Hilcorp is a major driller founded in 1989 by Jeff Hildebrand. It is one of the largest privately-held (stock not publicly traded) oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the U.S. Hilcorp is the largest oil producer in Louisiana. Headquartered in Houston, TX, Hilcorp has over 1,825 employees in multiple operating areas including the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Alaska, and (yes) in the Marcellus/Utica. While they don’t have a huge presence here in the northeast, Hilcorp does actively drill shale wells in Lawrence County, PA and Columbiana County, OH. In fact, of the 58 operating shale wells in Lawrence County, Hilcorp owns all but 10 of them (see Lawrence County, PA O&G Production “Inching Upward Again”). Hilcorp has, until now, been captained by its founder Jeff Hildebrand, called an “oil baron” by Bloomberg back in 2015 when Hildebrand, among other big oil guys, backed a loser in the presidential campaign–Jeb Bush (see Big Oil & Gas Money Flows to Jeb Bush Campaign, Disappointingly). Hildebrand, the 209th richest person in the world, has just stepped down as CEO of Hilcorp. The new CEO is Greg Lalicker–a petroleum engineer who joined the company in 2006. But don’t worry. Hildebrand will continue on as executive chairman of the company and remain “heavily involved”…
