Frank Phillips could see profit margins on the horizon in the line of U.S. soldiers marching to combat in 1917.
The Nebraska-born farm boy who found wealth in oil and banking 12 years before was almost ready to leave behind the roller coaster world of black gold when the continuous headlines of war in Europe revived his interest. This war brought with it a need for transportation—new vehicles that took to the sky and the road. All of those airplanes and tanks would need fuel, providing a demand that would drive up the price of crude oil.
Frank and his brother, L.E. Phillips, had experienced well-deserved good fortune opening the oil business in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), as the Bartlesville Weekly Examiner noted in September 1905 when it reported they had struck a giant well. Their luck held and the brothers succeeded in the energy business, but by 1915 they had decided to focus on banking and began selling off some of their oil properties.
The rumblings of war and the deep churning of another successful well drilled west of Bartlesville prompted the Phillips brothers to stick it out in the oil business. In June 1917, they consolidated the companies they had started in Oklahoma during the past 12 years into one solid corporation known as Phillips Petroleum Co.
With an office headquartered in downtown Bartlesville, the company had 27 employees, $3 million in assets and the vision of a charismatic leader who saw the potential in developing all areas of energy.
That business today forms the foundation of two major energy players: Phillips 66 Co. and ConocoPhillips, both of which have substantial midstream interests.
Frank Phillips used that vision and charisma to grow an oil empire, one that remained anchored in—and gave back to—the community, Bartlesville, where his first energy industry success was born.
With his mansion in town, office complex in the heart of the city and a sprawling ranch of rustic lodging and exotic animals in the rolling hills west of town, he found ways to impress and influence investors and still maintain close hometown ties.
“Back then it was hard to say where Frank Phillips ended and the company began,” Bob Fraser, Frank Phillips Foundation chief executive, tells Midstream Business. “If something needed done, it wasn’t always easy to tell whether Frank Phillips paid for it or Phillips [Petroleum] paid for it. In this day and age, you couldn’t run a company the way Frank Phillips did then. In those days, he was the patriarch of this town, and he took that responsibility very seriously.”
Gas liquids
In keeping with a seemingly innate ability for successful development, Frank Phillips became interested early on in natural gas and its potential—something that was ignored by many producers at the time, who saw no use for the fuel because there was no real system for distributing it.
By October 1917, just four months after the incorporation papers were signed, Phillips opened north of Bartlesville one of the first dedicated natural gas liquids (NGL) processing operations—the Hamilton plant.
Next came the Osage plant, which was built along with the Phillipsburg settlement of company houses west of Bartlesville where the ground was thick with bluestem grass, blackjack oak and plenty of crude oil below. A third gas plant built by Phillips in Oklahoma in the Osage Hills community of Pershing used a more advanced process to separate gas liquids.
Frank and L.E. Phillips’ decision to produce gas turned out to be wise and profitable. Within 10 years, Oklahoma Geological Survey was noting natural gas consumption was valued at $25 million a year (in 1920s dollars) in the Sooner State alone.
Gas developed into an important energy source for generating electricity and heating homes. Methane, butane and propane became valuable fuels. With large oil field holdings in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, Phillips Petroleum was the nation’s largest producer of NGLs by 1925. The company went on to become a pioneer in the pipeline business, laying a products pipeline from the Midcontinent to large Midwest markets.
Developing success in the oil industry required developing success in the business world as well. Frank Phillips spent hours on the road wooing investors on the East Coast. His position brought him connections with celebrities, politicians and business executives. He had a beautiful home for his family residence in Bartlesville, but Frank Phillips needed a guest home to entertain in grand style.
Woolaroc
After looking for a couple of years at large properties elsewhere, Phillips eventually discovered the answer to his quest on a favorite plot of Oklahoma land where he often went to escape the rigors of work among the woods, lakes and rocks of Osage County, Oklahoma. Woolaroc— named for those very natural elements—was born.
Frank and his wife, Jane, had a rustic lodge built on the land and played the wilderness theme to the hilt. Animal horns hung on the walls, Indian blankets covered the floors and the allure of danger brought a thrill to his guests.
“He would entertain people who came from the coasts and these people would literally come to the wild, wild West and Frank played that up for all he was worth,” Fraser says. “It was not unusual for Frank to have his cowboys rob the guests as soon as they got near the property. They would take their wallets and their jewelry and everything. When they got to the lodge, they would be all up in arms telling what happened, and he would have all their belongings laid out there for them.”
Of course, not all of the law breaking that occurred in the Osage Hills was an illusion. Frank Phillips made a point of befriending outlaws—a practice some say kept him from having his businesses robbed through the years. He held annual Cow Thieves and Outlaws Reunion parties at his ranch in the 1920s, combining the bad guys, the good guys and all the rest in between into one big party.
Woolaroc eventually became home to both oddities and artwork—all of which made for good conversation when Phillips had guests. A promotional airplane dubbed the Woolaroc, which was sponsored by Phillips Petroleum in a 1927 flight, came back to the ranch to be displayed in a specially-built hangar. As time went on, more and more collections found their way to the hangar—and an unintentional museum was born.
Western art
The collection came to include what would become major works of western art by artists like Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. It also included a dinosaur egg, shrunken heads and a large array of early Colt firearms. These unusual displays pleased Frank Phillips and also made an impact on his guests.
“If you had dinner guests over and you walked through the collection, it made an impression,” Fraser says. “The late ’20s, early ’30s, was a difficult time in the country. The collection was another way of his saying ‘my company is here, my collection is safe and we’ve got something to share with you.’ Phillips was here and Phillips was going to stay.”
The lively ambiance of Woolaroc found in Frank Phillips’ time continues today. Part drive-through wild game park and part art museum, it remains a popular northeastern Oklahoma tourist attraction.
It is still a place where deals are made. The legendary oil giant has been gone since his August 1950 death, but his larger-than-life spirit carries on in the museum and ranch at Woolaroc, which has been meticulously maintained by the Frank Phillips Foundation to be enjoyed by generations to come.
“When ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66 or Siemens are here hosting a dinner party in the lodge and I am here watching them enjoy the evening, I can’t help but think it’s about 90 years later and the purpose of that lodge home is still the same. If Frank could see it, I think it would be pleasing to him.”
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