Taylor Energy

Taylor Energy
Company type	Private
Industry	Oil and gas
Founded	July 20, 1979; 47 years ago
Founder	Patrick F. Taylor
Headquarters	New Orleans, United States
Key people	Phyllis Taylor (CEO and chairwoman)
Products	Hydrocarbon exploration and production

Taylor Energy is a privately held American oil enterprise based in New Orleans, Louisiana, focusing on hydrocarbon exploration and production within the Gulf of Mexico. Established in 1979 by businessman Patrick F. Taylor, the company has maintained its status as a family-owned business. After Patrick Taylor passed away in 2004, leadership transitioned to his wife, Phyllis Taylor, who assumed the roles of CEO and chairwoman. She has since become one of Louisiana’s most affluent business figures, with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. As of 2021, she remains at the helm of the organization.

Although Taylor Energy operates as a relatively modest player in the oil drilling sector, it attracted considerable attention due to the Taylor oil spill, one of the most extensive and enduring oil discharges recorded in U.S. history. This environmental crisis has significantly influenced the company’s public image and operational priorities. The firm’s commercial approach emphasizes offshore oil extraction, alongside ongoing measures to address and mitigate the spill’s consequences while continuing its primary activities.

History

The founder, Patrick F. Taylor, was raised in Beaumont, Texas and pursued higher education at Louisiana State University. He married Phyllis Miller, who was among the pioneering female graduates of Tulane Law School.

Taylor Energy was officially formed on July 20, 1979.

In early February 2008, Taylor Energy—recognized as one of the largest privately owned oil and gas firms operating in the Gulf of Mexico—entered an agreement to transfer all its energy holdings to a joint venture between Korea National Oil Corporation and Samsung C&T Corporation. However, the MC20 wells, which continue to leak oil, were excluded from this transaction. Despite this sale, Taylor Energy remains incorporated in New Orleans, continues to use its established brand name, and operates under its own CEO.

2004 Taylor Energy oil spill

In 2004, a Taylor Energy-operated platform in the Gulf of Mexico was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, resulting in a persistent oil spill. Initially, the company minimized the extent of the leak, suggesting only a minor release of oil. A 2013 collaborative report with government agencies estimated an approximate discharge of "about three gallons per day." These estimates were later challenged; by July 2022, contractors hired by the U.S. Coast Guard, specifically the Couvillion Group, had recovered more than one million gallons of spilled oil.

In 2015, investigations revealed that only a single full-time employee was assigned to oversee spill management. By October 2018, the scale of this spill approached that of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, positioning it among the largest marine petroleum spills ever documented.

Beginning in 2019, Taylor Energy initiated four legal actions aimed at preventing governmental interventions designed to contain the leak. These lawsuits targeted entities including the Interior Department, U.S. Coast Guard, and Couvillion Group. The Couvillion Group was contracted in 2019 to implement containment strategies; by April of that year, it had deployed an underwater containment apparatus. During its inaugural year of operation, this system captured roughly 400,000 gallons—substantially exceeding the Coast Guard’s threshold for categorizing an event as a "spill of national significance." As reported in July 2022, total recovered volumes surpassed one million gallons. One such lawsuit filed by Taylor Energy accusing Couvillion of “trespassing” was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Greg G. Guidry in August 2020.

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