With new facilities and a push in the offshore market, Jacam Catalyst is eyeing the top spot in US oil and gas
With a workforce of over 1300 employees in more than 50 locations across the US, Jacam Catalyst is the largest production chemical company in the Permian Basin, North America’s most prolific oil and gas producing region. Focused on delivering differentiated solutions and advanced chemical technologies that enhance production performance and ensure equipment reliability while minimizing environmental exposure, Jacam Catalyst has also ranked number one in customer loyalty for five consecutive years, according to independent surveys conducted by Kimberlite.
Jacam Catalyst offers more than 800 specialized products designed to stimulate wells, control corrosion, and mitigate operational challenges related to hydrogen sulfide, paraffin, scale, and emulsions. The company’s structure is built around dedicated teams that manage every aspect of customer operations from troubleshooting field problems to engineering custom solutions. By increasing operational reliability and extending well life through engineered designs and specialist chemistry, the business helps customers maximize output without the need to drill additional wells, driving efficiency and sustainability across the oilfield.
When we last spoke with President Vern Disney in 2024, we discussed the company’s five-year growth trajectory, including expansion to its headquarters in Gardendale, Texas, and how it planned to win business in new markets. Around one year later, Vern joins Energy, Oil & Gas again to provide an update on Jacam Catalyst’s operations.
“The Gardendale headquarters expansion has made tremendous progress and is already delivering value across our operations,” Vern opens. “These expansion projects have significantly enhanced our ability to support regional operations, streamline logistics, and scale our distribution capabilities, allowing us to better serve the Permian Basin and surrounding areas while supporting the needs of our expanding workforce and customer base. The headquarters functions as a fully integrated regional hub, supporting everything from manufacturing and distribution to technical services and field operations, which is critical as we continue to scale.
“We’ve also recently expanded our Gardendale distribution center by adding 18,000 square feet of new operating space. With 16 new offices and a large conference room, this expansion significantly enhances our ability to support and scale our distribution fleet operations. It also came with an additional 16 acres of land, bringing the total campus size to 65 acres and over 90,000 square feet of operational facilities. This will strengthen our logistical capabilities in the Permian Basin, positioning us to respond more efficiently to customer needs while supporting continued growth across our core service regions.”
Aside from Gardendale, Jacam Catalyst has also invested in a new office and laboratory strategically located in The Woodlands, Texas. “We’ve recently opened a new 14,507-square-foot office and laboratory in the heart of The Woodlands, which represents a key milestone in our long-term growth strategy and reinforces our presence in a region that serves as a central hub for the oil and gas and offshore industries,” Vern explains. “The state-of-the-art space will support expanded research and development efforts across multiple business lines, including the deepwater, land, international, and downstream sectors. With its strategic location and advanced amenities, the new office and lab will further enable us to deliver cutting-edge chemical solutions and better serve our clients both domestically and globally.”
Speaking specifically about how this expansion will strengthen Jacam Catalyst’s presence in the offshore sector, Vern continues: “The Houston area and the broader Gulf of America region serve as strategic hubs for the oil, gas, and chemical industries, offering direct access to key offshore markets in North America and Latin America. By advancing our geographic footprint and accelerating innovation near the Gulf, we’re able to leverage a well-established supply chain and regional infrastructure. The area provides access to critical raw materials, world-class ports, and manufacturing capabilities, all of which support operational efficiency and reduce logistics and procurement costs. This positions us to deliver faster, more responsive service and customized offshore chemical solutions, enhancing our competitive edge in the deepwater markets.”
If the investments in Gardendale and The Woodlands weren’t enough, the business has also taken significant steps to upgrade its facility in Sterling, Kansas. “In January 2024, we expanded our Sterling location by adding a new chemical reaction system, which includes proprietary temperature control, distillation, and agitation systems to provide incredibly high-quality products and enhance the efficiency of the phosphonate reaction,” Vern confirms. “The additional equipment consists of a 2000-gallon glass-lined reactor, condenser, heat exchanger, magnetically driven pump and more, all connected by Teflon-lined piping. The materials of construction for each piece of equipment were custom designed to withstand the harsh conditions of high temperature and low pH. Engineered by our in-house chemical experts and assembled by our fabrication team, the system successfully underwent startup testing in August 2024, with the scale-up to full production adding a production capacity of 400,000 pounds per month.
“We’ve also converted part of a warehouse in Sterling into dedicated office space for four chemical engineers. Three offices have been designated for the managers of engineering and fabrication, as well as our head of maintenance. This new workspace supports increased design and process engineering efficiency and provides a centralized location for expanding our chemical reaction capabilities on-site. 
“Connected to the new engineering offices, we’ve added a 6900-square-foot fabrication facility to support the growth of our internal fabrication for all new and existing chemical reactions operations,” he adds. “The proximity of the engineering and fabrication teams allows for a direct and efficient collaboration not standard in the industry. Doing this work in-house decreases design and fabrication costs by 50 percent and project timelines by 65 percent compared to most chemical manufacturing companies.
“We’ve also successfully completed the fabrication and start-up of a new imidazoline process reactor, thereby more than doubling current capacity. The imidazoline we manufacture is of substantial quality, and the reactor was immediately used to assist with high demand. We are also 30 percent complete on the build-out of a chemical reaction system that will allow the facility to manufacture another chemical reaction intermediate in large quantities. This reactor, at over 6000 gallons, is over triple the size of the average chemical reactor at the facility and will allow for significant cost savings with current high selling products at both the Sterling and Gardendale facilities.
“Lastly, later this year we’ll begin converting a large portion of the Sterling facility into dedicated raw material storage,” Vern reveals. “This upgrade will improve raw material proximity to our manufacturing operations, streamlining material flow and increasing overall process efficiency. Overall, these projects reflect our continued investment in infrastructure, innovation, and operational excellence.”
Looking ahead, Vern shares his vision for the future of Jacam Catalyst. “Our priorities for the remainder of the year focus on strategic growth, operational efficiency, and innovation,” he says. “We’re continuing to invest in infrastructure, including ongoing facility expansions and equipment upgrades, to support increased production and supply chain reliability. We’re also focused on expanding our deepwater and offshore capabilities, with a strong emphasis on growing our ProFlow Certified™ product line and continuing to strengthen our footprint in the Gulf of America.
“Jacam Catalyst is currently the second largest production chemical company in the US land market, and I’d like to see us soar to first position by revenue as we continue to expand in the Gulf of America as well as internationally,” Vern concludes. “We remain committed to advancing our R&D efforts, developing tailored chemical solutions that address evolving customer challenges across production, stimulation, and midstream operations. As always, supporting our people and reinforcing our culture of safety, service, and technical excellence will remain at the heart of everything we do.”