater Solutions’ water-management offerings, the companies said in a release. How oiland-gas firms handle water and wastewater has emerged as a key factor in the environmental and financial sustainability of hydraulic fracturing operations.

The new PinnergyShalewater venture will involve both companies’ workforces, which combined count more than 1,000 employees overall and more than 40 in Austin. Both firms are located in the One Congress Plaza tower on the northeast corner of Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street.

Each company will continue to operate as separate businesses outside the partnership.