Meet Our New Director of Unconventional Operations

Jim Watson was hired in March to be our Director of Unconventional Operations, reporting to John Emmerling, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  Jim’s responsibilities include oversight of all aspects of the company’s unconventional shale oil and natural gas development.

We will draw on Jim’s 22 years of experience, including 17 years in the Appalachian Basin, to meet our goal of becoming an HDC (horizontal drilling completion) operator.  Prior to joining ABARTA Energy, Jim was employed by Gulfport Energy Corporation as Operations Manager where he managed eight rigs drilling horizontal shale wells in the Utica formation.  Jim’s team at Gulfport drilled the longest lateral to date in the entire northeastern United States.  Jim has also served in executive positions responsible for drilling and completing unconventional wells with Inflection Energy, Mountaineer Keystone, Rex Energy and Range Resources.

Jim has the distinction of having been the leader of the development team at Range Resources that drilled and completed the first horizontal wells ever drilled in the Marcellus Shale.  He also has a service company background with Superior Well Service (now Nabors Completion Services) and The Western Company of North America. Jim served in the United States Air Force for seven years before entering the oil and natural gas industry.

Jim is a graduate of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s degree in Geology and a minor in Environmental Science.  He was born in Wilkinsburg, PA and currently lives in Canonsburg, PA with his wife, Jennifer and their daughter Olivia Grace.  When Jim isn’t working, he enjoys spending time with his family, going to the beach, hunting and studying Tang Soo Do Karate.