Texas Gathering Company
Texas Gathering Company has built its business on the principle that its customers in the oil and gas sector deserve personalized service. That principle has served the company well since its inception in 2002, and President Travis Davis says this principle will be the bedrock on which the company will continue to build its future success.
The company specializes in offering first-purchasing services to oil producers in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Mississippi. Texas Gathering Company’s fleet of trucks and transports haul oil purchased from producers around the clock. The company says its focus on the marketing and gathering side of the industry means it can offer customers more than a typical trucking firm. “Our company does not haul for hire; all Texas Gathering Company transports exclusively haul first-purchased oil,” the company says. “This allows Texas Gathering Company to focus on servicing our producers quickly, proficiently and reliably. With our comprehensive services, producers can maintain sole focus on production and leave the rest up to us.”
Davis was inspired to start the company after going to work for his grandfather in 2000. He says his grandfather owned several oil wells along with some other different businesses, and he learned a lot about the crude oil market as a result. He started what was then called OGO Marketing in 2002 to help smaller oil producers market their crude oil by purchasing it from them and handling the marketing itself. This led to the company buying its first truck to haul that crude oil to and from customers, and soon it had a large fleet of transports. The company was rebranded as Texas Gathering Company in 2013, and today it has 10 terminals – one in Louisiana and the rest in Texas. Davis says the oil producers Texas Gathering Company serves resemble the company in a lot of ways. “They’re all mom and pops and small-business owners,” he says.
First Priority
Texas Gathering Company has built up its customer base over the years by treating each and every one of them as if they are the company’s most important customer. “We have created our sales strategy around proving to our customers that they are our first priority,” Davis says. “Our goal is and has always been to establish and foster long-term relationships with our customers. It is a constant process to ensure all of the customer’s needs are met and they are satisfied with the service we are providing. Everything we do, we first ask ourselves, ‘How will this affect the customer?’ We are always looking for ways to improve our service and welcome feedback from our clients.
“Beyond that, we try to build assets in the right places that offer us optionality so that we can provide long-term security that our price and service will stay rate-able,” Davis continues. “If I can move a client’s oil safely, efficiently and pay them a fair value while maintaining a relationship of trust and reliability, I can be a producer’s gatherer long term, and that’s the goal.”
Davis says being accessible to its customers is another way in which Texas Gathering Company distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack. “We try to differentiate our company based on outstanding customer service while being competitive pricewise with any competition,” he says. “One of the things that sets our company apart is the fact that we are always available to our customers. When a customer calls Texas Gathering Company, they are going to reach a real person, not an automated system. Our dispatch offices are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and our drivers gather and haul 24/7 as well. We pride ourselves on being dependable. One of the main goals in our service is our 48-hour turnaround – we strive to guarantee that all loads are dispatched and picked up within 48 hours of that call-in.”
Still Growing
One of the most recent trends sweeping the marketing and gathering side of the crude oil industry is that many refineries are starting to deal directly with producers, rather than purchasing through an intermediary like Texas Gathering Company. Davis says in the past, most refineries preferred to work with a marketer because it was easier than dealing with a large group of small producers. However, the shale plays that recently have been tapped have made it easier for a single producer to supply a much larger supply of crude oil.
Even though this trend has had an impact on the market, Davis says Texas Gathering Company remains in good shape to continue on its growth track over the coming years. He says the company sees tremendous potential on the Gulf Coast, for example, and the company has started to push into west Texas. For Texas Gathering Company, diversification will be the key to maintaining its success well into the future. “I think that we’ll start taking on more projects like asset-based plays,” Davis says. “I could see us getting a lot bigger.”