Some small-town Texas boys working as farmhands on family land have dreams of something bigger or altogether different for their future. Mike Howard was one of those back in his childhood. Now chairman and CEO of San Antonio-based Howard Energy Partners, Mike grew up in Agua Dulce, barely a blip on the map at the time. While his friends in eighth grade spent summer swimming, fishing, or playing baseball, Howard—at age 13 with a tractor driving certification—chose instead to work and make money. That was just the beginning.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest from Mike Howard and Howard Energy, one of the nation’s largest privately-owned energy infrastructure companies operating in Texas, N.M., Pa., Okla., Kan., and Mexico.

“Meaningful Endeavor” has long been Mike Howard’s mantra as he’s expanded his company since 2011 into a diversified midstream force of nature. He cites Pro Energy, Pro Climate, and Anti-Poverty as guiding principles with a belief that access to reliable, affordable energy is foundational to human progress. And Howard Energy keeps growing to ensure energy keeps flowing.

Following Howard Energy’s acquisition last year of equity interests in the 200-mile Midship pipeline, which flows natural gas from the Anadarko Basin with connections to the Gulf, the company has now closed on its purchase of the whole Midship enchilada. This, in addition to the acquisition of Tulsa-based Superior Midstream, which operates natural gas gathering and processing assets across Okla., Kan., the Texas Panhandle, and East Texas.