Since its start in 1969, the family-owned Henry company had been viewed by the Permian Basin oil community as "a little ol' Spraberry driller," reliable and determined but quaintly plodding.
But in summer 2003, the company inconspicuously drilled two wells on picked-over acreage and quietly deployed an experimental "slickwater" frac. Both wells roared to life at high producing rates, and Henry hushed the results and launched a covert land grab ringing the entire basin.
When reports of their success finally leaked, scores of other operators scrambled into the fray, mustering hundreds of rigs, leasing thousands of acres and eventually producing millions of barrels of oil. Within a decade, the "Wolfberry play" catapulted the Permian Basin to the top of the global oil chart as the vertical program turned sideways into the hot horizontal shale play of today.
The Wolfberry Chronicle tells the Henry tale, from the company's obscure beginning through its maturing into a stalwart operator, then striking the Wolfberry motherlode before segueing into horizontal expertise. The requisite components are all there-wild wells, big wealth and colorful characters-but also an element of much greater moment: uncommon goodwill.
Gregory Berkhouse has worked in the petroleum industry as both a geologist and an engineer for 35 years, spending the last two decades with Henry. He relays firsthand accounts and personal acquaintances with insight, style and wit, and provides technical explanations-both accurate and accessible-of the geology, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling essential to Henry's Permian Basin epic.
Praise for The Wolfberry Chronicle
"With more moral sense, humility, precision, breadth, and good laughs and good writing than most things you'll read, The Wolfberry Chronicle is not just the history of a company but a history of people, decisions, fortitude, generosity, and the small steps that made Henry Petroleum the pioneer of one of the most important developments in American energy history."
- Gary Sernovitz, author of The Green and the Black
"Such an entertaining read! "The Wolfberry Chronicle" takes the reader from Jim Henry's start as a young petroleum engineer faced with a crossroads to his tremendous successes through diligent, honest work. Along the way, Jim and Paula loved the people on their team and wanted them to prosper with them. My husband Clayton and I knew Jim and respected him for his work ethic, his moral compass and his successes over the years. This book reminds me so much of Clayton's early days of getting started. Each chapter was engaging and enjoyable."
- Modesta Williams, wife of the late West Texas oilman & founder of Clayton Williams Energy, Clayton Williams
"If you have a little knowledge of the oil industry and want to know more from an easy and fun read, this is your book. You'll understand more about drilling and the business relationships that exist in the industry, learn about partnerships, and how business is done right. And there is the hint of a big payday that you wonder if and when it will happen. I caught myself laughing at times and increased my knowledge of oil exploration. I gained knowledge and had fun doing it."
- Dale G. Delay, Commodity Hedging Consultant, Owner and President of Cost Management Solutions
