Walter's History

Founded in 1975

Walter Exploration Inc. was formed in 1975 by John V. Walter with a capitalization of $25,000. John started fast out of the gate drilling 10 prospects in two years.  However, the first five were dry holes. His luck changed when he drilled the University “A” Number 1 and since then he has not looked back. With the acquisition of Collier Diamond “C” Inc. of Fort Worth and assets from Petro-Lewis Inc. we had the core personality of our company.

Brian Walter Joins Firm

Brian Walter joined Walter Exploration Inc. in 1985 after graduating from Texas A&M with a petroleum engineering degree. However, in 1986, the oil price collapsed below $10 per barrel and business slowed to a crawl. During this slow time we honed our skills as a low cost producer. This exercise has proven valuable in the following years to come.

Oil and Gas Economics

In 1988 Brian Walter was realizing the importance that economics played in the current low oil priced environment. Seeing a need for industry economics and leveraging the new desktop windows software, he founded a petroleum economics software company. With his partner David Pacinda, they formed TRC Consultants LLC and wrote the first version of PHDwin software. By using the PHDwin software, Walter was able to make some key oil and gas acquisitions during this period.

3D Seismic Success

In 1990, a new technology was embraced by Walter, 3D seismic. Recognizing that 3D seismic was the key to the future for finding oil and gas, we formed a 3D seismic data acquisition company, Basin Geophysical L.C. Forming Basin was a complement to our exploration efforts. Craig Walter, a family member and a mechanical engineer from Texas A&M, is currently owner and manager of Basin. Since a 1991 discovery based on 3D, Walter has extensively used this method of exploration.

Walter’s Future

In 2001 Walter Exploration Company with Brian Walter as owner was formed to take over as operator from Walter Exploration Inc. and to handle all field operations.

Walter expands and contracts its staff by outsourcing many of its jobs. We are fortunate to have built up a long list of relationships over the years to help with our exploration and production efforts.

Walter continues to maintain the family company environment and has grown into a small financially strong niche player. We have consistently maintained the entrepreneurial spirit and optimisms of 1975.