Pa. drill rig manufacturer taking the ‘rough’ out of roughnecking

Katie Colaneri

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Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.
Lindsay Lazarski/Keystone Crossroads

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Lindsay Lazarski is a multimedia journalist for Keystone Crossroads, a statewide public media initiative focused on the problems facing Pennsylvania’s cities and possible solutions.
Before joining the Keystone Crossroads collaboration, Lindsay produced daily and feature multimedia content for WHYY’s NewsWorks and was founder and editor of View Finders blog.
Lindsay has dangled from the back of a musher’s dog sled, climbed six feet under into a Bucks County bomb shelter and strutted up Broad Street on New Year’s Day with the Mummers — all in search of a better angle.
Before becoming a “real Philadelphian,” Lindsay worked as a multimedia producer for NBC in New York. She has a master’s degree from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and is a recovering South Bronx public school teacher.

April 17, 2014 | 4:11 PM

As shale oil and gas production soars in states like Pennsylvania, Texas and North Dakota, the number of drill rigs towering over treetops is on the decline. Operators are becoming more efficient and advances in technology are driving other changes in oil and gas fields.
Several hours away from where drillers are boring down into Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, Schramm Inc. is manufacturing new rigs that, in the words of CEO Ed Breiner, “take the ‘rough’ out of roughnecking.” Schramm’s latest model – the T500XD – requires 40 percent fewer workers than a conventional rig.
Last week, StateImpact Pennsylvania visited Schramm’s factory in West Chester, Pennsylvania to learn more about how technology is shaping the future of drilling jobs.