After nearly 2 decades at Apache, Ellison gives retirement a try

March 2009

West Texas manager worked his way up from roustabout

Speaking with Jim Ellison, former district manager for Apache’s West Permian Basin, one might wonder if this oil man has really retired. A recent call to his home in Jal, N.M., found that within the week he had attended a Permian Basin district managers meeting, gone to lunch with a company admin, and met former co-workers for an annual dinner honoring military veterans (he was a Marine).

Ellison also noted that he regularly talks with Apache’s area foremen and keeps a watchful eye on the company’s performance.

“Of course, I’ll always have contact with Apache; it’s in my blood,” he said.

Since word of his Apache departure spread, the longtime oil man has received numerous calls from industry colleagues asking if he would consider consulting.

“I spent a year making up my mind to retire,” Ellison said. Though he hasn’t ruled out part-time endeavors permanently, “I’ve told them, ‘I know how to work. Now I want to learn how to retire.’”

Though he diligently keeps up with his Apache family, in reality he is adjusting to retirement life. Since his official retirement date of Sept. 5, 2008, Ellison has been catching up on his favorite hobby – big-game hunting. On Sept. 8, he traveled to Alaska for a moose hunt (and shot a big one). Next, he took his 13-year-old grandson on an antelope hunt in West Texas (not so lucky there), followed by a deer hunt in New Mexico. These trips were in addition to regular hunts at the family deer lease.

“I’ve never had a problem with being bored,” he said.

Besides hunting, Ellison regularly works out. He rides an exercise bike in his shop 30 hours a month and walks two-plus hours each week.

“I’ve done that forever,” he said.

Apparently so, considering that over the years he has worn out seven upright bikes and is now on his second recumbent bike.

“I have to do something to keep up with the grandkids and my sons,” he chuckled.

Ellison and his wife Melba have two sons and three grandsons, who hunt; two granddaughters (the youngest, 7 years old, also hunts); two great-granddaughters; and one great-grandson. They all live in West Texas, near Jal, which is seven miles from the Texas border.

Ellison grew up in Portales, N.M., and after graduating from high school joined the Marine Corps for two years. When he returned home, he went to work in the oil patch. In the early days, he worked on pulling units and as a roughneck. He worked as a contractor for various companies – so he could accept the best jobs for the best pay.

In those days, oil was $3 a barrel and natural gas cost 16 cents per thousand cubic feet, Ellison recalled. He made $1.40 per hour at his first job on a rig. He worked days and nights and often worked 60 hours straight.

“The industry did whatever it took to get oil and gas out of the ground,” Ellison said.

In 1965, he joined the Pure Oil Co. in Dollarhide, Texas. A year later, Pure Oil merged with Union 76 and became Unocal. He was with Unocal for 19 years, working his way from roustabout up to production foreman in the Permian Basin.

“At Unocal, I met a young engineer named Al Buron – around 1978,” Ellison recalled. (Today, Buron is vice president and operations manager for Apache Egypt.)

Beginning what would become a game of musical chairs of sorts, Buron left Unocal to take a position with Sabine Corp. In 1984, he called on Ellison when the position of production foreman opened. Ellison accepted the job and worked for Buron at Sabine for five years.

Yet another merger transpired when Sabine merged with Terra Resources –  where future Apaches Steve Farris (Apache chairman), Jon Jeppesen (senior vice president), Tim Wall (regional vice president – Australia)and Craig Clark (former executive vice president of U.S. Operations) were employed – to become Pacific Enterprises. Farris and Clark joined Apache by the time the merger was complete, and Buron joined Apache when the company started looking at the Amoco purchase in 1991.

At Buron’s nudging, Ellison soon joined Apache as production foreman at Wink, N.M. With the 1995 Texaco purchase, he was promoted to superintendent of South Permian.

“It’s been so rewarding to watch Apache grow. The Amoco purchase – when we all went to work for Apache – that was really the beginning.”

Other acquisitions followed – from Texaco and Exxon Mobil, to Amerada Hess and Collins and Ware.

“To bring all these people in from all kinds of places, introduce them to our culture, and watch them grow, was pretty amazing,” Ellison said.

The biggest industry change Ellison has seen since his early years of roughnecking has been the advancement of safety measures.

“It was dangerous beyond belief,” he said. “I’ve been banged up, seen people hurt and killed. Safety meetings weren’t even considered back in those days.”

As old habits never die, this oil man still gets up at 4:30 a.m., makes coffee, and sees his wife off to work: “She wanted to see how retirement went for me before she jumped on it.”

“My 17 years with Apache went by in a flash,” Ellison said. “We were so aggressive, so busy. It was always rewarding. I’ve had some of the best hands over the years. We were a family. Some of my dearest friends in the world are still working for Apache.”

No wonder Apache is still in his blood.

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