George P. Mitchell, the Horatio Alger of the Oil and Gas Industry Who Launched the Shale Revolution and Changed Everything

Yesterday was the 106th anniversary of George Mitchell, the father of the Shale Revolution, which changed the world by making the United States not only energy independent again but energy dominant. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 94 and had the privilege not always awarded to great leaders, that of witnessing how their work remade everything.

Mitchell also created a foundation with his wealth and it reposts his AP obituary, which is also offered below:

THE BIG STORY: GEORGE P. MITCHELL, BILLIONAIRE TEXAS OILMAN, DEVELOPER, AND PHILANTHROPIST, DEAD AT 94

Michael Graczyk | The Associated Press | July 26, 2013

Billionaire Texas oilman, developer and philanthropist George P. Mitchell, considered the father of fracking, died Friday at his home in Galveston, his family said.

He was 94.

Mitchell, the son of a Greek immigrant who ran a dry cleaning business in Galveston, became one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. He is considered the chief pioneer of hydraulic fracturing, the now common industry process known as fracking that uses chemicals with water under high pressure to crack open rock formations and release oil and natural gas.

The process has led to an energy industry boom.

Mitchell's family, on the family foundation website, said he died of natural causes while surrounded by relatives.

Over his career, he participated in drilling some 10,000 wells, including more than 1,000 wildcats — wells drilled away from known fields. His company, Mitchell Energy & Development, was credited with more than 200 oil and 350 natural gas discoveries.

The firm spent nearly two decades developing hydraulic fracturing, finally finding success in North Texas' Barnett Shale formation in the 1990s.

"There's no point in mincing words. Some people thought it was stupid," Dan Steward, a geologist who began working with the Texas natural gas firm Mitchell Energy in 1981 told The Associated Press in an interview last year. Steward estimated in the early years, "probably 90% of the people" in the firm didn't believe shale gas would be profitable, and that Mitchell's company didn't even cover the cost of fracking on shale tests until the 36th well was drilled.

But he credited the company namesake as a tenacious visionary.

"There's not a lot of companies that would stay with something this long," he said. "Most companies would have given up."

"Because of Mitchell's persistence ... we are today witnessing an unprecedented boom in domestic energy production and the associated economic benefits in Texas and nationwide," Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman agreed Friday.

Mitchell sold his energy company in 2002 for $3.1 billion.

According to his biography posted by the Mitchell Foundation, the North Texas gas field that became the foundation of his oil empire was the result of a deal promoted by a Chicago bookmaker.

"His story was quintessentially American," the family statement said. "George P. Mitchell was raised as a child of meager means who, throughout his life, believed in giving back to the community that made his success possible and lending a hand to the less fortunate struggling to reach their potential.

"He will be fondly remembered for flying in the face of convention — focusing on what could be, with boundless determination — many times fighting through waves of skepticism and opposition to achieve his vision."

George Phydias Mitchell and his wife, Cynthia, who died in 2009, had 10 children. Their work together was "dedicated to making the world a more hospitable and sustainable place," their family said.

Mitchell graduated first in his class of 1940 at Texas A&M University with degrees in petrochemical engineering and geology. He helped pay for his school costs by running a tailoring and laundry business in College Station and selling candy and stationery to his fellow student Aggies, then in later years became the school's largest benefactor with donations topping $95 million.

This year, the annual Forbes list of wealthiest Americans ranked him 239th with a net worth of $2 billion.

Mitchell spent four years in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. Afterward, he struck out on his own with a brother and a partner as a wildcatter operation.

Over the years, he spent tens of millions rebuilding his hometown of Galveston, resurrecting a long-dormant annual Mardi Gras celebration and singlehandedly providing money helping to restore the city's historic downtown Strand District.

He donated the land for Texas A&M University at Galveston.

"To say he was a great man with foresight and generosity isn't enough," Adm. Robert Smith III, the school's president, said. "His contributions to this university literally made this institution possible."

His Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, founded in 1979, has made more than $400 million in gifts.

Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst both called Mitchell a true Texas legend.

"George Mitchell was a pioneer in the energy industry and was admired by many around the world for his entrepreneurial spirit," Dewhurst said Friday.

In the early 1970s, Mitchell began developing The Woodlands, a suburban Houston master-planned community designed as a place for mixed-income residential development with jobs and amenities nearby while preserving the East Texas forest and other natural resources that covered the 27,000 acres. He later would call it his most satisfying achievement.

The Woodlands is now home to about 100,000 people and one of the nation's busiest outdoor performing arts and entertainment venues there carries his wife's name, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

"His ambition and success have transformed our region," Houston Mayor Annise Parker said. "He was a visionary, and showed his love for Houston through his work and hometown pride."

"He had the right mix of vision, optimism and tenacity, and a love for his fellow man," the Mitchell family statement said. "There's no doubt that he helped make this world a better place."

What a great legacy! The full story of his life can also be found at the foundation’s website and it makes great reading. Here's a bit of it:

By far the biggest discovery of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. came in the late 90s, and it stands as a testament to the intellect, optimism, and perseverance of George Mitchell. The discovery was not a new oil or gas field, but rather a technique that the company developed to economically extract natural gas from otherwise unproductive shale rock. Beginning in the early 80s, George and his team of engineers and geologists began testing new technologies in the shale formations of the company’s North Texas gas fields.

It was common knowledge that the formation contained high volumes of natural gas, but it was also conventional wisdom that the hard, “tight” rocks would never give up their hold on the prize. Against the prevailing sentiments both within and outside the company, George persisted through 17 years of failures and incremental successes. Finally, as he approached his 80^th birthday, gas from these experimental wells began to flow in hugely profitable volumes.

Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. merged with Devon Energy in early 2002. At that time, it was estimated that half its value resided in the thousands of undrilled locations on its holdings in the Barnett Shale of North Texas. Ironically, a portion of this tremendously lucrative “new” gas field was the same prospect pitched to George and his partners in 1952 by the bookie from Chicago—a field the company had been exploiting from other geologic zones for 50 years.

During his career, George participated in approximately 10,000 wells, including more than 1,000 wildcats. He and his company found upwards of 200 oil and 350 gas discoveries.

The impact on the natural gas industry of George Mitchell’s biggest “discovery” is incalculable. Today a shale gas boom has ensued in North America, and the prospect of enormous reserves around the world are just beginning to be understood. It is certain, however, that shale gas reserves alone can supply decades of global natural gas demand.

Like many people successful beyond their wildest dreams, he fell prey to some guilt trips and, ironically, dallied in the fantasies of the “Limits to Growth” crowd and even asked for advice from one of the authors of that ridiculous and long disproven book. Moreover, one can sense the NGO he created slipping into new carbon and sustainability fantasies, although they’re far from gone.

None of this, though, comes close to accomplishing what George Mitchell did for the energy industry and the world via fracking. He remade it and gave us true energy security. He lifted many out of poverty as a result and helped sustain our civil society by changing the entire political dynamic surrounding energy, which is the stuff of life. What a legacy!

#Fracking #EnergySecurity #Shale #ShaleRevolution #GeorgeMitchell