Halliburton post not his first rodeo
Jeff Miller, the next chief executive of the energy services company Halliburton, learned to take the reins by literally taking the reins.
Growing up in Dallas, he fell in love with rodeos, working on horse farms, honing his riding and roping skills and earning a rodeo scholarship to McNeese State University in Louisiana. He even competed in roping events on the professional rodeo circuit 30 years ago, including the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“It’s a demonstration that if you want to do anything badly enough, you can do it,” Miller said.
Miller, named last week as the successor to outgoing CEO Dave Lesar, has brought that same determination to his 20-year career at Halliburton, where he
started in finance, moved into oil field operations and led major projects around the world before returning to Houston prior to 2010 to assume executive posts. Miller, 53, Halliburton’s president since 2014, is known for quietly building relationships with oil company customers and delivering on promises by focusing on execution.
He becomes CEO June 1 at a time when Halliburton, the world’s secondlargest oil field services provider, is still recovering from the brutal oil bust and failed merger with Baker Hughes that led to billions of dollars in losses and forced the Houston company to slash 35,000 jobs, about 40 percent of its workforce, over less than two years. He also must lead the company through a consolidating oil field services industry of fewer but potentially stronger competitors.
Baker Hughes, for example, is expected to soon close its merger with General Electric’s oil and gas division to create a combined company expected to surpass Halliburton as the world’s No. 2 energy services company. Meanwhile, industry leader Schlumberger recently bought the North American hydraulic fracturing business of Weatherford International, the No. 4 services provider, to form a venture that could create formidable competition for Halliburton in a region and business that it dominates.
Halliburton is widely recognized as the leader in North American fracturing. As oil prices have recovered and increasingly productive onshore shale fields have sprung back to life, demand for Halliburton’s fracking services has grown rapidly. North American revenues climbed 24 percent in the first quarter of the year from the end of 2016, Halliburton recently reported, and the company has hired more than 2,000 U.S. workers.
Miller, who declined to discuss specific competitors, said in an interview that his strategy is to dominate the “last mile” of oil and gas production — fracking, cementing and other processes that bring a well into operation. In a period when analysts widely expect oil prices to remain lower for longer, the key, Miller said, is to help producers churn out oil for fewer dollars per barrel as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“I love the way the market it is shaping up, particularly in North America,” Miller said. “We love the businesses we’re in.”
Industry analysts expect that Miller will differ stylistically from Lesar, a gregarious 6-foot-5-inch man often described in energy and Wall Street circles as “larger than life.” Miller is considered low-key and earnest, a doer more than a talker.
“The general view is Jeff is very capable,” said Byron Pope, an energy analyst with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in Houston.
Miller said his first mentor was his grandfather. When he realized that his rodeo dreams would not work out, his grandfather, who worked for the drilling contractor Sedco, encouraged a career in business and finance, which led Miller to Texas A&M University and an MBA.
“He kept me pretty grounded,” Miller said of his grandfather. “He used to have all kinds of sayings and whatnot. ‘Always have a pencil and paper in your pocket. Keep your shoes shined. Be on time.’ ”
After completing graduate school, Miller went to work at the now-defunct accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where Lesar also worked. Lesar joined Halliburton in 1993; Miller followed four years later in 1997. Lesar, who became CEO when Dick Cheney left to run for vice president in 2000, will remain as executive chairman until 2018 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Despite different styles and personalities, Miller and Lesar share similar strategies for Halliburton’s growth. Miller said he wants to expand in chemicals used in fracking fluids and artificial lift, the process of pumping oil fields after they are drilled and fracked. He said the company is looking to acquire artificial lift businesses while organically growing Halliburton’s chemical business.
Miller had been considered the heir apparent to Lesar since he was elevated to president, but many analysts expected the transition to last longer than a few weeks. Miller, however, said he was ready to dive right in.
“You can’t be a CEO until you’re a CEO,” Miller said. “It’s like we do everything here at Halliburton — let’s get after it and go execute.”