In this video interview with Jessica Morales, Richard Weber, chairman and CEO of PennEnergy Resources LLC, talked about the inception of the Pittsburgh-based independent oil and gas company.

PennEnergy was founded in 2011 by Weber and the company’s COO, Gregory D. Muse, who together have more than 50 years of combined industry experience.

“I could have never imagined building a company as substantial as we are now, back in 2011,” Weber told HartEnergy.com. “We have faced a lot of headwinds in the industry. But through careful decision-making and a lot of internal debate, we generally have made the right decisions and we’re happy with the company that we’ve been able to put together.”

PennEnergy is majority-owned by funds controlled by Houston-based EnCap Investments LP. Last year, the company added to its position in the Appalachian Basin through the acquisition of substantially all of Rex Energy Corp.’s assets for $600.5 million.

Today, PennEnergy’s position in Appalachia covers over 200,000 acres focused in southwest Pennsylvania, according to the company’s website.

Weber said PennEnergy has 346 wells currently producing and the company’s team is constantly looking at improving its operations, which are focused on the Marcellus, Utica and Upper Devonian formations.

“As we move forward, we’re constantly tweaking how we do things with really a look toward how it affects the internal rate of return on the capital that we’re deploying,” he said. “We think that our returns are competitive with anybody in the basin and we’re working every day to improve that.”

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