Phillip H. Brown Jr.

Phillip H. Brown Jr. honored by Ohio Oil and Gas Association

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For more than half a century, Lowell resident Phillip H. Brown Jr. has been earning his living in Washington County's oil and natural gas industry, from oil field hand up to company owner.

Sisters of Saint Joseph providing $100,000 yearly grant

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Phillip H. Brown Jr. honored by Ohio Oil and Gas Association

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For more than half a century, Lowell resident Phillip H. Brown Jr. has been earning his living in Washington County's oil and natural gas industry, from oil field hand up to company owner.

Brown, 71, was recently honored for his longevity and service to the industry by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.

The Ohio Oil and Gas Association is a non-profit trade association that represents 1,300 oil and gas producers, professionals, allied industries, contractors and royalty owners throughout the state.It established the Ohio Oil and Gas Hall of Fame in 1987 to recognize and honor veterans in the industry.

Brown was born and raised in Ludlow Township.His father, Phillip Brown, worked for 40 years for River Gas Co. and other oil companies.The elder Brown pumped wells, turned on and off gas meters, and performed other jobs, Brown said.

Brown started his oil field career in 1947, working on cable tool drilling rigs at the age of 16.He helped to move rigs, run and pull casing and then learned to dress tools.

In 1949, when Brown was 18, his father found three wells for sale.They went to the bank together, and Brown said his father co-signed for the purchase.That was his start as an oil producer and his business grew from there.Brown said he had about 350 wells in production when he retired in April and began selling his wells and equipment to his son, Rusty, and grandson, Jared, among others.

Over the years, Brown has owned or been a part owner of several companies, including Phillip H. Brown Oil and Gas Well Service Inc., Phillip H. Brown Petroleum and Gas, Phillip H. Brown Jr. Corp., Double Tree Production Corp. and Appco Ventures Inc.

Oil and gas wells are located throughout Washington County.The industry has been a part of the area since the late 1800s.In the 54 years he has spent in the industry, Brown said he has seen many changes but one thing hasn't changed: the amount of paperwork involved.

One of the biggest changes has been in the prices he receives for oil and gas.Back in 1949, the first contract he had was for selling natural gas for 18 cents per MCF (thousand cubic feet).These days, he sells gas for $4 per MCF.The price of oil has grown from $2.70 a barrel to $25 a barrel, Brown said.

He has seen the wages earned by oil workers increase from $1 an hour to $11 an hour.

Another major change has been in the technology of oil production, from finding it to drilling for it.Brown said many old-time drillers worked by instinct and experience, learning to tell things from the look and feel of sand samples.Today's oil drillers use electronics and technology to look under the surface of the ground and determine if it will produce oil or gas.

There have been many changes in how wells are drilled.

"Where it used to take a month to drill an 1,800-foot well, they can move in, drill one and run pipe and valve in three days or less," he said.

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Brown has an office and equipment lot on Ohio 60, just south of Lowell, but said he is selling that as well.Brown plans to stay out of the oil and gas business in his retirement.He has 100 acres of land and wants to spend his time working on it.

"My son knows the business real well, and he can take over and I don't need to be involved," he said.

After 54 years in the business, Brown said he felt pleased to be honored by the OOGA.

"I'm really proud of myself and my father would really be proud of me, knowing how I started, " he said."I was sitting up there the night we received that award and I was thinking a lot about my father and how he would have really been proud of me."

Phillip H. Brown