The oil and gas industry in Kentucky is a bustling hub of dynamic companies involved in exploration, production, and distribution. Companies in the sector responsible for harnessing energy resources, work on both traditional, and unconventional oil and gas reserves. They manage the end-to-end process starting from exploration to delivering the final product to consumers. As technology advances, there is an increasing trend towards sustainability and efficient use of resources in this industry. These companies are increasingly investing in cleaner, greener technologies and shifting focus towards renewable energy.


Top 19 oil and gas companies in Kentucky

1. Kelcas Corporation

  • Website: kelcas.com
  • Headquarters: Owensboro, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 1988
  • Headcount: 11-50
  • LinkedIn

Kelcas is an oil and gas company operating in the Ohio River Valley. They produce and distribute petroleum products to qualified end users. With experience in petroleum trading since the 1980s, Kelcas has established strong relationships with reliable suppliers.


2. Encore Energy, Inc.

  • Website: encore-energy.com
  • Headquarters: Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 2011
  • Headcount: 1-10
  • Latest funding type: Series Unknown
  • LinkedIn

Encore Energy is an independent exploration and production company that focuses on oil and natural gas discoveries in Lawrence County in the southern Appalachian and Illinois Basin. They provide horizontal drilling operations and a natural gas transmission system to optimize production and sell natural gas to end purchasers.


3. High Gravity Resources

High Gravity Resources is an oil and gas investment company that provides opportunities for accredited investors to grow their financial portfolios with competitively priced projects that are vetted by geological teams.


4. Freedom Crude, LLC

Freedom Crude is a subsidiary of Illinois Basin Operating, LLC (IBO). IBO was formed to acquire and develop oil and natural gas properties in the Illinois Basin. The Illinois Basin is an oval depression measuring roughly 60,000 miles in the United States Mid-Continent including area in southern Illinois, southwest Indiana and northwest Kentucky. Historical production dating back to the early 1900's tops 4 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas produced from vertical wells prior to the advent of current industry technology. Oil and source rock analysis indicates that the source rock for all of the conventional production is the New Albany shale. The New Albany shale is Devonian age and was formed at the same time as other major U.S. oil resource plays like the Bakken and Woodford shale plays. Using the most current source rock geochemistry and log analysis, Illinois Basin Operating, LLC has identified and is acquiring acreage with underlying mineral rights in the Illinois Basin that is similar in key characteristics to other oil-productive source rocks in the Williston Basin (Bakken Shale) and the Anadarko Basin (Woodford Shale) with historically productive limestone and sandstone formations at shallower depths. Development has already begun and will continue into 2017 and beyond.


5. Signature Oil Corporation

Signature Oil Corporation is an oil and gas exploration company with over 40 years of experience in drilling and producing wells in Kentucky and Tennessee.


6. BlackRidge Resource Partners LLC

BlackRidge Resource Partners is an energy company with over 30 years of technical, financial, and scientific expertise in oil and gas exploration. They are applying modern technology to unlock new reserves in the Berea Sandstone, a well-known formation in eastern Kentucky that has been productive for over 100 years, which has resulted in a more productive and efficient process, and made oil and gas development increasingly more cost-effective.


7. Vinland Energy Operations, LLC

Vinland Energy is an exploration and production company in the Appalachian Basin, focused on natural gas production. The company owns and operates over 1,600 wells and controls more than 1,100 miles of gathering and transportation lines that connect to other major pipeline systems serving markets throughout the United States.


8. OMR Oil

  • Website: omr-oil.net
  • Headquarters: Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States
  • Headcount: 1-10

OMR Oil LLC is a company that operates in the Oil & Energy industry. It employs 6-10 people and has $1M-$5M of revenue. The company is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky.


9. Raven Resources Inc

Raven Ridge Resources is a multi-discipline company that offers exploration and development projects, resource and reserve studies, acquisition and processing of samples, and feasibility and due diligence studies in the fields of Coal, Coal Mine, Coalbed Methane, Carbon Emissions Reductions, and Methane Reserves Determination.


10. Fireborn Land &a; Energy

  • Website: firebornland.com
  • Headquarters: Somerset, Kentucky, United States
  • Headcount: 1-10

Fireborn Land & Energy LLC is a company that operates in the Oil & Energy industry. It employs 6-10 people and has $1M-$5M of revenue. The company is headquartered in Somerset, Kentucky.


11. Reynolds Resources

  • Website: rriog.com
  • Headquarters: Owensboro, Kentucky, United States
  • Headcount: 1-10

Reynolds Resources Inc is a company that operates in the Oil & Energy industry. It employs 6-10 people and has $1M-$5M of revenue. The company is headquartered in Owensboro, Kentucky.


12. Bayou City Exploration

  • Website: bycex.net
  • Headquarters: Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 1994
  • Headcount: 1-10
  • LinkedIn

Bayou City Exploration is engaged in the upstream activities of acquiring, exploring, developing, and producing oil and natural gas. By utilizing 3D seismic image processing and geophysical data processing technologies, Bayou City Exploration’s industry partners bring a thorough understanding of the subsurface to the company. Therefore, exploration risks decrease, and the probability of drilling commercially successful wells in known producing fields is significantly increased.


13. Free3Dee

  • Website: free3dee.com
  • Headquarters: Bardstown, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 2011
  • Headcount: 1-10
  • LinkedIn

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14. DESMA USA, Inc.

  • Website: desma-usa.com
  • Headquarters: Hebron, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 1980
  • Headcount: 51-200
  • LinkedIn

DESMA USA is the North American headquarters for DESMA injection molding machines, tooling, and production systems. They offer German engineering solutions and provide machinery rebuilding and control system retrofits. Their industries served include pharmaceutical, medical, mining, automotive, electrical power, government, defense, energy, and oil & gas. DESMA USA provides first-class customer care, on-site sampling/trials, and turnkey systems. They specialize in cold runner block waste reduction systems, valve gate & cavity pressure sensor technologies, and smartflow moldflow design analysis. Their customers range from manufacturers to government agencies.


15. Continental Refining Company of Southern Kentucky

  • Website: conrefco.com
  • Headquarters: Somerset, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 2011
  • Headcount: 51-200
  • LinkedIn

Continental Refining Company (conrefco.com) is a fuel production company based in Somerset, KY. They specialize in the production and distribution of biodiesel fuels and bulk lubricants/DEF. With their Fuel Equipment Services division, they provide fuel equipment, tank installations, and sales. CRC utilizes local businesses and soybean feedstock to support the fuel needs of Pulaski County, Kentucky, and surrounding regions.


16. Indelac Controls, Inc.

  • Website: indelac.com
  • Headquarters: Florence, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 1986
  • Headcount: 11-50
  • LinkedIn

Indelac Controls, Inc. is a manufacturer of electric actuators and controls. They offer a range of products including quarter turn electric actuators, spring return electric actuators, and internal battery back-up actuators. Their actuators are used in various industries such as oil & gas, food & beverage, power generation, and water & wastewater. Indelac focuses on providing energy-efficient solutions and is committed to lean production. They pride themselves on being a family-owned American manufacturer with over 30 years of experience in the industry.


17. Black Gold Drilling

Black Gold Drilling is a family owned and operated company that offers winter and summer seismic drilling, water hauling, trucking, forest fire protection, and gravel haul services. They have a fleet of specialized equipment and employ both year-round and seasonal workers.


18. Kentucky River Properties

  • Website: krpky.com
  • Headquarters: Lexington, Kentucky, United States
  • Founded: 1890
  • Headcount: 11-50
  • LinkedIn

Kentucky River Properties LLC is a land company working with the University of Kentucky to develop rare earth elements from coal resources. The company has operations in coal, oil and gas, forest management, agriculture, and wetland mitigation banking.


19. Smith-Manus Surety Bonds

Smith Manus is a surety agency partner of Acrisure, offering a range of surety programs to businesses in various industries for over 40 years. They provide straightforward, risk-based approaches to developing surety programs and serve clients of all sizes.


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