J-W Operating Company was founded on November 10, 1960. Its co-founder Howard George Westerman was born in Cincinnati, OH on October 11, 1928. He attended the University of Oklahoma and graduated in 1950 with a degree in Petroleum Engineering.
Howard enlisted in the Army Corp of Engineers and served as a first lieutenant. In 1951 at a USO event in Lake Charles, LA he met Laura “Jane” David, and on January 22, 1952 Howard and Jane were married in Lake Charles, LA. The couple took up residence in Germany where they soon started a family that would eventually grow to seven children.
In 1954 after an honorable military discharge, Howard Westerman, Sr. found employment with Bethlehem Steel in Tulsa, OK. At Bethlehem Steel, Mr. Westerman was designing equipment for water-flood units and selling parts when he met a geologist named Thomas J. Jeffery (which would become the “J” in J-W). Howard and Jane moved their family to the Dallas area on a snowy day in early February of 1960. In November of the same year, Mr. Westerman decided to start their own business with Mr. Jeffrey.
In 1960, the principal owners of two water-flood units in Southern Arkansas, who could not agree on which of them should operate the units, offered the job to Howard. This laid the foundation for what would develop into a company specializing in contract operations. Other opportunities in Arkansas came quickly. Howard was contracted to drill brine wells and build a gathering system to deliver brine to a local bromine plant and dispose of the wastewater. In 1962, Howard bought out his partner but decided to leave the name J-W in honor of his wife Jane.
Over the years Mr. Westerman’s endeavors spawned numerous patents and trademarks, including the Superburn® compressor with a two-cycle stratified engine. Owning and operating pipelines and compressors opened the door to the oil and gas exploration and production business with discoveries in Northeast Colorado and Northern Louisiana. In 1983 he created Cohort Energy Company to handle the exploration and production operations. In the late 80s, he ventured into power generation from landfill gas. In the 90s, he implemented an aggressive growth strategy and complemented his staff with professional managers whose charge was to double the size of J-W Operating Company. This focus lead to acquisitions forming what we know today as J-W Measurement Company.
Ever the entrepreneur, Howard invested in scores of other smaller ventures too numerous to mention. He was a successful businessman, engineer, pilot, a dedicated patriot, a generous humanitarian and above all a man of deep religious conviction. H.G. Westerman built a fully-integrated Energy Services and Energy Development organization. Although Mr. Westerman, died on April 4, 1999 he left a corporation and employee-base well prepared for future growth and opportunities.
J-W Operating Company is a privately-held energy company composed of five primary business lines specializing in Energy Services and Energy Development. J-W Operating Company has over 1200 employees located in over 50 offices throughout the mid-continent area. Headquartered in Addison, TX with regional offices in Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas, Utah, North Dakota,
New Mexico, West Virginia and Wyoming, the company is active in many phases of the oil and gas industry.
J-W Operating Company entered the gas pipeline business by constructing what became known as the Douglas Gathering System in February 1969. Several other small pipelines followed in Arkansas, West Texas and East Texas.
 J-W Gathering Company’s first major pipeline was what became known as the Caddo Gas Gathering System. The Caddo System began as a petroleum pipeline that was purchased and converted to natural gas in January 1976. J-W Gathering Company was officially founded on September 4, 1979 and originally managed by C. D. McDaniels who still works for the company today.
J-W Gathering Company is now a midstream gatherer of natural gas, redelivering gas into interstate and intrastate pipelines and local end users. The main assets are the Caddo System, Red Chute/Koran Gathering Systems, both located in North Louisiana, and the Sweetwater Creek and Denton Creek Gathering Systems in North Texas.
Howard Westerman’s involvement with gas pipelines and fascination of mechanical equipment led to his interest in gas compressors. J-W Power Company was officially formed August 19, 1988, but was
leasing compressor packages purchased from third parties as far back as October 1966 under the parent company’s name of J-W Operating Company.
 The majority of this early equipment was slow-speed integral compressors manufactured by Ajax. When Ariel Corporation began manufacturing high-speed separable compressors, J-W Power Company was one of the early packagers with Ariel becoming the mainstay of the current lease fleet.
J-W Power Company fabricated its first compressor package, an Ariel JGM/2 compressor driven by a Witte engine rated 18 BHP @ 1400 RPM, in May 1976 in a small shop in Longview, TX. Needing a place to test his ideas for improving gas compressor packages, Mr. Westerman constructed a larger plant on the outskirts of Longview, TX in January 1978 which is still in operation today. Since that time J-W Power Company has been an innovator in gas compressor package design, currently holding many patents and trademarks. J-W Power Company actually packaged some of the industry’s first oil-flooded rotary screws in December 1978 and in October of 1986 patented a two-stroke stratified engine later known as the Superburn®.
J-W Power Company has expanded primarily through organic growth with a few strategic acquisitions in core areas since buying that first compressor. J-W Power Company is currently considered an industry leader in leasing, service, fabrication and sales of natural gas compression equipment. J-W Power Company is currently the largest privately-owned compression packager and is considered one of the premier manufacturer’s of packaged gas compressors while providing some of the best maintenance service in the industry.
In January 1983, J-W Operating Company formed Cohort Energy Company as its exploration and production company and began staffing a full complement of professional geologists, engineers and land men. After a few years, Cohort Energy Company began drilling small prospects and acquired ownership interest in the Caspiana Field. A field development plan was initiated which had good success. This action also provided valuable in-house geological and operational expertise in the Cotton Valley and Hosston plays of North Louisiana and resulted in the exploitation and development of Elm Grove field.
Today, Cohort Energy Company owns interest in hundreds of operated properties situated within the domestic United States, exploiting the Cotton Valley and Hosston Sands in East Texas and North Louisiana, Coalbed Methane and tight gas sand prospects in the Rocky Mountains, and numerous Sand plays of the Gulf Coast.
In 2000, J-W Operating Company as agent for Cohort Energy Company entered the Rig Location & Permit Report Service (RigData) rankings at 50th in the United States measured by footage drilled. The company is currently ranked 36th by RigData for footage drilled and 16th by the The American Oil and Gas Reporter for average number of rigs operating per week. Cohort Energy Company is currently keeping at least seven rigs running continuously.
J-W Measurement Company can trace its origins back to Moore Measurement Company which was J-W Operating Company’s cornerstone acquisition into the gas measurement business. Moore Measurement was officially formed by Ray Moore of Shreveport, LA on March 12, 1987. The name was officially changed to Metron Gas Measurement on September 4, 1998 after the close of the acquisition.
Metron initially grew primarily through acquisitions. A total of eleven companies eventually combined to form Metron Gas Measurement Company. Metron merged with another acquired measurement company, Scott Equipment Company, on July 31, 2003 forming what is known today as J-W Measurement Company. In the few years since the first acquisition, the company has grown into the largest entity in the continental United States in its sector.
In November 2001, J-W Operating Company purchased a majority interest in Gator Valve, Inc. of Lafayette, LA. Gator Valve is involved in the manufacture and refurbishment of ball, check and other valves commonly used in the natural gas industry.
J-W Measurement Company is currently engaged in the business of chart integration, gas lab analysis, field measurement service, testing and inspection, gas meter skid/metal building fabrication and sales of natural gas measurement equipment and supplies. The company operates from eighteen (18) offices and has three (3) fabrication facilities located throughout the gas-producing states. The primary customers of J-W Measurement Company are gas producers, gas gatherers and the major intrastate and interstate gas pipelines. J-W Measurement Company operates as an independent gas measurement service provider, providing reliable, unbiased third party services for all customers. J-W Measurement Company’s current geographical strongholds are in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and to a lesser extent in surrounding states.
 (Formerly Excell Drilling Company)
Excell Services, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of J-W Operating Company and has been in the drilling industry for over 25 years. Excell Services, Inc. was originally founded as Excell Drilling Company in August 1977. The name was changed from Excell Drilling Company to Excell Services, Inc. in March 2004 to reflect that Excell is not only a drilling company, but also a complete well servicing company with workover, wireline, water-hauling, and lease construction.
Today, Excell Services, Inc. provides drilling, workover, construction, well plugging and abandonment, pipe recovery services, waterhauling and hydro-test services for Northwest Kansas, Western Nebraska, Eastern Colorado and Northeast Utah. Excell Services, Inc.’s assets include three (3) drilling rigs, one (1) coiled tubing rig, nine (9) workover rigs, and a full compliment of well-service equipment. Excell Services, Inc. has locations in Denver, CO; Wray, CO; and Roosevelt, UT.
J-W Wireline Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of J-W Operating Company that has its history deeply rooted in Excell Services, Inc. Excell Services, Inc. was originally founded as Excell Drilling Company in August 1977. Excell Drilling Company entered the cased-hole wireline market on August 14, 1998 when it acquired BranDex Wireline Company. BranDex, located in Sterling, CO, had been providing quality wireline services for over eighteen years when acquired.
In 2006, J-W Wireline Company was officially formed combining the former operations of Brandex Wireline Company; ADI Wireline in Fort Morgan, CO; Mosley Wireline Services in Haughton, LA and Marshall, TX, and Heritage Wireline Services in Tyler, TX into a single business entity. J-W Wireline Company continues to add trucks and locations both through acquisitions and organically through its sister company, Custom Bodies.
Today, J-W Wireline Company provides perforating, cement bond logs, production logging, temperature logs, free point and pipe cut-off, and bridge plug and packer services from its many strategic locations.
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