L. Frank Pitts has drilled more than 3,000 oil and gas wells during his lifetime, most of them in Texas. At age 97, he still gets fired up about things: the potential to drill more, and the short-sightedness of politicians who block the industry from doing so.

His frustration with limits to land access has been lasting, ever since he formed a speaker’s bureau in 1975 to push for gas deregulation and to educate the American public about the benefits of natural gas. That year, the group gave more than 1,000 interviews and speeches around the nation.

He also published a map showing the basins prospective for oil and gas that were off-limits to drilling. (Most are still off-limits today.) He gave away more than 1 million of those maps.

Due to his efforts, he has been called Mr. Tipro (Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association), an oilman’s oilman, and a legend by Texas Gov. Rick Perry. In 1973, he changed the Texas gas sales contract, enabling producers to receive more for their gas at the wellhead. He finally persuaded the federal government to decontrol natural gas prices in 1978.

The Dallas company he founded, Pitts Oil Co., drilled 33 wells in 2007 and plans a similar number this year. Daily operations are run by exploration manager David Martineau, who has been with the firm 35 years, and Pitts’ son-in-law, William Custard, who is president and CEO. But Pitts still comes to the office three days a week to look things over and attend meetings.

Born in Copiah County, Mississippi, Pitts worked his way through two years at the local community college by selling paint. His father was a successful county politician, so at an early age, Pitts learned a thing or two about politics.

Investor Frank, what would you tell our next president?

Pitts Get as many wells drilled as you can get drilled. Offshore and onshore. On the west side of Florida, no well can be drilled. From the tip of Florida to Canada, you can’t drill. Back in the 1960s, I purchased and was president of a geophysical company, Exploration Surveys Inc. We had a contract with major producers to do seismic work. I can tell you, a number of areas indicated potential. The structures were identified but never drilled. You take our west coast from California clear north—we had production there and we had to close it down. That’s silly.

Investor You have always been an industry advocate.

Pitts In Atlanta once, in a single day, I gave interviews to The Atlanta Constitution, three radio stations and a national television station.

Investor What start-up advice would you give today?

Pitts No. 1, start small, as I did, for example. Do something that you can do yourself, personally well. Don’t have a lot of debt. I grew up in a poor family, when a dollar was worth a dollar, and I haven’t forgotten that. I don’t believe in borrowing money if I can help it.

Investor Should people buy or drill?

Pitts In my case, I’d rather drill. I have done both. For about 10 years, I did acquisitions with [EnCap Investment’s] David Miller and those boys—they are people who know how to do it.

Investor Anything you’d do differently?

Pitts I would use more technology. I’m urging my fellas to do that. It’s tremendously important.

Investor You were in the Barnett early, right?

Pitts It’s fabulous. I tell you frankly, I didn’t believe in it at first. I owned leases in Wise County in the early 1980s. George Mitchell wanted to drill a shale well on one of them and I wouldn’t put my money in it. Now I’ve learned my lesson. We drilled 100 wells in Denton Country in the early days. George owned the majority of it.

Investor You didn’t have an oil and gas background. How did you get into this?

Pitts Because I had a cousin in Dallas in the paint business. I started selling do-it-yourself paint in Mississippi to work my way through college. Then he moved to Chicago, and he asked me to come. We opened a new paint store inside the Loop and made a profit the very first day. This was 1931. First thing you know, we had 100 individually owned stores.

Investor When did you drill your first well?

Pitts By 1940, I was president of the paint company and making quite a bit of money for a country boy, so I started drilling wells with a contractor in Illinois and Indiana. Nothing but dry holes. Then at the Chicago Athletic Club, I met head of the minerals division of the First National Bank of Chicago, and he had a man with three deals in Texas come visit me, with some leases to drill.

The first one was in South Texas. It was dry. The second, in West Texas, was dry. But the third, in Montague County in North Texas, near Bowie, was good. So that put me in the oil business, and I didn’t know one dog-gone thing about it.

We opened an office in Bowie, hired an accountant and started drilling. In 1942, we drilled 40 wells in that area. I was still president of the paint company at that time, but this seemed like a good business. By 1948, I moved my family to Dallas.

Investor And you’re still at it today.

Pitts I love this industry. It’s not a dead horse at all. There’s a lot more oil and a lot more gas to drill. Ten years ago, who would have thought we’d have all these gas wells in Denton County? In Wise County? Oh, you’ve got me fired up. Too bad I’m almost 100.