Petro-Hunt: The Searchers

[Editor's note: A version of this story appears in the June 2022 issue of Oil and Gas Investor magazine.]

The storied Hunt family has once again surfaced in the Permian Basin to predictably little fanfare.

It’s the family’s style: Petro-Hunt LLC is a large but quietly enigmatic company often low key about its dealings. The family’s patriarch was legendary oil tycoon H.L. Hunt. Despite its lineage, the company prefers to operate far below the radar. Yet it remains a player in the shale world, popping up now and then to make another deal before fading into the background.

In March, Petro-Hunt was again on the move. In a blink-and-miss-it deal, Petro-Hunt LLC closed on the purchase of Delaware Basin assets from Admiral Permian Resources.

“Throughout the family history, even in Petro-Hunt’s history, we’ve been in and out of the Permian on and off,” said Marshall T. Hunt, vice president of corporate development. “We were looking at getting back into either the Midland Basin or Delaware Basin and had worked several packages, marketed packages or other non-marketed opportunities.

“This one was one that we had worked and were lucky enough to be the winning bid,” he said.