In the new oil drilling hotbed of southern Kansas, water is a precious resource for everyone. Residents need it for drinking, farmers need it for irrigation and oil companies now need it for fracking.
To quench that demand, 29-year old Mitchell Hall, a native of the new oil boomtown of Anthony, launched a water well drilling company this year. He is about to start drilling his first well this month and already has 35 customers signed up for other wells.
Hall funded his startup with the money he made leasing out the mineral rights to his land to an oil company. He was also able to quit his job at a bank and pay off some personal loans.
"I worked for a guy drilling water wells when I was in college, so I had it in the back of my mind and then I finally had the cash influx to actually do it," Hall said. "Water is an unmet need in our local area, and we now have an even bigger opportunity with the oil boom."
Many customers ordering water wells are farmers and ranchers who have also received windfalls from leasing their mineral rights and are funding their purchases with that new money. And he thinks oil companies could soon be next to sign up, especially if the dry weather persists this summer.
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