In case you missed it, the second-deepest natural gas well ever drilled in U.S. history has recently been completed in St. Martin Parish, La. That well would be the Highlander 2 in Bayou Long located at the end of Belle River.  How deep is deep in this case? About six miles, or 31,000 feet underground where the Highlander 2 has confirmed the existence of deep gas formations in this area of south-central La., once considered inaccessible—formations that could potentially hold trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. The woman behind this feat is betting big on that potential.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following an online cover piece in Forbes this week, featuring Gloria Moncrief who leads Fort Worth-based Montex Drilling Company, a part of family-owned Moncrief Oil. She also happens to be the granddaughter of famed Texas wildcatter W.A. “Tex” Moncrief and great granddaughter of Monty Moncrief—part of a lineage that over the decades created a billion-dollar fortune.

But family dynasties can sometimes turn combustible, and this one did with a vengeance and all the messy hallmarks of a Taylor Sheridan series. Tex died at age 101 in late 2021. Gloria’s father—Tex’s right-hand man and favored son Charlie followed a few months later in 2022 after a battle with brain cancer. Gloria had promised them both she would drill the Highlander 2. Gave them her word. And she’s fulfilled that promise.

Completing the task was neither cheap nor fast, costing some $300,000 a day to rent a rig, along with paychecks for a staff of 60 working 12-hour shifts around the clock for 389 days. Now, Moncrief is looking to raise the money to produce the gas and sell it to La., exporters. We wish her every success. They tend to run in the family.