What AK Drilling Inc. does

AK Drilling Inc. is a privately held water well drilling company headquartered in Butte, Montana, founded in 1996 and operating continuously for nearly 30 years. The company serves residential homeowners, commercial businesses, industrial/municipal customers, agricultural operations, and environmental monitoring clients across Montana, Idaho, and the broader Western United States. Its service portfolio includes residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and monitoring well drilling, alongside water well maintenance/inspection and water abandonment services that decommission unused wells in line with Montana guidelines.

Drilling operations are conducted using two Foremost Dual Rotary Drill rigs: a DR 24 capable of installing casing up to 24 inches in diameter and a DR 12 light-duty rig field-tested beyond 550 feet for 6-inch cased wells. The company positions these rigs alongside regulatory expertise across Montana and Idaho permitting as core technical assets. All services are delivered through direct field sales with crews dispatched to client sites, supported by an educational blog and quote-based, project-specific pricing with no publicly disclosed standard rates.

The business generates revenue through one-time project fees for drilling and casing installation, plus recurring-style professional services for maintenance, inspection, and abandonment. Customers range from individual homeowners on difficult residential terrain to large multi-national commercial accounts and municipal water systems. The company is founder/family operated with no disclosed external investors, no parent entity, and no M&A history.

Name

AK Drilling Inc.

Legal name

AK Drilling

Website

https://akdrilling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AK Drilling Inc. is a privately held, family-operated water well drilling company founded in 1996 in Butte, Montana, serving residential, commercial, industrial/municipal, agricultural, and monitoring clients across the Western United States using Foremost Dual Rotary Drill rigs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Elephant Butte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Water Well Drilling Services: One-time well drilling services for residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and monitoring well projects. Services include site preparation, drilling, casing installation, well development, and testing. Pricing is quote-based, determined by project scope, depth, conditions, and location.
2. Water Well Maintenance and Inspection: Pre-winter inspection services and ongoing well maintenance to ensure system efficiency and prevent costly repairs during harsh winter months.
3. Water Abandonment Services: Proper abandonment and decommissioning of wells no longer in use, following Montana guidelines, including sealing wells with appropriate materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AK Drilling Inc. is a water well drilling service company that drills private and commercial water wells into the ground to reach groundwater sources and aquifers. The company provides site evaluation, drilling, casing installation, well development, testing, and decommissioning services for residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and monitoring well projects. Operations are conducted across Montana, Idaho, and the broader Western United States using Foremost DR 24 and DR 12 Dual Rotary Drill rigs capable of installing large-diameter casings and reaching significant depths.

Product overview

AK Drilling Inc. is a water well drilling service company operating since 1996, offering a portfolio of specialized drilling services for different sectors. The core offerings include Residential Water Wells for private homeowners, Commercial Water Wells for businesses, Industrial/Municipal Water Wells for communities and facilities, Agricultural Water Wells for farms and ranches, and Monitoring Wells for groundwater observation and contamination detection. The company also provides water abandonment services for decommissioning wells. All drilling operations utilize Foremost DR 24 and DR 12 Dual Rotary Drill rigs capable of installing casings up to 24 inches in diameter and reaching depths beyond 550 feet.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Water Wells

Quantifiable outcome

• Steel casing installed down to 540 feet for stable wells
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Hydro Resources: Hydro Resources is a regional water well drilling contractor serving the Western US with residential, commercial, municipal, agricultural, and monitoring well services, using comparable dual-rotary and rotary rig technology — directly competing for the same customer segments as AK Drilling in overlapping geographies.
• Schafer & Associates Drilling: Schafer & Associates Drilling is a regional water well and geotechnical drilling firm serving the Western US with residential, municipal, agricultural, and monitoring well capabilities — a direct peer in service breadth and regional footprint.
• C.J. Drilling Co. C.J. Drilling Co. is a regional water well drilling contractor in the Pacific Northwest/Mountain West offering residential, commercial, and irrigation wells with comparable rig fleet and project-based delivery — a direct competitor for AK Drilling's Western US project pipeline.
• Ayers Water Well Drilling: Ayers Water Well Drilling is a regional water well drilling company in the Mountain West offering residential, commercial, and agricultural well installation and maintenance — directly comparable in service mix and rural Western US target market.
• Thomas Brothers Drilling: Thomas Brothers Drilling is a regional water well driller in the Western US offering residential, agricultural, commercial, and municipal well construction with similar equipment profiles and project-based quote pricing — directly comparable in service mix and go-to-market.

Others

• Foremost Industries: Foremost Industries is the manufacturer of the DR 24 and DR 12 dual-rotary rigs used by AK Drilling. While not a direct competitor, it is the upstream equipment supplier to AK Drilling and comparable drillers, defining the technology platform on which water well contractors operate.

Regional players

• Western Hydro Geological Consultants: Western Hydro is a regional hydrogeology and well drilling firm in the Western US with monitoring, municipal, and agricultural well services — comparable in monitoring-well and municipal project capabilities, though with a heavier hydrogeology consulting emphasis.

Broad incumbents

• Layne (a Granite Construction company): Layne is one of the largest North American water well drilling and water infrastructure contractors, providing residential, municipal, agricultural, and industrial well drilling along with pump and treatment services — directly comparable to AK Drilling across every vertical served, but at national scale and as part of a publicly-traded parent.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ak-drilling

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 AK Drilling Inc.