{"id":1173,"date":"2025-10-01T16:57:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=1173"},"modified":"2025-10-02T14:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T14:21:14","slug":"colorado-oil-and-gas-explorer-bill-barrett-dies-at-96","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/colorado-oil-and-gas-explorer-bill-barrett-dies-at-96\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado oil and gas explorer Bill Barrett dies at 96"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through decades of working for oil and gas companies and starting a few that bore his name, William \u201cBill\u201d J. Barrett always thought of himself as a wildcatter, a person who strikes out in search of the next promising play.<\/p>\n

Barrett\u2019s death on Sept. 16 \u201ckind of represents an end of an era, where the objective was to explore and find new fields,\u201d said his son, Joe Barrett.<\/p>\n

Barrett died at his Denver home from complications of a stroke. He was 96.<\/p>\n

Originally from Topeka, Kansas, Barrett served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and earned a master\u2019s degree in geology from Kansas State University. His first energy job was with El Paso Natural Gas Co. in Utah and New Mexico, where he was a stratigrapher. He analyzed the geology to guide exploration.<\/p>\n

Barrett went on to work with Amoco Corp. in Wyoming and Colorado, and then became chief geologist for Wolf Exploration in Denver in 1967. At Wolf, he was credited with discovering the 20-million-plus barrel Hilight<\/a> oil field and the giant Madden natural gas field<\/a>, both in Wyoming.<\/p>\n

Joe Barrett said his father had the characteristics of a true wildcatter: vision, fortitude and decisiveness. \u201cHe had the courage to take a risk and keep trying if it didn\u2019t work out. He was always looking for the next new discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1969, Barrett partnered with Chuck Shear to form B&C Exploration, which the Williams Companies bought in 1978. Barrett then started Barrett Energy, which rebranded as Barrett Resources when it went public in 1983. The company discovered new oil and gas fields in North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.<\/p>\n

Barrett was lauded by the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association as a\u00a0\u201cPioneer of the Piceance\u201d<\/a> for recognizing the potential of the gas-rich Western Slope basin and developing it.<\/p>\n

The Williams Companies acquired Barrett Resources in 2001. Barrett cut short his retirement in 2002 to join his two youngest sons to start Bill Barrett Corp. He retired again when he was 77.<\/p>\n

Bill Barrett Corp.,<\/a> one of Colorado\u2019s largest publicly traded oil and gas producers,\u00a0merged with Fifth Creek Energy. The company evolved into High Point Resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cBill was the prototypical \u2018wildcatter.\u2019 He was the standard against which all others in the business were measured,\u201d said Mike Bock, co-founder, president and chief financial officer of Petrie Partners, a Denver-based investment banking firm that works with the energy industry.<\/p>\n

Among Barrett\u2019s professional honors, he was chosen as wildcatter of the year by the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, now Western Energy Alliance; selected as the American Association of Petroleum Geologists\u2019 Explorer of the Year; and inducted into the Western Energy Alliance Hall of Fame and the Southeast Utah Energy Producers Association Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Barrett received an honorary doctorate in engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.<\/p>\n

Bock said Barrett was an inspiration for him in his career in oil and gas investment banking. \u201cHe was always willing to take the time with me, as with others, to be a patient teacher and also a careful listener,\u201d Bock said in an email.<\/p>\n

And he always made time for family, Joe Barrett said of his father. Barrett was one of 10 children. Starting at a young age, he helped with his family\u2019s poultry business. He met Louise Kuhn while delivering chickens to her home. They married in 1950 and were together until Louise\u2019s death in 2021.<\/p>\n