Our History

2010 – Present
Successfully raised capital and acquired royalty and working interests in Texas and Oklahoma
2010
Southern Energy Launched
Jeff Lemons and Rupesh Shah decide to combine their expertise and expand on their existing investment base by creating Southern Energy. Southern Energy presented opportunities for individual partners to gain direct investment access to the oil and gas industry. With the knowledge of the industry, the guidance of successful mentors, and the passion to create attractive and well-managed portfolios, Southern Energy was established
2008
Ken Lemons' youngest son Jeff Lemons joined the company, making it three generations working together in the industry
1994
Wy-Vel Corporation strategically sold most of its production, servicing, and drilling operations, creating a capital infusion into the company that allowed the Lemons’ to focus on the acquisition of non-operated oil and gas working interests and royalties in Texas and Oklahoma. That important change allowed the company to increase in asset size over the next eighteen years at the highest rate it had yet experienced, without acquiring any debt in the process
1986
In early 1986 the price of oil dropped from $27 to under $10 per barrel. Within a short time, natural gas prices fell from $3.75 to under $1 per thousand cubic feet. The impact on the industry was severe, especially for the many independent producers who simply went bankrupt. Wy-Vel Corporation overcame the crisis by re- inventing the way they operated and restructuring the business model to allow for full repayment of debts that had accumulated during the early eighties when the oil and gas industry was booming
1981
By 1981, Wy-Vel owned and operated over four hundred wells, two servicing rigs and two drilling rigs, all in the Texas Panhandle
1978
Wyatt’s oldest son, Wayne Lemons joined the company as an engineer
1976
Wyatt and Kenneth formed Wy-Vel Corporation to operate and own most of the oil and gas wells they had acquired and together they grew the business
1974
Wyatt Lemons’ youngest son, Kenneth Lemons, joined the operations by purchasing oil and gas production in the same area
1964
D&E sold out to Sinclair Oil Company in 1964, and Wyatt purchased production in the Texas Panhandle and began his own independent operation
1938 – 1964
Wyatt Lemons, grandfather of Jeff Lemons (Co-founder of Southern Energy), began his career in the oil and gas industry with Drilling and Exploration Company, Inc. (D&E) in 1938 in Dallas, Texas as an accountant. When World War II began, he joined the U.S. Army and trained as a pilot for service in the Philippine Islands. After the war ended, Mr. Lemons returned to D&E, but as a field superintendent in Pampa, Texas. His duties were to manage oil and gas production in the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas