J-W Energy Company
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Oil and Gas Industry |
| Founded | November 10, 1960 |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas, United States |
Key people |
H.G. Westerman (President and Chief Executive Officer)[1] David Miller (Sr. Executive Vice President) R.C. Clement (Executive Vice President) |
| Products | Natural gas |
| Website |
www |
J-W Energy Company is an Energy Services and Energy Development company, with several primary business units, that specialize in natural gas compression, gas gathering and processing, cased-hole wireline services, and exploration & production. Services are offered to the oil and gas industry in many Rocky-Mountain, mid-continent, or eastern states: Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
History
J-W Operating Company was founded on November 10, 1960, by Thomas Jeffrey and Howard G. Westerman.[1]
In 1960, the principal owners of two water flood units in Arkansas, who could not agree on which of them should operate the units, offered the job to Howard Westerman. Dr. Ralph Connell loaned the money to Jeffrey and Westerman to start a new company. This laid the foundation for what would develop into a company specializing in contract operations, and Dr. Connell has since been affectionately been known as the dash in the "J - W".[2]
The company was contracted to drill brine wells and build a gathering system to deliver brine to a local bromine plant and dispose of the wastewater. In 1962, Thomas Jeffrey returned to his passion of independent consulting, and Howard Westerman became the controlling owner and chief executive officer of J-W Operating Company.
Over the years, Mr. Westerman's endeavors spawned numerous patents and trademarks, including the Superburn compressor with a two-cycle stratified engine. Owning and operating pipelines and compressors opened the door to the oil-and-gas exploration and production business with discoveries in Northeast Colorado and Northern Louisiana. In 1983, he created Cohort Energy Company to handle the exploration and production operations. In the late 80s, he ventured into power generation from landfill gas. In the 90s, he implemented an aggressive growth strategy and complemented his staff with professional managers whose charge was to double the size of J-W Operating Company.
In September 2010, the company was restructured and was essentially renamed J-W Energy Company to better reflect the company's current scope of services.
Gathering and Processing
J-W Operating Company entered the gas pipeline business by constructing what became known as the Douglas Gathering System in February 1969. Several other small pipelines followed in Arkansas, West Texas, and East Texas.
J-W Gathering Company's first major pipeline was what became known as the Caddo Gas Gathering System. The Caddo System began as a petroleum pipeline that was purchased and converted to natural gas in January 1976. J-W Gathering Company was officially founded on September 4, 1979, and originally managed by C. D. McDaniels, who continued to work for the company.
J-W Gathering Company is now a midstream gatherer of natural gas, redelivering gas into interstate and intrastate pipelines and local end users. The main assets are the Caddo System, Red Chute/Koran Gathering Systems, both located in North Louisiana, and the Sweetwater Creek and Denton Creek Gathering Systems in North Texas.
The company reorganized on January 1, 2012, which included a new parent company name of J-W Midstream Company.
Gas Compression - Sales, Service and Leasing
Howard Westerman's involvement with gas pipelines and fascination of mechanical equipment led to his interest in gas compressors. J-W Power Company was officially formed August 19, 1988, but was leasing compressor packages purchased from third parties as far back as October 1966 under the parent company's name of J-W Operating Company.
The majority of this early equipment was slow-speed integral compressors manufactured by Ajax. When Ariel Corporation[3] began manufacturing high-speed separable compressors, J-W Power Company was one of the early packagers with Ariel becoming the mainstay of the current lease fleet.
J-W Power Company fabricated its first compressor package, an Ariel JGM/2 compressor driven by a Witte engine rated 18 BHP at 1400 RPM, in May 1976 in a small shop in Longview, TX. Needing a place to test his ideas for improving gas compressor packages, Mr. Westerman constructed a larger plant on the outskirts of Longview, TX, in January 1978, which is still in operation today. Since that time, J-W Power Company has been an innovator in gas-compressor package design, currently holding many patents and trademarks. J-W Power Company actually packaged some of the industry's first oil-flooded rotary screws in December 1978, and in October 1986, J-W Power patented a two-stroke stratified engine later known as the Superburn.
J-W Power Company has expanded primarily through organic growth with a few strategic acquisitions in core areas since buying that first compressor. J-W Power Company is currently considered an industry leader in leasing, service, fabrication and sales of natural gas compression equipment. J-W Power Company is currently the largest privately owned compression packager and is considered one of the premier manufacturers of packaged gas compressors, while providing some of the maintenance service in the industry.
Exploration and Production
In January 1983, J-W Operating Company formed Cohort Energy Company, as its oil and gas exploration and production company, and began staffing a full complement of professional geologists, engineers and land men. After a few years, the company began drilling small prospects and acquired ownership interest in the Caspiana Field. A field development plan was initiated which had good success. This action also provided valuable in-house geological and operational expertise in the Cotton Valley and Hosston plays of North Louisiana and resulted in the exploitation and development of Elm Grove field.
Today, J-W Operating Company owns interest in hundreds of operated properties situated within the domestic United States, exploiting the Haynesville Shale, Cotton Valley and Hosston Sands in East Texas and North Louisiana.
Compressed Natural Gas
J-W Power Company entered the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) market in January 1994 when it built its first compressor package designed specifically for a Compressed Natural Gas application. Manufactured at J-W Power Company’s facility in Longview, Texas; the first CNG packages were delivered to customers in Liberal and Hugoton, Kansas, followed by Sonora, Texas and Saint John, British Columbia. The company’s experience led to being an authority in the highly engineered equipment design used in CNG applications and has built over 50,000 horsepower of CNG compression since that first CNG compressor in 1994. In addition, the company is qualified to engineering capabilities to design, manufacture, procure and install all facets of a CNG Fueling Station including the manufacturing of CNG storage spheres.
References
External links
- J-W Energy Company's Official Website
- NGVi
- Ariel Authorized Distributor
- Forbes Magazine - America's Wealthiest Families
- D magazine October 2014 Article
- MarketWatch Nov. 20, 2014 Article
- FTSI Acquires J-W Wireline Company Announcement