History

ABARTA Oil & Gas was originally founded in 1979, and later developed as a way to diversify ABARTA, Inc.'s businesses. The company already owned a newspaper and Coca-Cola franchises, so what should come next? "Owning a newspaper is great," explains Jim Taylor, President and CEO of ABARTA Oil & Gas, "but it's very difficult to go out and buy other newspapers. The same applies to the Coca-Cola bottling operations. We really wanted to grow from businesses we could start ourselves, from businesses we could create." Hence, the birth of ABARTA Oil & Gas.

In the early years, the company began making small investments each year with different oil and gas developers and remained a passive financial partner until the late 1980s. It was at this time when the Federal government began offering Section 29 tax credits for drilling particular types of oil and gas wells. "We became an active financial partner, investing with companies that could drill wells and shared our vision for growth. We also began acquiring producing properties so we could continue to grow when market conditions did not favor drilling," Taylor explains. Concurrently, ABARTA Oil & Gas began to develop in-house expertise in engineering and geology so it could pursue a balance between drilling and acquisition.

CONTINUED GROWTH

In 1993, the company made its first acquisition, purchasing 23 producing wells in Pike County, Kentucky. Over the next three years ABARTA Oil & Gas made five additional acquisitions and continued to drill wells in which it owned interests. By 1997 ABARTA Oil & Gas was a majority owner with substantial interests in approximately 700 wells in Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas.

"Then in the spring of 1998 we revised our strategic plan," says Taylor. "We decided our future was to become a full-fledged oil and gas company that would create its own opportunities, have the in-house expertise to do so and control its own destiny and properties."

A NEW DAY

Today, ABARTA Oil & Gas owns an interest in 1,700 natural gas and oil wells.  Our 65 employees work in our offices located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Bridgeport, West Virginia; and Martha, Kentucky and in our gas plant located in Martha, Kentucky.  Over the last decade, its record of profitable growth has averaged 20% per year.

"We now have our sights set on our next strategic goal: becoming a leading independent gas finder," explains Taylor. "We have one of the finest staffs in the Appalachian Basin, and it's the quality and character of those people that will allow us to continue our record of profitable growth."