Jeffrey L. Ventura- CEO & President of one of the largest petroleum and natural gas exploration and production companies.
Range Resources Corporation is one of the largest petroleum and natural gas exploration and production companies in the Marcellus Formation, USA. As of December 31, 2017, the company had 15.262 trillion cubic feet of the natural gas equivalent of estimated proved reserves, of which 67% was natural gas, 30% was natural gas liquids, and 3% was petroleum. Approximately 87% of total proved reserves and 88% of 2017 production was in the Marcellus Formation. In 2016, the company’s production was 1.542 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day.
Jeffrey L. Ventura, Chief Executive Officer, and President joined Range in 2003 as Chief Operating Officer and became a director in 2005. Mr. Ventura was named Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2012. Previously, Mr. Ventura served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Matador Petroleum Corporation which he joined in 1997. Prior to his service at Matador, Mr. Ventura spent eight years at Maxus Energy Corporation where he managed various engineering, exploration, and development operations and was responsible for the coordination of engineering technology. Previously, Mr. Ventura was with Tenneco Oil Exploration and Production, where he held various engineering and operating positions. Mr. Ventura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Ventura is a member of the National Petroleum Council, Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. He is also a member of the Gateway Church.
Range Resources Corporation is a petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of the largest exploration companies operating in the Marcellus Formation.
In 1976, the company was founded as Lomak Petroleum, based in Hartville, Ohio, and drilled wells in the eastern part of it.
In 1992, the company moved its headquarters to Fort Worth, Texas and in 1997, the company acquired American Cometra for $385 million, which owned properties in the Permian Basin and also acquired assets from Cabot Oil and gas for $92.5 million.
In 1998, the company acquired Domain Energy for $214 million. The company also changed its name to Range Resources Corporation.
In 1999, the company formed a 50-50 joint venture with FirstEnergy called Great Lakes Energy Partners LLC to own properties in the Appalachian Basin. In 2004, the company bought the 50% interest in the venture that it owned for $290 million, including the assumption of debt.
Before its major expansion into the Marcellus Shale, the company only held a small position in the Texas Barnet Shale and 9,000 “worn-out gas wells across the Appalachian basin that had been producing for 25 years”. However, geologist William Zagorski, who worked for the company, used the knowledge of hydraulic fracturing, gained working in the Barnett Shale (pioneered in the region by Mitchel Energy and Development) to attempt hydraulic fracturing in Appalachia, where according to Ventura, “it worked on the first try”.
In 2004, the company began operations in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, and a year later,
in 2005, the company built horizontal test wells in Mount Pleasant Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and began production in the Marcellus Shale, and in 2007, the company spent $200 million to acquire additional land nearby.
In 2006, the company acquired Stroud Energy and its major position in the Barnet Shale for $450 million.
In 2010, Forbes called the company “King of the Marcellus Shale“. The company had spent less than $1,000 per acre on average to acquire land suitable for drilling, compared to larger traditional oil and gas players who joined the exploration rush late in the game who had paid as much as $14,000 an acre.
In 2014, the company exchanged its assets in the Permian Basin with EQT for assets in the Nora Field in Virginia plus $145 million in cash.
In 2015, the company sold its assets in the Nora Field in Virginia to EnerVest for $875 million, and in the next year, in 2016, the company acquired Memorial Resource Development for $4.2 billion in stock.
Issabayev Dulat, YaPresident.com own correspondent, oil and gas sector