Caterpillar Inc. (Cat) and natural gas compressor manufacturing firm Ariel Corp. have formed a 50-50 joint venture (JV) to provide well service pressure pumping products to the oil and gas industry, the companies said Wednesday.

The JV, Black Horse LLC, has acquired Houston-based ProSource, which designs and manufactures reciprocating pressure pumps. Black Horse pumps will be branded and sold under the Cat name and distributed through the Cat dealer network, the companies said.

Executives from Caterpillar’s Marine and Petroleum Power Division and Mount Vernon, OH-based Ariel will jointly lead the JV, which is headquartered in Houston.

“Together, with the support of our Cat dealer network, we can provide not only a complete pressure-pumping solution, but also the global parts and service support to maximize up-time throughout the world,” said Tom Frake, Caterpillar vice president for Marine and Petroleum Power.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), the largest oilfield supplier in North America, said recently that onshore demand in North America has fallen drastically from a year ago, mostly because of a drop in natural gas drilling (see Daily GPI, Oct. 26). North America’s pressure pumping market “is facing an oversupplied market, and our customers have cut their orders to about zero,” according to NOV CFO Clay Williams.

©Copyright 2012Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.