Harding Company opened its doors in 1953, as Harding Brothers Partnership by Charles Harding and his brother Roy Harding. In 1962, Harding Brothers was incorporated as Harding Brothers Oil and Gas Company. Hundreds of successful wells were drilled and operated by the Harding brothers for many years, primarily in the North Texas area.

In 1962, Harding Brothers was incorporated as Harding Brothers Oil & Gas Company. In 1969, the name was shortened to Harding Oil Company. About 1979, the name was further shortened to simply Harding Company, and is still known by that name.

In 1953 and 1954, the Company started drilling 1,400-foot oil wells in the Strawn Sand Formation in Brown County, Texas. The first seven were successful oil wells. In those days the Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the oil and gas industry, was reducing the amount of oil each well could produce and sell through pro-ration.

These were called the "shut-down days." However, shallow wells like the ones Harding Brothers drilled were exempt from the restrictions and could sell the full amount of production from each oil well, which made these oil wells very profitable. In 1956, the next major step for the Company was the discovery of the A. C. Scott Strawn Sand Oil Field in Callahan County at a depth of 1,900 feet. Again, since this was classified as "shallow" production, the Company could sell all of the oil the field could produce. After the oil field was fully developed, it was sold for cash to a San Antonio oil operator.

In 1966, the Company took a giant step forward by discovering the Turnbow (Strawn Sand) Oil Fields in Haskell County, Texas. This eventually developed into one of the larger Strawn Sand Oil Fields in north Texas.

During this period, Harding Brothers was instrumental in developing and proving new technology for this area utilizing Schlumberger's new Dip Meter Log. Charles Harding and a young petroleum engineer, Jimmy Thompson, worked closely together to develop this technology breakthrough to discover and develop numerous Mississippian Oil Fields through the years.

Like many oil companies, Harding Brothers chose to divest many of these assets and in 1976, sold their assets for around $3 million dollars. Charles Harding and his son, Rick, continued drilling as Harding Company.

Harding Company has put together a strong team of experienced people in all aspects of financing, drilling, exploration, pipelines, field operations, geophysics, land and technology. Collectively we have many years of experience in multiple levels of major companies, such as the responsibilities of upper management, while having expertise in their individual fields. We make important decisions in a timely manner. We all speak the "same language", are creative and "think outside the box". We are highly motivated by success and are paid on performance.

For over 50 years Harding Company and our team
of experts have proven that they can get the job done!

R. W. Harding, President, Chief Executive Officer

R. W. (Rick) Harding graduated from Texas Tech University in 1975, with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. He worked in the oil fields during the summer while attending college, and has been the President of Harding Company since 1983. Rick is a man of strong integrity and character. Over the past 26 years, he has supervised the drilling, completion and production of numerous wells in the oil and gas business. He has been instrumental in helping urban areas to develop drilling ordinances. As a member of Texas Alliance of Energy Producers Natural Gas Committee, Rick worked to obtain fairness in natural gas pricing for the producer and has been instrumental in bringing new natural gas pipeline markets to the Barnett Shale Area in order to stimulate competition and better prices. He focuses on production in Tarrant, Parker, Hamilton, Coleman, Fisher, Throckmorton, Stonewall and the surrounding counties.

Charles F. Harding, Chairman of the Board

Charles F. Harding started working part-time for 7-Eleven (then called Southland Corporation) in September 1936, and went into full-time work in June 1937. In 1939, he became Assistant Chief Engineer and Purchasing Agent. In 1940, he was promoted to Chief Engineer and was named Vice-President in 1941. He is listed in Who's Who in America in Industry and Finance.

In 1943, Charles Harding and his brother, Roy Harding, bought Highland Furniture Company, an upscale retail furniture store in the Park Cities area of North Dallas. On May 31, 1953, they sold Highland Furniture Company and went into the oil and gas business the next day, June 1, 1953, operating initially as Harding Brothers. Charles Harding has been in the oil and gas business since then.

Steve Carter, CPA, Chief Financial Officer

Steve Carter, a Certified Public Accountant, provides Harding Company with financial expertise, management strength, and planning capabilities that are paramount to the company’s growth due to the opportunities and successes of the Barnett Shale gas play. His early experience in the oil and gas industry came while he was a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, heading up a criminal investigation involving what was indicated to be the private sector’s illegal accounting for oil and gas being moved via pipelines across the nation.

Steve’s four-year career with the FBI included organized crime and RICO statute criminal investigations out of field offices in San Francisco, Tucson, and Houston. Upon leaving there, he worked with Carter Systems Consultants, Inc. of Dallas for 10 years, and then became CFO of Pro Set, Inc. (a trading card company based in Texas) from 1989 to 1993. At that time, he then became CFO of Met-Trim, LLC and Planet E Shop, Inc., a distribution and fulfillment, media planning and purchasing company. He joined Harding Company in 2002.

Having received a Congressional appointment and attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, Steve later earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accounting) degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. He was a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the business honor student fraternity. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Texas Society of CPAs. Steve has been active in Rotary International and member of Kessler Park United Methodist Church, Dallas.