Company founder I. A. O’Shaughnessy first ventured into the energy industry began in Oklahoma in 1916 with the formation of Globe Oil and Refining Company. He soon realized that participating in the exploration process itself, the drilling of select oil prospects, was a logical addition to the refining business, and that successful wells would provide feedstock for the Globe refinery near Blackwell, Oklahoma. After advancing sizeable sums to one wildcatter in particular, O’Shaughnessy created Lario Oil & Gas Company for managing these interests. Lario was incorporated in Delaware on July 16, 1927 with the growing city of Wichita, Kansas selected as company headquarters.

In 1927, Lario participated in its first venture on the Wenrich lease, which later became known as the Oxford Pool, in Sumner County, Kansas. Photos of the discovery display a classic image- the over-the-top-of-the-derrick gusher! This lease is still making oil and has proven to be one of the most outstanding producers in the entire state of Kansas. To this day, it ranks as the largest recovery per acre of any lease in Lario history.

Looking to repeat its success, in 1930 Lario obtained a farmout from Shell Petroleum in the Ritz-Canton field in McPherson County, Kansas. In short order, Lario became the most active operator and largest producer in this giant field. Subsequently, Globe built a new refinery in McPherson to make use of this supply of crude oil. It was during this time that John F. O’Shaughnessy (one of I.A.’s sons) arrived in Wichita and went to work in the family business. In 1935, he became Vice-President of Lario, and management of the company was turned over to him.

As the production from Ritz-Canton declined, new discoveries were being made in Northwest Kansas. As they pursued additional reserves, Lario selectively acquired leases in Ellis County, Kansas that became part of the Bemis-Shutts (Arbuckle) field, one of the largest accumulations in the state. Due to this success, Lario’s field office in Hays required a staff of 20 to manage the production from this historic field.  Riding a hot streak, Lario was also the first oil company to discover oil in Barber County Kansas in 1936, now a mature producing area.

Due to these successes and a need for more personnel, additional office space was required at the Wichita headquarters, and so in 1941 the building at 301 S. Market was acquired and remodeled and remains the “home office” to this day.  A year later, in 1942, an office was opened in Midland, Texas in order to establish exploration and production in the fast emerging Permian Basin. That effort was also successful, and another of I. A.’s sons, Donald E. O’Shaughnessy, became manager of that area of operations.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s the company’s primary exploration efforts targeted Oklahoma and West Texas, but in 1969, Lario became an international company by becoming an active explorer in Alberta, Canada through select joint ventures. An exploration office was opened in Calgary in the early 1970’s and remains active today.

In 1977, Mike O’Shaughnessy, son of Donald E. and grandson of I. A., opened an exploration office in Denver, Colorado to pursue Rocky Mountain and Williston Basin opportunities.  Early drilling resulted in a very successful string of oil discoveries in the Minnelusa play of northeast Wyoming and 35 years later, Lario continues to operate and explore the Rockies and beyond out of the Denver office, often via strategic partnerships with companies that demonstrate expertise in a particular area or play, such as the Bakken/Three Forks play in the Williston Basin.

By the early 1980’s, ownership of the company was highly fragmented within the large O’Shaughnessy family and in 1985, a consolidation effort was made, resulting in the ownership of Lario being transferred to the portion of the family that actively managed Lario, thus there was little effect on the company’s guiding principles, philosophy or activities.  This consolidation took place just before a drop in oil prices, and as many in the industry know, one of the best places to look for oil is where you found it before, and in times of low prices, a good practice is to buy oil that has already been found. Operating on these two themes the decade of the 1990’s brought about a renewed interest in Southwest Kansas exploration for Lario and significant new production was developed during this period. Additionally, during this devastating period of low commodity pricing, the company sought opportunities to purchase select proven, producing properties and their long-life reserves at discounted prices. This was clearly a way for a strong, stable company to improve long-term return on investment and Lario made several key acquisitions in West Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Kansas.

Since 2000, the company has expanded its repertoire, successfully participating in natural gas exploration in California and the Greater Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming, as well as extensive exploitation of bypassed oil and gas reserves in the Sedgwick Basin of Kansas. Concurrently, Lario recognized that a new type of play was coming into its own, the “resource play”.  These tight “reservoirs” (either the source rock itself or an adjacent very fine grained rock) spread over a broad area, requiring horizontal drilling, multi stage hydraulic fracturing and sometimes 3D seismic, have revolutionized the domestic onshore oil and gas industry in the United States in the last 10 years.

Lario, an early mover on many resource plays, has dedicated significant capital towards the leasing and development of unconventional plays, at first focusing on tight gas and shale gas plays, but as the technology proved successful on oil reservoirs, Lario shifted its focus as well. To that end, Lario has assembled a 185,000 gross acre position targeting oil in the world renown Middle Bakken Shale and Three Forks plays of the Williston Basin since the mid 2000’s. As of December 2011, Lario had a working interest in over 475 Bakken/Three Forks wells across both Montana and North Dakota and PUDs (proven, undeveloped locations) numbering in the thousands.  Additionally, Lario partnered up with Luff Exploration in the mid-1990s to successfully pursue the Red River B horizontal play in the southwestern corner of North Dakota.

Building on its accumulated knowledge from the Bakken and other tight rock plays, Lario was poised and ready when EOG’s Jake discovery was drilled in the Niobrara Formation in the Colorado portion of the Denver Basin in 2009.  Moving quickly, Lario assembled a premier block of ~46,000 acres just east of Metro Denver where all geologic indicators pointed to highly charged B and C chalk benches.  Conoco Phillips agreed with this assessment, and a deal was struck, with Lario turning over operations of this project to the seventh largest oil company in the world.

Coincident with closing the Niobrara deal early in 2011, Lario began their geology, engineering and land reconnaissance and vetting process in the eastern United States, and now Lario has a significant investment in a new liquids rich resource play so the next chapter of the story is in the making.

The authors of this next chapter are the 75 highly skilled employees located in Wichita, Denver, and Calgary and three field production offices.  Their charge is to work together to achieve the strategic goals as set forth by Patrick O’Shaughnessy, based in Wichita, who serves as Chairman of Lario Oil & Gas Company and Mike O’Shaughnessy, who serves as its President/CEO operating out of the Denver office, and the remaining members of the Board of Directors.

Longevity is elusive in the oil and gas industry and cannot be achieved on pure luck; the highs and lows won’t allow it.  The records, old and new, are littered with the names of extinct oil companies that have failed to last through even one or two of the many boom or bust cycles that have marked the history of the industry, but with wise leadership and dedicated employees, Lario has weathered every storm for over the last 80 years and will continue to do so.