The Company’s establishment has to do with the oil industry in the Ural, Samara and Perm regions. A sharp increase in drilling capacity sparked demand for drill bits/pipes.

In 1948, the Ministry of Oil Industry ventured into a drill-bit plant in Samara. As from 1958, dedicated design has favoured the development of a wide range of drill bit types and sizes.
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1967 saw the millionth bit produced. In 1970, drilling operations improved at Kolsk ultra-deep well, the world’s deepest well: 12,262 meters. In 1982, under the direction of Dresser Security USA., production grew with highly-effective, low-speed drill bits with a capacity of 100,000 bits per year.

In 1990, collaboration with Surgutneftegas for the design of 8 ½” МЗ-ГВ-3, developed in 1985, won Volgaburmash an award from the Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry of the USSR, setting a record meterage drilled for those times: 1,450 meters.

In 1994, our capabilities were increased again with the adoption of the open-market system in Russia, with new management structure and manufacturing processes, improving the design and production capacities.

In 1997, Volgaburmash products were certified by API Q1 Specification 7 & ISO 9001, to conform and serve international as well as domestic markets.

2002 to the present date, we continually improve our design and production capacity, intensifying manufacturing abilities through capital investments in new production machines and processes.
In 2003 Volgaburmash mastered the manufacturing of PDC bits with a steel body.
In 2004, VBM became an associate member of the Int. Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), Houston, USA.
2006 – Tatneft, JSC drilled a unique horizontal well at Ashalchinsk field of pitch minerals with Volgaburmash 8 ½” AUL-LS43X R233 bit. This is the first horizontal well in the world drilled by means of the vertical drilling rig with rise on surface. This technique allowed providing warm-up and production of oil out of pitch minerals which was impossible earlier.

2007 – Volgaburmash Environmental Management System has been assessed and found compliant with the requirements of ISO 14001:2004, as well as our Occupational Health and Safety Management System has been registered according to the requirements of OHSAS 18001:2007.

2008 – 8 ½” AUL-LSP42X R598 bit produced by Volgaburmash showed a record meterage drilled – 2,933 meters – at the field of LUKOIL, JSC. This record has not been surpassed through present day.
2010 – Volgaburmash mastered production of big diameter bits – 26” bits which are manufactured only by few major drill bit companies in the world.
2011 – Volgaburmash established its own bit service department.
During its history the Company produced more than 8.5 million drill bits for oil-and-gas and mining industries. It helped to provide million tones of oil, billion cubic meters of gas and rocks.