Halliburton Company
Oilfield Services & EquipmentFounded 1919- Updated July 2025
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: July 2025
CorpDigest
Halliburton Company
Company History
Founded 1919 in Houston, Texas, United States
Last reviewed: 2025-07-15 · By Swet Parvadiya
A single man with a borrowed pump, a wagon and team of mules, and a wooden mixing box he built himself founded what would become one of the world's largest oilfield services companies in 1919. Erle P. Halliburton started cementing wells in the Burkburnett oilfield of Texas with approximately $1,000 raised from four friends who each contributed $250 for a half interest in the business. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as a one-man cementing operation in Duncan, Oklahoma, the company has grown into a global enterprise with approximately 46,000 employees operating in more than 70 countries. The company, founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as a one-man cementing operation in Duncan, Oklahoma, has grown into the largest oilfield-services company in North America by market share, with approximately 46,000 employees operating in more than 70 countries from dual headquarters in Houston, Texas, and Dubai, UAE.
Halliburton Company's origin story is one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial journeys in American business history. As late as 1959, every company official but one was said to have started with Halliburton as a truck driver. It also started Halliburton Logging Services through a buyout of Gearhart Industries. The company that began with a borrowed pump and a wooden mixing box in 1919 has become a $22 billion global enterprise, but the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder — 'We will get there, somehow' — remains embedded in its culture.
Erle P. Halliburton founded the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company in 1919 in Duncan, Oklahoma, with approximately $1,000 raised from four friends who each contributed $250 for a half interest. He began with a wooden mixing box he built himself, a borrowed wagon pulled by mules, and a downhole pump. By late summer 1922, the company had cemented its 500th well. On May 7, 1920, the company reorganized as the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. In 1921, headquarters were established in Duncan, Oklahoma. In 1922, Halliburton patented the 'jet-cement' mixer. By 1924, the company was incorporated in Delaware with investments from seven major oil companies. Halliburton secured 38 patents for oilfield services, tools, and processes over his career. He died on October 13, 1957, leaving a legacy as one of the most influential innovators in the history of the petroleum industry.
Erle P. Halliburton founded the company in Duncan, Oklahoma, with approximately $1,000 raised from four friends, a borrowed pump, a wagon and mules, and a wooden mixing box he built himself. He and his wife Vida worked tirelessly with borrowed equipment and little cash, at one point pawning her wedding rings to pay hired help.
On May 7, 1920, Halliburton reorganized his enterprise as the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. The company's big break came when Skelly Oil Company hired him to control a wild well in the Hewitt-Wilson Field in south-central Oklahoma, proving the value of his cementing services.
The company established its headquarters in Duncan, Oklahoma, and Halliburton patented the 'jet-cement' mixer in 1922, which increased the speed and quality of the cement mixing process. By late 1922, seventeen Halliburton trucks were cementing wells in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
The company was incorporated in Delaware, with seven major oil companies making significant investments. This provided the capital for expansion and established Halliburton as a serious player in the emerging oilfield services industry.
Halliburton established its first international operation in Canada and began equipment sales to Burma (now Myanmar), marking the start of the company's global footprint that would eventually span more than 70 countries.
Halliburton completed its first offshore cementing job using a truck mounted on a barge in the Gulf of Mexico, pioneering offshore oilfield services and expanding the company's capabilities beyond land-based operations.
Halliburton's stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, providing access to public capital markets and marking the company's transition from a regional service provider to a nationally recognized corporation.
Halliburton performed the first commercial hydraulic fracturing treatments in Oklahoma and Texas, pioneering a technology that would eventually unlock vast unconventional oil and gas reserves and transform the global energy industry.
Halliburton acquired Welex Jet Services of Fort Worth, expanding the company's service capabilities. Two years later, in 1959, the company acquired Otis Engineering Corporation of Dallas, further broadening its product and service portfolio.
The firm shortened its name from Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company to Halliburton Company, reflecting its evolution beyond cementing into a diversified oilfield services enterprise.
Halliburton moved its headquarters from Duncan, Oklahoma, to Dallas, Texas, positioning the company closer to the center of the US oil and gas industry and facilitating access to capital, talent, and customers.
Halliburton acquired Brown & Root of Houston for $36.7 million, gaining industrial and marine engineering and construction capabilities. Brown & Root had annual revenues of $5.5 billion and had constructed the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center.
During the 1980s, Halliburton acquired Geophysical Services from Texas Instruments and Geosource, another geophysical service company. It also started Halliburton Logging Services through a buyout of Gearhart Industries, expanding into well logging and reservoir evaluation.
Halliburton merged with Dresser Industries in a $7.7 billion deal, creating Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) and significantly expanding the company's engineering, equipment, and government contracting capabilities.
Halliburton spun off KBR as an independent company, refocusing on core oilfield services and exiting the government contracting and construction businesses that had created strategic and reputational challenges.
Halliburton announced a proposed $34.6 billion acquisition of Baker Hughes, which would have created a $60 billion oilfield services giant. The deal was intended to achieve $2 billion in annual cost synergies.
Halliburton and Baker Hughes mutually agreed to terminate the $34.6 billion merger due to regulatory opposition from the US Department of Justice and antitrust authorities globally. Halliburton paid a $3.5 billion breakup fee, one of the largest in corporate history.
Jeffrey A. Miller was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Dave Lesar. Miller, who had joined Halliburton in 1997, brought deep operational experience and a focus on capital discipline and international growth.
Jeff Miller added the Chairman of the Board title, consolidating leadership. Under his direction, Halliburton made 'advance a sustainable energy future' a strategic priority and set measurable sustainability targets.
Halliburton opened a MultiChem manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia, expanding regional production capabilities for specialty chemicals and strengthening the company's position in the Middle East market.
On August 21, 2024, Halliburton discovered unauthorized access to its systems. The incident cost $35 million, forced the temporary pause of share buybacks, delayed billing and collections, and was disclosed in SEC filings. The attack was suspected to involve the RansomHub ransomware group.
Halliburton acquired Brown & Root of Houston to gain industrial and marine engineering and construction capabilities. Brown & Root was one of America's largest construction firms, with annual revenues of $5.5 billion, and had built notable projects including the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) near Houston.
Halliburton merged with Dresser Industries in a $7.7 billion deal to create a diversified energy services and equipment giant. The merger combined Halliburton's oilfield services with Dresser's engineering, equipment, and M.W. Kellogg subsidiary, creating Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).
Halliburton acquired Welex Jet Services of Fort Worth to expand its service capabilities into well logging and perforating, complementing the company's cementing and stimulation businesses.
Halliburton acquired Otis Engineering Corporation of Dallas to expand its production services capabilities, particularly in well completion and artificial lift technologies.
In 1919 Erle P. Halliburton launched the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company in Duncan, Oklahoma, with roughly $1,000 raised from four friends, a borrowed pump, a wagon, mules, and a wooden mixing box he built by hand. Money was so tight that his wife Vida hand-washed used cement sacks for resale and the couple pawned her wedding rings to pay hired help. The enterprise was reorganized as the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company on May 7, 1920.
Halliburton patented the 'jet-cement' mixer in 1922, a device that sharply increased the speed and quality of oil-well cement mixing. By late 1922 seventeen Halliburton trucks were cementing wells across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and the company had cemented its 500th well by late summer of that year. The technical edge helped the firm secure investment from seven major oil companies when it incorporated in Delaware in 1924.
Halliburton completed its first offshore cementing job in 1938 using a truck mounted on a barge in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1949 the company performed the first commercial hydraulic fracturing treatments in Oklahoma and Texas, launching a technology that would later unlock vast unconventional reserves. These innovations helped Halliburton grow from a regional cementer into a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1948.
Halliburton was the cementing contractor on BP's Macondo well when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest marine oil spill in US history. Investigations scrutinized the cement job Halliburton performed on the well, and the company agreed in 2014 to pay about $1.1 billion to settle a large share of related litigation. The disaster became one of the defining crises in the company's modern operating history.