page_title: United Gas Corporation
section_title: Rapid Rise
hierarchical_section_title: United Gas Corporation / Rapid Rise
caption_attribution_description: English: I took photo of Louisiana State Office Building in Shreveport, LA, using Canon camera.
context_page_description: United Gas Corporation was a major oil company from its inception in 1930 to its hostile takeover and subsequent forced merger with Pennzoil in 1968. Headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, United and its major subsidiaries, Union Producing Company, United Gas Pipeline Company, Atlas Processing, UGC Instruments, and Duval Mining, performed integrated exploration, production, processing, and distribution of oil and natural gas and other raw materials. Second only to Gulf Oil in size and scope, United Gas was one of the first natural gas transmission companies. In 1968, United was merged into Pennzoil, and the firm was renamed Pennzoil United, Inc. The retail gas distribution assets of United were spun off into Entex Energy in 1970. United Gas Pipeline stock was distributed to Pennzoil shareholders in 1974, and that company was eventually restructured as United Energy Resources, Inc., which was, in turn, acquired by Midcon Corporation.
context_section_description: In the 1930s, an FTC investigation revealed that four dominant holding companies controlled 60% of natural gas produced and 58% of total pipeline mileage.  One of these big four companies was the United Gas Corporation.  On January 19, 1940, United Gas Pipe Line Company became the first pipeline company to handle 1,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas in one day.
  United proved to be a pioneer in the gas delivery industry.  To provide raw supplies to its markets, United and its pipeline contractors pioneered the construction of natural-gas gathering lines across marshlands and open water.  In 1941, United Gas and Houston firm, Brown & Root built the first large-diameter submarine pipeline, spanning 25 miles across Lake Pontchartrain, near New Orleans.  The techniques employed by United and Brown & Root became industry standard.  United then turned its attention offshore, extending its pipeline to Eugene Island south of St. Mary Parish.
  The Post-World War II era saw United's rise accelerate, as regional markets for cheap natural gas appeared and expanded.  By 1947, United Gas was the largest gas company in the Southwest.  In that same year, several United employees left the company to form Texas Eastern Transmission Co., including manager, Reginald Hargrove, general counsel, George Naff, and assistant chief engineer, Baxter Goodrich.  Texas Eastern became a dominant pipeline player in its own right, and, in exchange for releasing the employees, United was guaranteed another market for its gas production and supply.  The close relationship between the two companies would interest the Justice Department over the ensuing years.  Hargrove would ultimately perish in a tragic airplane accident, occurring when a seaplane owned by United Gas crashed into the treetops outside of Shreveport during the return from a three-day duck hunting trip hosted by United Gas.  The crash killed 12 people, including six prominent Shreveporters and Dallas resident Thomas E. Braniff, president of Braniff Airways. Shreveport leaders killed in the crash were Hargrove, financier Justin R. Querbes, Sr., Interstate Electric President Randolph Querbes, Sr., Atlas Processing Chairman John B. Atkins, Sr., Goldring’s Vice President E. Bernard Weiss, and independent oil producer J.P. Evans.
  Henry Goodrich, another United Gas alumnus employed by subsidiary Union Producing as an exploration geologist, would go on to form Goodrich Petroleum Corporation.
  On July 6, 1949, United Gas Corporation was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with an initial listing of 10,700,000 shares.  By the early 1950s, United Gas owned and operated an extensive pipeline system stretching across the Gulf South.  Annual reports indicated that, in 1953, United owned and operated more than 9,000 field and transmission lines that distributed more than 800,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas annually to 309 cities, towns, and communities.  Of the approximately 18 pipeline systems built in the region, United owned five.
caption: The Louisiana State Office Building in Shreveport was originally the headquarters of the former United Gas Corporation.
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