History

Chief Oil & Gas was founded in 1994 to focus primarily on developing reserves in the Bend Conglomerate area of North Texas.

As the Barnett Shale became more intriguing, Chief changed its direction in 1997 to focus its attention there and becoming one of the early producers in the field. Chief drilled its first Barnett well in 1997. New technologies in fracture stimulation and rising gas prices made the Barnett Shale, an unconventional resource for natural gas, more economical. Chief rapidly expanded its leasehold position.

By early 2005, Chief was the second largest producer in the Barnett Shale with over 250 wells, 200,000 leasehold acres, primarily in the core producing area, and producing over 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Many independents were now moving in and establishing positions in the nation's fastest growing natural gas field.

In 2006, the midstream business and the majority of the leasehold and production businesses were sold. A small position in the Barnett Shale was retained and in 2007 Chief expanded into other prospective fields.

By 2008, Chief was one of the largest leaseholders in the Marcellus Shale with close to 600,000 acres of leasehold. Needing to move gas produced out of northeast PA, Chief Gathering was established as a sister company to Chief Oil & Gas. In 2010, Chief sold its Lycoming County, PA assets to EXCO. In late 2011, Chief sold all its southwest PA, West Virginia and Maryland assets to Chevron. In May of 2012, Chief Gathering sold all the Marcellus pipeline and midstream assets to PVR Partners. Chief maintained its lucrative Marcellus assets in northeast PA, the most prolific producing area in the Marcellus.

After more than a decade of producing clean natural gas from shale, Chief is proud of the way we have efficiently and responsibly protected water and other natural resources while maximizing the production of a valuable energy source. We are also committed to giving back to the communities where we work, participating in local Chambers of Commerce, supporting United Way initiatives and funding scholarships and other education programs.