Hunt Family
Editor's note: This profile is part of Hart Energy's 50th anniversary Hall of Fame series honoring industry pioneers of the past 50 years and the Agents of Change (ACEs) who are leading the energy sector into the future.
Iconic wildcatter H.L. Hunt, reported to be the inspiration for the J.R. Ewing character on “Dallas,” began his career in the oil business a century ago. His descendants own and operate a sprawling business still centered on oil and gas.
“Our company traces its roots back to the 1920s when the legendary H.L. Hunt entered the oil and gas business in El Dorado, Arkansas, and later played an active role in developing the East Texas Oilfield,” Marshall T. Hunt, who serves as COO of Petro-Hunt, told Hart Energy. “The management team has been instrumental in some of the largest reserve discoveries in the world.”
Petro-Hunt, a privately held producer founded by W. Herbert Hunt, one of H.L. Hunt’s fifteen children, is one of many companies under the historic Hunt umbrella. Others include Pillar Energy, Pledge Resources, Kingdom Investments, Placid Refining and Little Knife Gas Plant in the Williston Basin.
H.L. Hunt founded Hunt Oil in 1934 in Tyler, Texas. The company developed the first commercial well in Alabama in 1944 and entered the offshore business in the Gulf of Mexico in 1958. In the 1960s, it played a major role in developing the Fairway Field in East Texas. Ray Hunt, another of H.L.’s sons, took over the company after his father’s death in 1975. One year later, Hunt Oil discovered the Beatrice field in the British North Sea.
Hunt Oil partnered with the Peruvian government to launch Peru LNG in 2006, developing the upstream natural gas resources for the project. The project, South America’s first liquefaction plant, made its first shipment in June 2010. It also boasts the highest natural gas pipeline in the world, at 4,900 m above sea level.
H.L. Hunt also founded Hunt Petroleum in 1950. It was sold to XTO Energy in 2008 for $4.2 billion.
Herbert’s Petro-Hunt was instrumental in discoveries across the United States and globally. Among them, the Sarir field in Libya in 1961 with his brother Bunker, which was producing 220,000 bbl/d in 2022; and the Placid Oil discovery of the L10 gas field in the Dutch North Sea. Herbert was also an early player in the Bakken shale play with his acquisition of two fields in the 1990s. The Petro-Hunt team has been instrumental in pushing innovation for the industry through drilling and production techniques, including the first 3D seismic in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979.
Today, the company is run by Bruce W. Hunt with his brothers Douglas Hunt and David Hunt. This generation plays a large role in the Petro-Hunt’s management. Marshall T. Hunt and Bailey Hunt are active on the E&P and refining side of the business, and Austin Hunt and Casey Hunt run the mineral and royalty interest for the family entities.
“In the current world of oil and gas, we find not only the success of the world allied to their contributions,” Carl Larry, Wood Mackenzie’s Genscape sales director, told Hart Energy. “America’s current position as a major among the world’s oil producing elites can be attributed to the vision of the Hunt family and others.”
Petro-Hunt was founded by William and is a multi-generation family business. “William was a true wildcatter … active in the upstream and downstream sectors and involved in numerous discoveries of large and giant fields [throughout] his career,” Marshall said.
Bruce W. Hunt, now president and CEO of Petro-Hunt, is past president of the Dallas Petroleum Club. Bruce is part of the management team with his brothers Douglas Hunt and David Hunt. Doug is director of A&D, while also advising the company’s long-term strategy. David is active in the company’s mineral and royalty space, and manages a team for the company’s affiliated Alternative Investment Division.
The third generation of the W. Herbert Hunt family plays a vital role in the company’s activity.
In addition to serving as COO of Petro-Hunt, assisting in the development of the company’s E&P assets and acquisition efforts, Marshall T. Hunt is also vice president of Pillar Energy and Pledge Resources. Marshall also serves on the board of Omni Environmental Solutions and PureWest Energy, in which the company has active investments.
Bailey G. Hunt, executive vice president of strategy and corporate development of Petro-Hunt, assists in overseeing the company’s oil and gas activities along with the acquisition efforts. Austin Hunt and Casey Hunt serve as managing directors of the family’s mineral and royalty interests.
—Pietro D. Pitts, International Managing Editor