The Conroe oilfield has been quiet for more than 30 years but a Cut and Shoot man has changed that after launching his own company and bringing the field back to life.
Brent Franklin, owner of Rise Drilling, began producing in the field for Texas-based Wheeler Resources in September.
Franklin, 33, has taken an unconventional path to the oil industry. He grew up in Cut and Shoot and attended Conroe High School. During ninth grade, he dropped out of school to work and eventually enlisted in the United States Navy.
Once out of the military, Franklin began flipping houses and learning about investing.
“I started investing in oil and gas back in 2018,” Franklin said. “I got burned by an oil and gas company pretty bad. I woke up and started my own company. That turned into me getting on YouTube and learning to drill wells.”
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From there, Franklin began buying equipment and contracting with companies to revive oil wells. Taking his home-flipping model to oil fields has proven to be successful, he said.
“We go after older projects,” Franklin said. “We revamp older wells. My business focuses on finding existing oil and gas wells that maybe have reserves or oil and gas left behind. We get them back online.”
History of the Conroe oilfield
For Franklin, the Conroe oilfield south of Conroe near Grangerland was a great place to start.
Conroe historians have said no event shaped the city’s future more than the discovery of oil in 1931.
At the time, the rest of the country was in the grips of the Great Depression. The discovery of oil in the Conroe oilfield in December 1931 by developer George Strake Sr. lifted the area out of economic turmoil, brought thousands of people to the city and created an industry that would flourish for several decades in the Conroe area.
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The town benefited with paved roads, school upgrades and government facilities in the 1930s. Strake became a well-known philanthropist in Houston with many charities benefiting from his good fortune.
Bringing oil and gas production back to Montgomery County is important for Franklin. He hopes his businesses will allow others to invest in the oil and gas industry.
“A lot of people would love to invest in oil and gas, they just don’t know how or they had a bad experience,” Franklin said. “We launched a private equity fund to allow people to come in and join us and participate passively.”
County Judge Mark Keough said the new activity in Conroe is good news.
“The Conroe oilfields are an old proven oil field that hasn’t seen much in new development in decades,” he said. “Texas leads the way in energy independence and Montgomery County has rejoined the effort.”
1960s wells producing in Humble
Franklin isn’t just focused on Conroe. He also owns several leases in Humble where he revived old wells that are now actively producing. The wells, he said, were shut in during the 1960s.
“We found them on maps and went out there with metal detectors, found them and put well heads on them,” Franklin said. “These are old, old wells.”
Franklin said his approach allows landowners who might have old wells to see them producing again.
“People need hope,” he said. “We have the data. We can calculate those reserves.”
Moving forward, Franklin said, he is focused on raising capital to expand the company.
“We started out really rough with me learning the hard way,” Franklin said. “We want to hire more people, put out more rigs. We are dialing in and we are building a reputation.”
According to information from the Texas Oil and Gas Association, Texas’ production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids has achieved new record highs this year.
In August, Texas’ crude oil production rose to 43.2 percent of oil production in the U.S. and 28.5 percent of natural gas marketed production.
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According to the association, Texas’ oil production reached a record high 5.7 million barrels per day in August. Texas’ natural gas marketed production reached 34.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas gross withdrawals.
“Texas’ production of oil and natural gas has achieved records despite relatively modest drilling activity. Productivity gains and leveraging wells that have been drilled but not yet completed have provided a tailwind,” said Dean Foreman, chief economist with the Texas Oil & Gas Association in a September economic analysis. “Texas’ increased importance to U.S. energy production, processing, transportation and exports has become evident this year – and holds implications for cogent domestic energy policies to support U.S. energy and economic security.”
Franklin said he planning for more opportunities in Conroe.
“We know there is oil and gas that has been left behind,” Franklin said. “There just hasn’t been anyone chasing it. If we are going to maintain positive cash flow and energy independence in our nation, we need to develop as much as possible. Conroe is a significant source for oil and gas.”
