During the 1970s when the worldwide search for alternatives to OPEC oil went into high gear, Helmerich & Payne's international drilling operations came into their own, with most of the activity concentrated in South America.
At the peak of the boom in Venezuela, Helmerich & Payne had 12 of its own rigs working and nine others under contract. Although the oil industry was nationalized by Venezuela in 1976, Helmerich & Payne enjoyed excellent relations with the government, and the customer-changeover from the major oil firms to the government-owned oil company was relatively smooth.
Company rigs were also working in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Belize, Guatemala, and Bolivia. The first of several new helicopter-transportable rigs began operating in Ecuador, and they soon became a vital tool in working remote locations.
George Dotson joined the company, after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1970, as the assistant to the President. Soon, Walt Helmerich, III, sent Dotson on his first major assignment in Peru. Dotson would later become the President of the Drilling company, including its international operations.
World energy prices continued to climb. The entire industry began to experience unprecedented demand for drilling equipment as the oil and gas boom gathered momentum. Helmerich & Payne continued to focus on deep drilling. During the last five years of the decade, Helmerich & Payne's average well was over 13,000 feet deep, compared with an industry average of less than 4,800. At the height of the boom, in 1978, the rig activity rate was 99 percent. By 1979, Helmerich & Payne owned 50 rigs.
At the State Capitol building in Oklahoma City, Helmerich & Payne finally plugged the Francis #1 well in 1976 after 40 years of production. It had produced some 1.2 million barrels of oil, and stood as a symbol of the importance of petroleum in the states' history and growth.
By the end of the 1970s, the company was experiencing unprecedented growth. The international publication, The Economist, ranked Helmerich & Payne, Inc.'s stock as one of it's top ten performers for the decade, appreciating over 1000 percent. Success was achieved with very little debt