Selling to a Drilling Superintendent: The Gate, the Rigs, and the People Around the Title

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By Amanda Leon, founder of OilMoney.io. Houston-raised, came up in the Houston marketing team of Vallourec, and has run Unrth, a brand and growth studio for oil and gas and industrial companies, since 2017, with her boots on client locations in Midland and Odessa. Last reviewed October 20, 2026.

Before I go on a client location in Midland or Odessa, I have to pop into the store for flame-retardant clothing. Carhartt makes some decent stuff, and they finally had something for us ladies that wasn't heavy-duty thick work pants (the kind my poor mother washes for my father). They had something like yoga pants, which delighted me as a woman who actually does yoga, and lo and behold, flame-retardant. I grabbed a long-sleeve shirt in beige too, because lighter colors take less sun in that Midland Odessa heat. Also flame-retardant. People say safety first all the time. It's great to know they also practice it.

On a drilling job, one of the people paid to make sure your crew practices it is the drilling superintendent. Penn State's petroleum engineering course calls him the operating company's employee in charge of drilling operations, usually working from a field office away from the rig over several wells at once, and Baytex's 2026 posting for the job has him overseeing drilling contractors, service providers, and third-party vendors so the work is carried out safely and efficiently. Neither one says he picks the vendor. So clear the operator's gate first, then make sure the people around him, starting with the company man, already know your name.

What a Drilling Superintendent Does

The same course puts the reporting line in one sentence: "The rig-site company man reports to the drilling superintendent."

The Baytex posting adds the money side. Along with overseeing vendors, the superintendent manages drilling budgets, forecasts, and cost tracking. It mentions no AFEs and no dollar approval limit, so don't assume he's the one approving your invoice.

For a rental tool, fishing, or drilling service rep, that adds up to a plain picture. The superintendent runs the drilling operation and oversees vendors once they're hired, so he's judging how your crew and your tools perform on his wells. And because he usually sits over several wells at once, knowing the right few people at one operator covers a lot of iron.

Where the Rigs Are

If you want to know where the superintendents are, follow the rigs. As of April 10, 2026, Enverus ranked ExxonMobil first among Permian operators with 34.0 rigs, then Occidental at 20.0, Diamondback at 15.8, ConocoPhillips at 14.2, EOG at 11.8, and Coterra at 11.7, as PBOG Magazine reported. Those counts cover the whole Permian, not Midland versus Delaware, and Coterra has since merged into Devon Energy, in a deal that closed May 7, 2026. If Coterra was on your list, the name on the door has changed.

The count moves every week. Baker Hughes had 272 rigs in the Permian for the week ending October 16, 2026, down 2 from the week before, as Oil & Gas 360 reported. Put the week on that number every time you say it to a customer, because a rig number with no date is a rumor. The basin-wide picture lives on our Permian Basin page.

The People Around the Title

On location, you deal with the company man, the operator's representative on the drilling location and the one who reports up to the superintendent. Don't mix him up with the toolpusher, who supervises the location for the drilling contractor. Same location, different payroll. The company man's whole job is laid out in Selling to the Oilfield Company Man.

The other person around the title is the drilling engineer. EOG's Midland senior drilling engineer posting from October 2025 has him writing AFEs and evaluating vendor performance while supporting several rigs and their well site supervisors at once; we take that posting apart in What Does a Drilling Engineer Do?

So the company man runs your job on location, the drilling engineer in EOG's posting writes the AFE and evaluates vendor performance, and the superintendent sits over the drilling operation. Each sees a different piece of your work, so each is worth knowing by name.

Drilling engineers read, too: as of October 19, 2026, the most common job title among the LinkedIn followers of the Permian service-company founder we work with was drilling engineer, the title right next to the superintendent's operation. Read the full story.

MSAs and Safety Grades Before a Rig Call-Out

Before anyone on that map can call you out, your company has to be allowed on location. Drilling Tools International's FY2025 annual report shows how high that gate sits, even for a public rental tool company with more than 340 master service agreements and a sales force of 40, split into city-sales and field-sales teams: it still calls MSAs hard and slow to obtain. The same report describes a first-call supply agreement with one of its largest customers, in place since 2013 and extended through 2026. Once earned, that first call has lasted more than a decade.

The operator's safety gate sits on top of the MSA. Apache's July 2025 supplier rules want on-site contractors in ISNetworld with an A, B, or C grade, and the rules at Apache, Ovintiv, and ConocoPhillips are laid out step by step in how to get on an operator's approved vendor list. Before you ask a company man for a call-out, know your company's MSA status and safety grade with that operator.

What a Profile Cannot Do on the Rig Floor

A LinkedIn profile doesn't get a vendor onto a rig before the operator's gate is cleared. No post changes an ISNetworld grade, and no post earns an MSA that a company holding more than 340 of them still calls hard and slow to win. A profile doesn't run your tool, either. Once you're on location, the record that counts is how the job went.

What a profile can do is narrower, and still worth having. It keeps your name in front of company men, drilling engineers, and superintendents between call-outs, so when the gate is cleared and a job comes up, you're a name they've already read. That's the job of The Warm Walk-In™: your know-how, in your voice, on your own profile, with your yes on every post, and everything we build stays yours.

If you sell rental tools or fishing services, start with our page for reps who want to stay the first call. If you sell other drilling services, start with our page for oilfield service reps. Our guides on getting new customers for rental tools and fishing jobs and rental tool and fishing sales in the Permian go further.

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Sources and As-Of Dates

The Warm Walk-In™ is an original method created by Amanda Leon and owned by The Valours Creative Innovation LLC.

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What Does a Drilling Engineer Do? A Guide for Rental Tool, Bit, and Casing Reps