These prices have given us a lot more money to go out and drill more wells. Daugherty has drilled 20 wells in the first half of this year, and he intends to bore into the ground at least 10 more times before Christmas. That compares to five wells drilled in 1999. Spending millions to drill profitless gas wells kept the company in the red for years. But Daugherty Resources finally turned a profit during the first quarter of this year, for the first time since going public in 1993.
People are more willing to invest in our wells and to lease their land for drilling.
All of Daugherty's wells are joint-venture drillings, meaning other investors often get from 50 percent to 75 percent of a well's proceeds. 75 per thousand cubic feet to wholesalers. The wholesalers then resell the commodity to companies like Columbia Gas of Kentucky, or, in some cases, directly to consumers. The company drilled six successful wells on 5,000 acres in Bell County during the first quarter, so in June it acquired the rights to 12,300 adjoining acres. Daugherty, a graduate of Berea College, founded his company in 1984 after spending several years in Clinton County as a loan officer and later as vice president of Petro-7, another oil company.