Arctic Directory 2019: Price Gregory, leading the way in the business of pipeline construction

Providing quality, safety, and extensive experience, in the most cost effective manner

Petroleum News

Q. What is the official name of your company?

A. Price Gregory International, Inc.

Q. Is your firm a subsidiary or affiliate of other companies? If so, please name those firms and their relationship to your company.

A. Price Gregory is a subsidiary of Quanta Services, Inc., an S&P 500 Power, Oil and Gas, and Telecom infrastructure services company with over 150 Operating Units (NYSE: PWR).

Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?

Price Gregory is a great company to work for. The safety and wellbeing of our employees is our top priority. Our management adheres to strict ethical guidelines and treats our employees and clients with great respect.

Q. Where is your company located?

A. Our Alaska Division office is located in Anchorage. We also have facilities in Nikiski and Deadhorse. Our corporate headquarters, as well as our parent company, Quanta, are located in Houston, Texas.

Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?

A. H. C. Price Co. began in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1921 by Harold Price who developed “electric” welding techniques used in the pipeline industry today. Through the years, H. C. Price Co. became one of the largest pipeline companies in the U. S. and Canada helping build the Canol Pipeline, which delivered war-time fuel from Whitehorse to Fairbanks in 1942, and eventually part of the Trans Alaska Pipeline in 1975. Price Gregory was formed in 2008 after a merger with another legacy pipeline company, Gregory and Cook, becoming the largest pipeline contractor in North America.

Q. What is your company’s primary business activity?

A. Our primary business is pipeline construction in Alaska, the Lower 48 and Canada. Our business in Alaska is broader, extending into power plant construction as well as Pump and Compressor Stations and large infrastructure projects.

Q. Are there important projects the company is currently a part of or has done recently?

A. Price Gregory completed the ML&P Plant 2A Expansion of the 120 Megawatt combined cycle power plant in 2016 as well as a recently completed, critical pipeline project on the North Slope for one of our oil and gas customers.

Q. How many employees does your company have?

A. Due to seasonal construction trends, the numbers of employees fluctuate throughout the year. We typically peak with over 150 employees.

Q. Describe the equipment your company uses and are there any new equipment purchases planned?

A. We own a large modern fleet of equipment which is outfitted for arctic construction to include cranes, sidebooms, excavators, dozers, loaders, haul trucks / tractors / trailers, fuel trucks, mechanic / lube trucks, compressors, large trenching machines, specialty built Arctic drills, light plants, heaters, buses, welding trucks and flatbed trucks along with other support facilities to include camps, offices, break-shacks and envirovacs.

Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?

A. Our main strength is our dedicated employees followed by our financial strength and equipment resources coupled with our ability to tackle risky jobs of any type, in any location.

Q. What is the most challenging work/contract the company has undertaken?

A. One of our most challenging jobs was the construction of the ML&P Plant 2A Expansion Project, a 120 Megawatt Power Plant just outside of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway. It was an EPC Project that started in late 2013 and was completed in the fall of 2016. The challenges included a tight schedule, very small and crowded site and working through two winter seasons with sometimes over 250 personnel on site.

A. Currently, it is the hiring and retainage of highly skilled union craftsmen (electricians, pipefitters/welders) within the State of Alaska. Numerous skilled craftsmen have left the State due to cut backs in the oil and gas industry to seek employment in the busy construction market in the Lower 48. We are focused on hiring Alaska residents whenever possible and have become effective in recruiting personnel as needed, but not without challenges.

Q. What do you see as your company’s biggest challenge in the next five years?

A. Our biggest challenge will be to respond to the needs of our oil and gas customers on the North Slope who are relying on Alaska contractors to provide skilled workers, equipment, and management to execute their large, upcoming oil development projects vital to keeping the Trans Alaska Pipeline full and providing revenue to the State.

Q. What is the average length of time employee’s work for the company?

A. The average length of time employee’s work for our company is not a true indication of employee dedication. Our management staff include those that worked on the Trans Alaska Pipeline in the 70’s, as well as recent college graduates. Some of our union employees also date back to the early 80’s but on average have work for us for around 10 years.

Q. What is your company’s safety record? What steps does the company take to ensure a safe work environment?

A. Price Gregory has an excellent safety record which has improved year on year for the last 30 years to recently become one of the best in the state. Our core values include a commitment toward caring for and providing our employees with a safe work environment, performing quality workmanship, and protecting the environment. These core values have been and will continue to be the cornerstones of our success. Our employees are expected to take ownership of management’s vision of excellence in jobsite performance. The belief that all tasks can be completed without incident defines Price Gregory’s HSSE culture.

Q. Has your company been involved in any community projects or charity events?

A. Price Gregory is involved in supporting several charities throughout the State such as the Red Cross, YWCA, United Way and Alaska Resource Education and can be found in attendance as a sponsor at numerous charitable events throughout the year.

Q. What is the address of your company’s Web site?

A.| www.pricegregory.com