Lufkin Industries Headquarters, Texas

Lufkin is a leader in pumpjack manufacture and sales, a familiar name to anyone that has spent time in onshore oilfields, as its name is blazoned on its pumps, including the Mark II model, one of the most widespread. These walking beam or rod lift type pumps have a steel beam continuously raised and lowered by an eccentric gear turned by an electric or gas motor. One end is connected to a rod that extends down the well, with a valve at the bottom that opens to allow oil in when it is at its lowest point, and opens at its highest, forcing oil upwards with each lift inside the well casing. Lufkin, founded in 1902 in order to manufacture railroad and sawmill equipment in Lufkin, Texas, innovated the counter balanced pump unit in the 1920s when the oil boom came to the area. It also manufactures other types of artificial lift equipment, well automation equipment/software, and precision gearboxes, bearings, and couplings. Lufkin was acquired by GE in 2013.