Getting to Know Dallas’ Matthew Fleeger and Gulf Coast Western

Texas-based oil and gas entrepreneur Matthew Fleeger is well known as the president and CEO of Gulf Coast Western. Growing at double-digit rates over the last 40 years, Gulf Coast Western has not only weathered a series of booms and busts in the oil and gas industry in the Gulf Coast and South Central states, but it has also earned a reputation for honoring both the letter and the spirit of its contracts with investors and partners.

Anyone in the oil and gas industry knows the story of how Fleeger has pushed Gulf Coast Western’s expanding corporate horizons. One of Gulf Coast Western’s best-known expansion efforts was its acquisition of a 50 percent interest in the working assets of Dallas-based company Northcote Energy Ltd. This acquisition grew both companies by leveraging Gulf Coast Western’s capital and expertise to expand and accelerate Northcote’s exploration efforts in southwestern Louisiana.

Gulf Coast Western continued to expand its presence in southwestern Louisiana with the purchase of a majority of the assets of Orbit Energy Partners LLC, based in Lafayette. The intellectual property Gulf Coast Western secured in the deal included technologically advanced 3D seismic data of fields found in hundreds of square miles of territory in the southwestern corner of the state. The Orbit Energy Partners deal also gave Gulf Coast Western a majority interest in 13 producing wells with proven reserves of 390 million barrels, as well as 140 other drilling sites with potential for another 30 million barrels.

The Orbit Energy deal led to a partnership contract with Warhorse Oil and Gas, which managed most of the oil wells in the Orbit Energy fields. Then, Gulf Coast Western gained control of other producers in the region such as Zachry Exploration, LLOX, Endeavor NG, Union Gas, Endeavor NG, and Neumin Production, all of which operate producing wells across a 1,000-square-mile Area of Mutual Interest sprawling across producing oil and gas fields in Allen, Acadia, Cameron, Beauregard, St. Landry, Calcasieu, and Evangeline parishes in Louisiana.

Under Matthew Fleeger’s leadership , Gulf Coast Western has done its part to secure the energy independence of the United States and downside protection and quantifiable profitability for its partners. But what are the experiences that forged Fleeger’s ability to lead his company through the obstacles and opportunities of the increasingly volatile oil and gas production industry today?

Here are three things that you may not have known about Matthew Fleeger and Gulf Coast Western:

Gulf Coast Western is a family-owned business, but Matthew Fleeger had to earn his role in it.

Matthew Fleeger graduated in 1986 from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business, but his entry into the family business wasn’t automatic. First, Fleeger had to prove himself by founding and running his own company, MedSolutions, a medical waste management provider, before he was 30. Fleeger sold his interest in the company 13 years after he founded it for $59 million. Demonstrating that his business skills aren’t limited to oil and gas, Fleeger also co-founded Mystic Tan and Palm Beach Tan, which has combined annual revenues approaching $100 million.

During this time, Fleeger did more than show that he could run an ethical business at a profit. He gained a reputation for his ability to understand the talents that his companies’ employees bring to the business and how to bring them forward for the betterment of the company and the employees’ careers. He demonstrated his knowledge of when to manage people and when to let personal initiative flourish.

In a business not known for its ethicality, Fleeger created a model of honesty and transparency.

For Fleeger, success in any business requires teamwork. And teamwork requires a combination of transparency and commitment to ethical dealings. There is no way to get through the ups and downs of oil and gas exploration or any other business with your business relationships intact without being sure that you can trust your employees and business partners and that they can trust you.

Part of transparent business relationships is good communication , Fleeger says. The CEO and senior management all need the same clear understanding of company goals. Fleeger compares the task of a to turning sour grapes into fine wine. He demonstrates his transformative skills with the lasting profitable presence of Gulf Coast Western in North American oil and gas exploration.

Fleeger and his wife are serial mansion flippers.

Matthew Fleeger and his wife, Candee, recently put their mansion in Vail, Colorado, on the market for $32 million. They bought it for $17 million less than two years ago. The $32 million asking price is not an all-time record high for Vail, but it’s one of the pricier offerings ever made in this highly desirable market.

The Fleegers bought their six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion on a 31,363-square-foot lot just two years after it was built. They loved the setting but were shocked that original architects didn’t capture the views of the Gore Mountains and the scenic creek below.

Fleeger told Mansion Global, “We were honestly shocked when we started looking at the house and what a poor job they did of taking advantage of what, to me, is the money shot in Vail. To not take advantage of that to me made no sense.” Matthew and Candee Fleeger spent $7 million on correcting original design mistakes.

Just a few of their other touches include the master bedroom with unobstructed mountain views and its own elegant marble fireplace. The master bathroom conceals a Victoria and Albert soaking tub and a White Beauty spa shower made from polished marble. To support a work-from-Vail lifestyle, Fleeger’s home office in Vail has its own fireplace accented in Armani leather.

“We set the architects loose and basically started over,” Fleeger said. One of the biggest parts of the renovation involved replacing all of the east wall of the house to put in glass reaching floor to ceiling. The architects and design team redid most of the house, including the kitchen and master bedroom; built a large outdoor patio; and added a pool.”

For Fleeger, it was only natural to put the house on the market once they had perfected it. Matthew and Candee have rehabbed several mansions before this one. For him, although perhaps not as much for his wife, who would like to settle down, the fun in owning a house is making it great. It’s an attitude that Fleeger has cultivated for many years in the oil and gas business.

Originally published at http://smallbusinesswatch.com on April 14, 2021.