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by Jeanne Perdue, Technology Editor
Exploration Technology
Mechelle Duvo’s lucky number is apparently 10.
Her company is celebrating its 10th year of finding and producing
oil in central Kentucky, and her first 10-well drilling program in the Blue
Hole field "hit 10 for 10" for her investors.
Mechell started Majestic Management Corp. on March
18, 1987, at the age of 24. She had been employed as executive secretary to
the president of an independent oil company and felt she could do a better
job because she knew what investors wanted.
"My boss would come to work at 6 a.m., drink his
coffee and read the Wall Street Journal, and by 9:15 he was out in the
field, leaving me to deal with phone calls from unhappy investors.
Basically, I learned the business—at least the paper end of it—in self
defense. I knew I could do it better if I had the chance. Then one day, my
boss decided to retire. I made him a ridiculously low offer for the office
furniture and to my surprise, he took my offer just to get rid of it
all."
Mechelle set up her company with a different, more
flexible structure, one that gave investors 2.5% royalties rather than the
customary 0.75%. But she readily admitted that she didn’t know a thing
about oil. "The only thing I knew about oil was what my dad told me.
Make sure there’s iol in your car or it won’t work," Mechele said,
"So I decided to hire the best team money could buy—people who knew
more than I did, who were renowned for their experience in the area."
Her director, Joe Roy, has been in the oil business since
he was 15 years old, "He knows everything from crown to ground,"
Mechell said, "Ten years ago, when oil was only $12/bbl, Roy was
offered a high-paying job overseas and he didn’t really want to go. He
thought about my offer for a long time and finally took me up on it. I asked
him later why he took a lower paying job working for an oil company owned by
a 24-year old woman, and he said he wanted to be there to pick up the
business when it fell on its face. I’m happy to report it hasn’t done
that."
Mechelle is the sole shareholder of Majestic, and Roy
serves with her on the board of directors. The two work closely with several
drilling companies, including Reliford Drilling Co. and Blue Ridge Group
Inc. which have drilled more than 2000 wells in the areas. According to
Mechelle, "The No. 1 rule about drilling is this: If you own a drilling
rig, it only makes money if it’s drilling hole. You have to keep it
drilling all the time." That is why Majestic contracts out the drilling
to those who do it full time.
Another key player in Majestic’s success story is Ray
Garton, an independent exploration geologist and owner of Mammoth
Geophysical Inc. in Barrackville, W. Va. Mechelle hooked up with Ray in
1992, and since Majestic moved its corporate offices from Albany to Glassgow,
Ky, they do business by fax and telephone. She feels that Ray continually
gains more knowledge as an independent than he would working for her company
because he covers a broader area. "Ray and Joe and I—the
drillers—are like little gears. We all turn together. It works well for us
to stay small. I have to aspirations to be a Shell or a Mobil. Actually our
arrangement is very simple and the investors are happy as long as we find
them oil.
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