Alliance Petroleum Corp.
For 30 years, Alliance Petroleum Corp. has explored many assets throughout the Appalachian Basin, but its most precious resource is its team. “Our people look beyond themselves to the greater good of the company and truly love what they do for a living,” Executive Vice President Dora Silvis says.
This includes Silvis herself. “I am probably one of the rare people in this world that gets up in the morning and is happy that I’m walking out the door,” she says. “I absolutely love what I do.”
Canton, Ohio-based Alliance Petroleum develops and operates oil and gas properties in the basin and has exposure to multiple resource play opportunities, including vertical and horizontal drilling in the Devonian Shale. The company started operations in 1985, and today, it owns interest in 5,111 wells, Silvis says.
Alliance Petroleum also employs a staff of 83 workers that it has carefully developed. When recruiting, “We bring our people together and say, ‘Do you know someone?’” Silvis explains. “I have found when your employees have certain standards of excellence, they’re not going to be hesitant [to recommend someone with] the same type of qualities.”
This approach has worked out well for Alliance Petroleum. “We have a reputation of being very good operators,” Silvis says. “Those services that we provide seem to be exactly what a lot of companies are looking for.”
Planning Ahead
Silvis joined Alliance Petroleum in 1988 and today manages all of its daily operations. Previously, she was the district controller for Browning-Ferris Industries and an accountant for LTV Steel.
After 26 years in the industry, “I have never witnessed the bleak outlook on pricing for the conventional operator,” she says. “In Ohio, we had such dramatic growth in the unconventional drilling and production that the perfect storm in the world of natural gas was created.
“[There’s] too much supply, absolutely no way to get the product to a different market, and demand [is] low,” Silvis says. “The result is the pricing environment we now face. In addition, compliance requirements have swept through the industry as though the conventional and non-conventional producers are the same – but we are not.
Adaptable to Everything
Silvis has seen growth in the participation of women in the business. “Twenty-six years ago, when I started attending some of the meetings in the industry, I’d walk in and I’d be the only female there,” she recalls.
“It didn’t bother me to be with all men, but I found it quite curious that there not more women in the industry,” she continues. “I think it has nothing to do with men as much as it does with women being adaptable to situations.”
Some days, “I find myself being in my heels and pearls and in boots the next day,” Silvis states. “I hope we’re raising generations of females that have to be adaptable to everything in life and their careers.
“I also just hope that we have gotten out of that mindset where it’s not the girly thing to get your hands dirty,” she states. “Because, guess what – we do get our hands dirty.”
Smart Moves
Alliance Petroleum has grown through acquisitions over the years and plans to continue. “There are always assets for sale,” Silvis says, noting that the company looks at every proposal.
“Last week I had three come across my desk where people wanted to sell wells,” she says. “There is nothing that we will not look at that has something to do with this industry. Buying reserves in the ground right now is a smart move. We look at all [possibilities], not just crude oil and natural gas assets.”