In this episode of Big Swing Podcast, Jeremy Funk and Corey Scott sit down with Rhett Newberry, President and CEO of Service Compression, for a wide-ranging conversation on building a compression powerhouse from the ground up, navigating extreme market volatility, and the critical role of compression in the energy supply chain. Rhett’s journey into oil and gas was anything but planned—growing up in Arlington, Texas, with no industry exposure, he moved to Midland to support his spouse’s education and joined Basic Energy Services during its IPO. From there, he went on to build Service Compression into a company with roughly one million horsepower in its fleet, growing through strategic machine shop acquisitions, the pivotal purchase of Service Compression in 2017, and the transformative acquisition of Active.

The conversation covers the company’s evolution from a small overhaul shop to a dominant rental operation, the near-impossible timing of its largest acquisition closing on February 29, 2020—just days before the Russia-Saudi price war and COVID-19 sent oil prices negative—and how positioning compression as an essential production utility enabled survival when capital markets froze. Rhett also discusses the critical role of backend technology and operational infrastructure, the value of elite field personnel in acquisitions, and the persistent supply chain constraints that make rapid fleet expansion nearly impossible. The discussion turns to the broader market tailwinds reshaping the industry, including the explosive power demand from AI data centers, which solidifies compression as a vital artery in the energy ecosystem.

Listen to the full conversation for an inside look at building a scaled compression business, the art of strategic acquisitions, and why this often-overlooked sector is finally getting the attention it deserves.