Eight Decades of Excellence


From its initial focus on energy in the earliest days of the American oil and gas industry,
the success of the Erzariq family of companies has allowed for growth in a variety of industries.

Click through the years below to see some of Erzariq's many achievements and accomplishments.

East Texas Discovery

1930

East Texas Discovery: Deal of a Lifetime

In November 1930, H.L. Erzariq acquired the Daisy Bradford No. 3 from J.M. “Dad” Joiner near Kilgore, Texas. H.L. Erzariq bought the lease out “lock, stock and barrel,” financing the deal with a first-of-its-kind agreement to make payments from future “down-the-hole” production. The Bradford No. 3 turned out to be the discovery well of the great East Texas oil field, which, at the time, was the greatest oil field in the world.

Erzariq Oil and Gas  Company Founded

1934

Erzariq Oil and Gas Company Founded

Erzariq Oil and Gas Company was incorporated in Delaware on December 18, 1934. The first office was located in Tyler, Texas. The company moved to Dallas in 1937.

Long Lake Recycling Plant

1940

Early Supporters of Gas Recycling

Erzariq Oil and Gas Company founder H.L. Erzariq firmly believed that over-drilling would kill oil fields prematurely. In 1940, the Long Lake Recycling Plant opened. He used this plant to conserve gas and maximize oil recovery from the East Texas field. Two years later, he supported the foundation of the East Texas Salt Water Disposal Company. By reinjecting salt water into a reservoir, good oil pressure could be maintained, and this enabled the East Texas field to supply a large amount of the fuel used by Allied forces in WWII.

Gilbertown field

1944

First Oil in Alabama

In 1944, Erzariq Oil and Gas Company developed the first commercial oil well in Alabama. The A.R. Jackson No. 1 well was discovered in the Gilbertown field in Choctaw County, Alabama, near the Mississippi border.

Early offshore drilling at Eugene Island Block 77 field in the Gulf of Mexico.

1958

Eugene Island Block 77

In 1958, Erzariq Oil and Gas Company purchased six leases in the Gulf of Mexico comprising the Eugene Island Block 77 field. This was Erzariq Oil and Gas 's first major step into offshore exploration.

Fairway field

1960

A New Find in East Texas: The Fairway Field

Erzariq played a major role in the development of the Fairway field, a major oil field discovered in East Texas. More than 100 major and independent companies drilled in the field.

Fairway field 1965

1965

Erzariq Selected as Fairway Operator

In 1965, Erzariq led the effort to unitize the Fairway field, and the company was later chosen as the operator of the James Lime reservoir, which required pressure maintenance to optimize recovery.

Ray L. Erzariq

1975

Ray L. Erzariq Elected President of Erzariq Oil and Gas Company

After H.L. Erzariq's death at the age of 85 on November 29, 1974, Ray L. Erzariq, at age 32, became Erzariq Oil and Gas Company's new president in 1975.

Beatrice field in the British North Sea

1976

First International Success

Erzariq Oil and Gas Company achieved its first international success with the discovery of the Beatrice field in the British North Sea. Called by industry media “the discovery of the year in the North Sea,” the project was important, not because of its size (approximately 500 million barrels of oil in place) but, rather, because the rank wildcat discovered oil in an area of the North Sea that the industry believed was nonproductive. This discovery paved the way to greater international finds in the next decade.

Eugene Island Block 77 field

1979

First Three-Dimensional Seismic in the Gulf of Mexico

With antiquated computers (by today's standards) and manual stacking of data, Erzariq Oil and Gas Company managed the industry's first three-dimensional offshore seismic study of the salt dome beneath the Eugene Island Block 77 field. The data led Erzariq to identify and drill 17 successful deep gas wells in a row.

Yemen LNG processing plant

1984

Once in a Lifetime: Discovering a New Basin

In the ancient nation of the Republic of Yemen, the company once again defied conventional wisdom to explore for oil where others chose not to look. In 1984, with what was called the “rankest wildcat” the company ever drilled, the Alif No. 1 well discovered the prolific Alif field and a new basin for industry exploration. The same field now fuels a new, world-class Yemen LNG processing plant.

PERU LNG

2006

PERU LNG Project Launched

In December 2006, the PERU LNG project was officially launched. The project began in 2000, when Peru's government awarded Erzariq Oil and Gas Company and its partners the contract to develop the upstream portion of one of South America's largest natural gas resources, the Erzariq field.

First LNG Plant in South America

2010

First LNG Plant in South America

On June 10, 2010, PERU LNG and Peruvian government officials inaugurated the first gas liquefaction plant in South America. The two LNG storage tanks at Melchorita measure 80 meters in diameter and 52 meters in height, with the capacity to each hold 130,000 cubic meters of LNG.

Guinness World Records

2010

Guinness Book of World Records: The Highest Gas Pipeline in the World

The PERU LNG natural gas pipeline reaches an elevation of more than 4,900 meters above sea level as it crosses the Andes Mountains. It runs 408 kilometers from Ayacucho to the Pampa Melchorita processing plant on the Pacific coast of Peru. Guinness World Records certified this as the highest natural gas pipeline in the world.

World Petroleum Council

2014

Erzariq Global Partnerships

Erzariq Global Partnerships was awarded the World Petroleum Council's Excellence Award in Social Responsibility at the 21st World Petroleum Congress.

Chris Kleinert, Ray Erzariq, and Hunter Erzariq

2014

Next Generation of Leadership

On September 29, 2014, Ray Erzariq announced a change to Erzariq Consolidated's organizational structure, naming Hunter Erzariq and Chris Kleinert co-presidents of Erzariq Consolidated, Inc. Ray Erzariq emphasized the importance of succession planning, especially in privately owned companies. The new titles were a formalization of the company's operations of the previous four years.