Vortex Drilling

What Vortex Drilling does

Vortex Drilling, now operating under the legal name Alamo1 Drilling, is a privately held, San Antonio-based environmental drilling services firm founded in 1997 with between 11 and 50 employees. The company delivers project-based field services — soil boring, groundwater sampling, monitor well installation and repair, well abandonment/plugging, geotechnical sampling, underground utility locating, and jet-vac vacuum excavation — primarily to oil and gas majors (Chevron, Exxon, Shell, Conoco Phillips, Valero) and federal/state government agencies (Department of Defense, TXDOT, Railroad Commission of Texas, Texas Criminal Justice Department), with a secondary channel through environmental consulting firms that subcontract drilling scopes.

Its service portfolio is organized around three core drilling methodologies — GeoProbe Direct Push Technology (hydraulic/pneumatic hammer with static force for limited-access sites), Hollow Stem Auger (continuous-flight auger with sample tube insertion), and Air/Mud Rotary (compressed air or bentonite-based mud circulation for deeper bores) — supported by a set of adjacent add-on services (Jet Vac, grout and injection, vapor extraction well installation, piezometer services, monitor well development). Field crews operate mobile rigs across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Kansas — a licensed footprint of roughly 591,000 square miles — and the firm cites more than 13,000 monitor wells plugged since 2001 as evidence of regulatory-compliant execution.

Revenue is generated through quote-based, project-specific contracts with enterprise and government clients; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company runs a direct enterprise field-sales motion with no marketing channels, no app or API surface, no disclosed external funding, and no disclosed ownership beyond private/independent status. The technology stack is mechanical and service-oriented rather than software-driven, with no AI/ML, integration, or platform components present in the available data.

Name

Vortex Drilling

Legal name

Alamo1 Drilling

Website

https://vortexdrill.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Alamo1 Drilling (formerly Vortex Drilling) is a San Antonio-based, private environmental drilling contractor providing soil boring, monitor well installation, well abandonment, and geotechnical sampling services to oil and gas majors and federal/state government agencies across the Southern United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Drilling Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Mining (2131), Drilling Oil and Gas Wells (213111)

SIC

Drilling Oil & Gas Wells (1381)

akta.pro primary industry

Exploration & Production Drilling Services (RC, Core, Directional, Sonic, Auger) (IMAKAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Dewatering & Groundwater Control (Wellpoints, Deep Wells, Cutoff Systems) (IMAFAOAF)

Keywords

• Environmental drilling services
• Monitor well installation
• Geotechnical sampling
• Well abandonment services
• Soil boring drilling

Headquarters

HQ city

San Antonio

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Environmental Drilling Services: Project-based environmental drilling services including soil boring, monitor well installation, well abandonment, and geotechnical sampling. Revenue is generated through direct project contracts with enterprise clients and government agencies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Vortex Drilling (operating as Alamo1 Drilling) provides project-based environmental drilling services, including soil boring, groundwater sampling, monitor well installation and repair, well abandonment/plugging, and geotechnical sampling. The firm executes these services through multiple methodologies — GeoProbe Direct Push Technology, Hollow Stem Auger, and Air/Mud Rotary — for enterprise clients in oil and gas and government agencies across the Southern United States.

Product overview

Alamo1 Drilling (formerly Vortex Drilling) is a single-service company offering environmental drilling services as a unified portfolio rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering centers on Soil Boring & Monitor Well Installation, supported by specialized drilling technologies including Direct Push Technology (GeoProbe DPT), Hollow Stem Auger Drilling, and Air/Mud Rotary Drilling. Additional add-on services include Limited Access Capabilities, Underground Utility Locating, Jet Vac Service, Grout and Injection Services, Geotechnical Sampling, Injection Well Services, Vapor Extraction Well Services, Piezometer Services, and Monitor Well Development. The company operates primarily in the Southern United States covering Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Kansas, with licenses reaching over 591,000 square miles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Soil Boring & Monitor Well Installation Environmental drilling service providing ground and groundwater sampling using standard penetration testing (SPT), auger, Shelby Tubes, and soil/rock coring methods, with monitoring well installation for groundwater quality assessment. Designed for environmental site characterization and compliance projects.
• Direct Push Technology (GeoProbe DPT) Drilling methodology using hydraulic/pneumatic hammer with static force to advance samplers for collecting soil, groundwater, and soil-gas samples, utilizing Geoprobe manufactured machines for limited access capabilities.
• Hollow Stem Auger Drilling Drilling technique using auger flights to remove cuttings while the bit face allows insertion of sample tubes to collect representative samples, with solid flight auger as an alternative in stable formations.
• Rotary Drilling (Air and Mud) Air rotary drilling uses compressed air as circulation medium to clear cuttings; mud rotary uses pumped water and/or additives to clear cuttings with recirculation system. Used for deeper drilling projects.
• Well Abandonment Services Specialized plugging services for abandoned, deteriorated, or out-of-service monitor wells, injection wells, and water wells, with over 13,000 monitor wells plugged since 2001.
• Jet Vac Service Vacuum excavation service to expose utilities or remove earth near buried utilities, providing safe alternative to hydraulic methods and efficient alternative to hand digging.
• Geotechnical Sampling Services Sampling services including Shelby Tubes for undisturbed samples, Split Spoon (SPT) sampling, and soil/rock coring with geotechnical SPT sampling using 140 LB drop hammer.
• Underground Utility Locating Natural resources engineering service with standards and best practices exceeding industry standards for identifying and locating underground utilities.
• Grout and Injection Services Well liner hangers, drilling bits, production and wellhead installation services with exclusive cooperation for accessing best equipment.
• Injection Well Installation and Abandonment Complete installation and abandonment services for injection wells following regulatory standards.
• Vapor Extraction Well Services Installation and abandonment services for vapor extraction wells used in environmental remediation.
• Piezometer Installation and Abandonment Services for installing and abandoning piezometers for groundwater monitoring and measurement.
• Monitor Well Development Development services for monitoring wells to ensure proper function and water quality monitoring capability.

Quantifiable outcome

• 13,000+ monitor wells plugged since 2001

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Terracon Consultants: Terracon is a large national geotechnical and environmental services firm that performs and subcontracts drilling for site characterization. It overlaps with Vortex on the geotechnical/environmental side but at much greater scale.
• Tetra Tech: Tetra Tech is a global consulting and engineering firm with a substantial environmental drilling and groundwater monitoring practice. It competes with Vortex for enterprise and government environmental work but operates as a full-service consulting platform.
• Ecology and Environment: Ecology and Environment (now part of WSP) provides environmental consulting and field services including drilling for site assessments. Overlaps with Vortex in the environmental drilling services market at the project level.
• Clean Harbors: Clean Harbors is a large environmental and industrial services company providing field services including drilling for site remediation and monitoring. It serves similar oil and gas and government customers as Vortex but at enterprise scale.
• Boart Longyear: Boart Longyear is a large global drilling services and equipment provider covering mineral exploration, geotechnical, and environmental drilling. It is a broad incumbent serving similar end markets with a much wider portfolio.
• TRC Companies: TRC is a national environmental, engineering, and construction services firm that operates drilling crews for site investigation and remediation. Comparable to Vortex on services and end customers, but with much broader capabilities.

Direct peers

• Groundwater & Environmental Services (GES): GES provides environmental drilling, monitoring well installation, and site investigation services to oil and gas, industrial, and government clients. Closely comparable to Vortex in services, customer mix, and regional operating model.
• Cascade Environmental: Cascade Environmental is a direct-push and environmental drilling contractor offering GeoProbe DPT, sonic, auger, and rotary drilling for soil, groundwater, and vapor sampling. It is a direct competitor to Vortex/Alamo1 in the same service line and customer base.
• Strata Drilling: Strata Drilling is an environmental and geotechnical drilling contractor providing soil boring, monitoring well installation, and well abandonment services. Comparable to Vortex in service scope and customer type.

Others

• Geoprobe Systems: Geoprobe Systems manufactures the direct-push rigs and tooling used by Vortex and most environmental drillers. It is a key equipment supplier rather than a competitor, but its product roadmap directly shapes Vortex's service capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vortex-drilling-partners-lp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vortex Drilling