El Paso billionaire Paul Foster just got richer.
He and his partners in 6-year-old Franklin Mountain Energy, or FME, have sold all the company’s oil and gas assets in the oil-rich Permian Basin in New Mexico, for about $2.5 billion to Coterra Energy Inc., a Houston oil and gas exploration and production company.
Coterra is paying FME $1.5 billion in cash and almost 40.9 million in Cotera stock shares valued at about $1 billion in the deal, Coterra reported Nov. 12, when the purchase agreement was announced.
The sale was completed Jan. 27, but the final sale price is subject to post-closing price adjustments, Coterra officials said in a statement.
Most of Foster’s wealth stems from Western Refining, the El Paso oil refining company he founded and was sold several years ago for billions of dollars. It’s now part of Ohio-based Marathon Petroleum Corp., which continues to operate the former Western El Paso refinery.
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On the Forbes Magazine 2024 billionaires list, he ranked No. 1,945 among the world’s 2,781 billionaires, with his wealth estimated at $1.6 billion as of March 8, 2024.
His fortune has helped him become a prolific philanthropist. He donated $50 million in 2007 to Texas Tech University to help create the medical school that now bears his name at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso campus. He’s donated millions to the University of Texas at El Paso athletic projects.
Franklin Mountain Energy becomes big player in Permian Basin
Foster and several other former Western Refining executives in 2018 formed Franklin Mountain Energy.
It grew to be one of the largest, privately held oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin, a company official has said.
It had 32,000 acres of oil and gas leases, 170 oil and gas wells, and 100 miles of pipelines to transport oil and gas — all in Lea County, New Mexico, according to an FME presentation at the August Enercom investor conference in Denver.
The Permian Basin is the largest oil-producing basin in the United States, spanning 66 counties in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Lea County is one of the largest oil producers in the basin.
Foster returns to his Lovington, New Mexico roots
Lea County is in southeast New Mexico and borders Texas.
Foster, 67, grew up in Lovington, the county seat, which is about 240 miles northeast of El Paso.
“His father was in the (oil-field service) business; he always wanted to have kind of an upstream (oil) company and kind of come back to his home roots,” Craig Walters, FME chief executive officer, said at the Denver conference. A video recording of his presentation is on the Enercom website.
“But more importantly our founders understood the growing importance of the Permian Basin, especially the New Mexico side,” Walters said.
Franklin Mountain Energy initially was headquartered in El Paso but in recent years was based in Denver with 34 employees, according to the FME presentation.
FME put its oil and gas assets on the market last summer, seeking about $3 billion, the Bloomberg new service has reported.
Questions remain about Coterra deal ramifications
One question is whether the Coterra deal will put FME out of business. FME’s website has a notice that the company’s operating entities were acquired by Coterra, but other company information is no longer on the website.
Another question is what the additional wealth means for Foster’s varied business and philanthropic endeavors, mostly in El Paso. It’s not publicly known how much money and Coterra stock Foster is getting from the Coterra deal.
Foster and other FME officials did not make themselves available to talk to the El Paso Times about the Coterra transaction and its ramifications.
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Foster’s many enterprises shaping El Paso
Foster, at the October grand opening of Campo Del Sol — a huge El Paso housing community he is a partner in developing — told the El Paso Times he wants to continue doing significant projects that benefit El Paso.
Foster is involved in real estate ownership and development and other enterprises, mainly in El Paso.
That includes being a partner and board member of Jordan Foster Construction, a large El Paso general contractor, and part owner of the El Paso Chihuahuas minor league baseball team and soccer teams in El Paso and Juárez, Mexico.
He helped kick-start Downtown El Paso redevelopment by renovating several historic buildings, including the Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park. He also owns a large portfolio of prominent Downtown buildings, including the 21-story Wells Fargo building and the 18-story One San Jacinto Plaza building bearing the Sunflower Bank logo.
He and two other Western executives were major shareholders in Western, which operated the El Paso oil refinery when it was sold in 2017 to Andeavor in San Antonio.
In 2018, Andeavor was acquired by Marathon Petroleum, making Foster, an Andeavor shareholder and board member, a large shareholder in Marathon at the time of the sale.
Coterra bought other Permian Basin assets
Besides buying FME’s Permian Basin assets, Coterra simultaneously purchased other Permian Basin assets from Avant Natural Resources, a Denver energy company, for $1.45 million.
Vic Kolenc may be reached at 915-546-5421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter, now known as X.
