In the late 1960s, Bill Nurcombe is employed with a company that markets sand control filters used in oil and gas wells. In 1969, the US company who manufactures these products stops supplying to the Canadian market. Bill takes that as an opportunity  - and together with Ted Hanlon, Len Stein and Bill Burton, buys the U.S. manufacturing company and moves it to Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

From 1969 to 1978, Variperm’s main focus was perfecting the design and manufacturing process of sand screen filters.

These filters were manufactured from sorted silica sand and, depending on the size of the silica sand used, the permeability of the filter varied.The typical size of the original Variperm screens were 3ft length cylinders of various diameters.

Variperm also formed a partnership with a major supplier of downhole tools supplying Variperm with work-over and completion tools to market to local producers.

Variperm builds a small inventory of “fishing” tools, and in the late 1970’s opens its first service centre in Lloydminster.

Variperm opens a second service centre in Taber, Alberta (currently located in Brooks, Alberta) and a small sales office in Calgary.

Bill buys out his partners to own 100% of Variperm.

Variperm begins manufacturing “stainless steel wire wrapped screen”, giving Canadian producers access to this new, local technology and bringing Variperm to the forefront of the sand control industry in Canada.

Variperm moves manufacturing operations to Calgary to combine sales, manufacturing and head office under one roof.

With sand control technology and manufacturing capabilities, Variperm began to further complement the product line with their own completion and work-over tools, liner equipment, and cased hole fishing services.

James and Kelly Nurcombe join their father in the family business.

Bill Nurcombe retires from daily management of Variperm, but remains on the Board of Directors.

James Nurcombe transitions to President and Kelly Nurcombe becomes Manager of Water Well, Environmental and Industrial Applications.

Variperm diversifies into the Western Canada ground water market to offer their sand filter technology to the domestic and municipal water wells, as well as environmental and industrial applications.

Variperm establishes their own machine shop and manufacturing plant in Calgary, which allows them to custom design and manufacture state of the art, specialized products and equipment for sand control applications.

This vertical integration further enables the company to dramatically reduce turnaround times for customers, as well as facilitates Variperm’s new tool development and prototyping effort.

To compete with production and increasing sales volumes, Variperm constructs a new 8000 sqft state-of-the-art field location office in Brooks, Alberta.

Variperm completes the build of a new 8,000 sqft field service centre in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

Variperm partners with SCF Partners, a specialized oilfield services and equipment investment firm, to support the continued growth, capacity expansion and development of Variperm.

The Calgary manufacturing plant has tripled in size to 65,000 sqft over the years, and the company has active plans for further expansion.

Variperm continues to focus on growth and expansion with key additions to their leadership and management teams, all while successfully launching their OptiCon™ Flow Control Technology to the market.

Variperm designs an in-house flow loop for the characterization of flow control devices’ performance under a variety of flow conditions, allowing the Variperm team to prototype, test, and manufacture fit for purpose inflow and outflow flow control solutions in Calgary.

Variperm's Quality Management System achieves ISO 9001:2015 certification, demonstrating their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Variperm celebrates 50 years of business.

Thanks to everyone who has supported our company over the past 50 years – from staff, clients, friends, family, and suppliers.

We look forward to another 50 successful years together!

Variperm acquires RGL Reservoir Management Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Pacific Perforating, Inc. The combined company, operating as Variperm, will be a leader in the sand and flow control space with operations in Canada and the United States.

The acquisition significantly enhances Variperm’s ability to support customers through an expanded product offering, patented technologies, an extended global footprint, and industry-leading manufacturing capacity.  Variperm will continue to invest in innovative technologies to meet clients’ evolving needs. James Nurcombe, CEO of Variperm, with Jamie Olson as President, will continue to run the combined company.

Variperm rebrands as Variperm Energy Services.