1979-1980: Swift Begins Operations in West Virginia

When Earl Swift founded Swift Energy Company in October 1979, he was an experienced reservoir engineer and an attorney with expert knowledge of oil and gas regulations. Relying on his expertise in both of these areas, he initially focused on drilling natural gas development wells in the Appalachian Basin of West Virginia, where he could take advantage of new regulations that permitted the marketing of certain categories of gas at increasingly higher prices and where he could also avoid competition with any of his former employers. He obtained financing for the drilling from subscriptions to privately placed limited partnerships and joint venture agreements with industry partners. By the end of 1980, the Company had drilled 13 development wells in West Virginia, all of which were successful. As the managing general partner of the partnerships, Swift Energy also operated the wells, marketing the gas to Columbia Gas Transmission Company.

Swift Energy’s experience in using technology to enhance production from tight sands began with its early West Virginia wells. The hydraulic fracturing of one of those early wells—Sandy #1—is shown above. By the mid 1990s, innovative fracturing techniques had become an important part of the Company’s development program for tight Olmos sands in South Texas

This page was last updated on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, at 10:02:29 AM.

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