#41 | Jay Young: Singles and Doubles Beat Home Runs in Oil

Jay Young learned the business gauging tanks by hand for his grandfather, then ignored his father's advice: never get in the oil business.More on Jay Young and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/jay-youngHe is a fourth generation Texas oilman and the CEO of King Operating Corporation, and he is unusually direct about what has gone wrong along the way. "We took too much risk in the first two funds." Fund three does not wildcat at all. It is infield drilling only, in Panhandle fields where 7,000 wells have already been drilled and he knows where the oil is and is not.The model is ADD, acquire, develop, divest, lifted off a 2015 chairlift at Beaver Creek from an apartment operator. The proof it works: two horizontal wells outside Snyder, 40 percent sold down for $13 million in a little over a year. He also explains why 95 percent of oil promoters have no exit at all.The numbers land throughout. Wells that break even at $25 to $35 a barrel. A rig you can lock at $15,000 a day that becomes $25,000 the moment everyone wants to drill. Natural gas down from $13 to $2 and the AI data center plants that will burn it. And Texas Rangers ownership: $20 million for a board seat, two American League rings, and the million dollar a year cash calls that made him sell.Jay Young is the founder and CEO of King Operating Corporation, a Dallas oil and gas operator, and a fourth generation Texas oilman. He is the author of The Upside of Oil and Gas Investing, hosts The Jay Young Show, and was previously an owner of the Texas Rangers.KEY MOMENTS00:00 "There's so much oil out there"07:06 Gauging tanks: 1.67 barrels an inch07:53 "Don't get in the oil business"13:45 The Rangers, and the cash calls19:26 ADD: acquire, develop, divest23:34 Selling 40% of a well for $13 million27:10 "We took too much risk"34:37 Lock the rig before it doubles52:11 The AI plants will run on gas59:15 "It's singles and doubles"Newsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectLane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWFollow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, XThe Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.Sponsored by Capital Southwest.