took a job as an oil field and land man to make some
money while he figured out what was next.
"I really liked it, got to know some of the guys and found
them interesting and more of my ilk than some of the guys
who were really good in law school," he said. "I came down
here and Peter and my dad gave me an office to hang out
in. Over time, we ended up being partners. My dad wanted
to do what he wanted to do and Peter and I had a little bit
different vision of what makes us motivated. My dad was
just fascinated by geology, and for him it was a pleasure
to know the countryside. We liked to think about what's
going to move the needle and make a difference."
The needle was definitely moved in the late 2000s, when
Texas Crude essentially changed its industry forever. The
company got in on the ground floor of the Eagle Ford
Shale discover y in South Texas, one of the landmark
developments in the history of oil and gas exploration.
In 2000, shale gas, found trapped in formations of the
common sedimentary rock, made up only 1% of U.S. natural
gas production. By 2010, after Eagle Ford exploration
got underway, it was 20%. Government forecasts say that
number will rise to 46% by 2035. But it took some outside-
the-box thinking from the lean operation of Texas Crude