As vice president and general manager of BC Operating Inc. and its partnerships, Crown Oil Partners, Brandon Black oversees day-to-day operations for the Midland-based E&P. The company rejuvenates older fields in the Permian Basin and Midcontinent regions through infill drilling and water-flooding. Its current partnership iteration, Crown IV, was formed earlier in 2011 from the assets remaining in Crown III after a divestiture made several years ago.

Black, a native Texan, earned a petroleum engineering degree from Texas Tech. During college he worked summers as a roustabout and interned for Burlington Resources and Occidental Petroleum Corp., in Bakersfield, California, where he met his future wife, also a petroleum engineer. After college he joined acquisition-specialist Merit Energy Co. in Dallas, working primarily on properties in South and North Texas and the Arkoma Basin.

At Merit, Black was integral in the development of a package of tight-gas-sands assets acquired from BP, in Arkansas. An infill drilling and recompletion program helped prove up an additional 15 billion cubic feet of gas. During that time he also began working toward his MBA at Southern Methodist University. When he was about half-way through his graduate studies, his father, Mike Black, encouraged him to join him in BC's newest venture, Crown III, based around an acquisition of Permian assets from Occidental Petroleum. Other partners in the venture, as well as previous partnerships, are Crump Energy Partners, headed by Lea and Will Crump, as well as Ted Collins, Don Jones and Dick McMillan.

Primary fields in the Crown III acquisition were Canon Ranch Unit in Borden County, Texas; and Jordan Field in Ector County, Texas. While completing graduate school and working part-time at BC, Black evaluated a Midcontinent property that Crown also purchased. Proved developed reserves in those assets helped balance the proved undeveloped producing reserves booked in the fields purchased from Occidental.

Today BC operates about 430 wells in the Permian Basin. As of June 2011, gross production averaged 2,200 barrels and 320 million cubic feet of gas per day. Crown IV produces 950 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, with an active drilling program under way, along with several waterflood projects.

In his spare time, Black serves as a volunteer leader for an outreach program for high schoolers and young adults with special needs in Midland. He also serves on the boards of United Way Midland and High Sky Children's Ranch.

Oil and Gas Investor talked recently with Black about BC's strategy and plans for growth.

Investor What's Crown's drilling program today?

Black We have four rigs running, with one focused on the project in Ector County. These are shallower wells targeting formations such as the Clearfork, San Andres, Yates and Wolfberry. We also have three waterflooding programs. One is a reactivation of an older Texaco waterflood that was abandoned in the 1990s, in Lea County, which is producing about 100 barrels of oil per day. Another is in Pecos County, and is now making about 330 barrels per day; and the third is a new waterflood we unitized and installed in Oklahoma that is just coming on now.

Investor What are the economics on the Ector County project?

Black They are robust. We've drilled about 14 wells and have 10 or so producing, with one rig running there full time, and plans to bring in a second rig in the fourth quarter. We're producing about 700 to 800 barrels per day there currently.

It's amazing what drilling is doing in these older fields. We just recently drilled a well just a mile away from the #1 Santa Rita, the first well drilled in the Permian. We're targeting tighter rock that's been bypassed, and with multistage fracing, strong oil prices and the ability to process more produced water, these projects have become much more economic.

Investor What's next?

Black We're in the beginning stages of raising money for Crown Oil Partners V. We are looking into different sources—private equity, institutional money. Retaining talent is key, and sometimes a longer-term investment time frame is more attractive.

Investor What strategy underpins BC's operations?

Black Understanding risk is of primary importance. My father has always said that upside will take care of itself, but you must know what the downside is to protect yourself. We spend a lot of time researching projects. You have to consider, if things turn out the way you think they will, great, but what if they don't? We go through a lot of sensitivity analysis, pricing projections, project performance projections, and analysis of the downside. We're fairly conservative on what we do. And we always hedge.

Investor What is one of the most rewarding aspects of working with your father?

Black My father and the other partners, and also our reservoir engineers and operations personnel, have so much experience, I'm like a sponge soaking up as much as I can.

Also, knowing my father on a professional level has brought us even closer. That's something that many people don't get to do, know their parents in the workplace. I'm very fortunate to have that opportunity.

—Susan Klann