leadership

Beyond Prepared with Next Generation Industry Leadership

Letter From the President of Cudd Well Control

Within one of the most transformative chapters in our history, we have strengthened our leadership across our business to ensure we are “Beyond Prepared.” Our new leadership team represents the “Who‘s Who” of well control – they are the people that make it happen every day.

Our next generation leadership team is backed by the financial strength of RPC, Inc., ensuring we have the tools and resources to deliver on our promises. As a global company, we are positioned in every major basin and focused on investing in new generation technology while continuing to expand internationally.

With our leadership team firmly in place, we will build on our strengths and lead the way in proactive critical maintenance, well control and well recovery services for operators around the world.

This evolution of company leadership reflects our commitment to always being Beyond Prepared for our customers.

Andy Ferguson
President - Cudd Well Control


Dustin Locklear - Vice Presdient of Well Control

Dustin Locklear, Cudd Well Control Vice President of Well Control and Snubbing, oversees day-to-day snubbing division operations for both Cudd Well Control and Cudd Pressure Control, ensuring industry-leading service and operational excellence on every call. Dustin served as the District Manager and Senior Well Control Specialist out of our Elk City office for 11 years, helping to establish a world-renowned base of operations in the natural gas and oil-rich shale fields of western Oklahoma. With more than 20 years of valuable oil and gas experience, Dustin has developed a deep treasury of knowledge that includes well control, pressure control, snubbing, coiled tubing, wireline, downhole tools, drilling, and completions. If it involves well control or snubbing, Dustin has done it, mastered it, and maintained or improved the efficiency and reliability of the operations.

Dustin's leadership in numerous onshore and offshore well control events has taken him around the world to global hotspots for oil and gas exploration and production, controlling and conquering well blowouts and fires. His vast expanse of well control experience and knowledge includes a strong focus in HPHT snubbing, blowout well recovery, equipment design and development, downhole tools, hot tapping, valve drilling, and cryogenic and conventional freeze methods.


Mike Foreman - Operations Manager

Mike Foreman, Cudd Well Control's Operations Manager, leads the most experienced team of well control specialists in the industry, providing the optimal solutions in proactive critical maintenance, well control and well recovery services worldwide. Mike has a renowned career in well control that spans over 39 years, taking him around the globe and back for the successful resolution to some of the world’s most disastrous well control incidents, from Nigeria to the Fires of Kuwait in 1991, to the Piper Alpha and beyond.

Mike's extensive global onshore and offshore well control experience allows him to execute Cudd Well Control's mission which is to continue working with every client as a partner, to understand their unique challenges, and develop a solid plan to ensure the job is done efficiently, safely and cost-effectively.


Bhavesh Ranka, P.E. - Engineering Manager/Sr. Well Control Engineer

Bhavesh Ranka, P.E., serves as the Engineering Manager/Sr. Well Control Engineer, elevating the company's presence in the domestic and global markets by ensuring continued world-class service in well control engineering, blowout intervention, and firefighting operations and recovery. Bhavesh brings more than 16 years of critical well control engineering experience to CWC, overseeing all of the company's field operations. Having worked as a lead engineer in third-party inspections for BSEE regulations compliance, Bhavesh's experience in the petroleum-producing regions of the United States positions him as an unparalleled leader in domestic operations. In addition, he has worked well control engineering projects in Australia, Cameroon, Canada, India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and United Arab Emirates, rounding out his well-honed skills with global industry knowledge steeped in the hottest markets around the world. With industry knowledge that covers every aspect of onshore, offshore, and special services offerings, Bhavesh leads Cudd Well Control into the future of well control engineering, ready to tackle the ever-changing market.

Bhavesh graduated from the University of Mumbai with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. He also has a master's degree in natural gas engineering from Texas A & M University, Kingsville. Bhavesh is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and is IADC WellSharp certified. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Texas.


Senior Well Control Specialists

Photo of Bud Curtis
Bud Curtis
Photo of Dalton Muhlbeier
Dalton Muhlbeier
Photo of Mike Foreman
Mike Foreman
Photo of Roy Hefley
Roy Hefley
Photo of Chuck Roberts
Chuck Roberts
Photo of Gari Stanger
Gari Stanger

Senior Well Control Engineers

Photo of Danny Walzel
Danny Walzel
Photo of John Hatteberg
John Hatteberg
Photo of Robert Ward
Robert Ward
Photo of Mike Lam
Mike Lam
Photo of Tim Bell
Tim Bell
Photo of Armando Ynostroza
Armando Ynostroza