What Thyssen Petroleum does

Thyssen Petroleum is a privately held, Houston-based upstream oil and gas exploration and production company founded in 2011/2012 by Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza. It operates a diversified portfolio of assets across Louisiana, Texas, Alaska's North Slope, the Gulf of America, and (as of 2025) Iraq. The company's core technology stack is built around proprietary 3D seismic data acquisition and interpretation, specialized arctic engineering for -50°C North Slope conditions, and deepwater drilling expertise demonstrated by a 4,600-meter well drilled under 70 meters of water in the Vermilion-153 Block using a jack-up rig. Its producing assets are the Bayou Bouillon Field in Louisiana (over 7 million barrels of oil and 3 BCF of gas produced cumulatively since 2013, with more than 10 million BOE in remaining reserves), the Kuparuk River Oil Field on Alaska's North Slope (72 million barrels of oil and 11 BCF of gas in reserves, commercially producing since 2024 and tied into TAPS), and twelve Gulf of America offshore blocks with an estimated 526 million barrels of oil and 3 TCF of gas in reserves; a portfolio of scattered legacy wells in Texas and Louisiana rounds out the asset base.

The company generates revenue by selling produced crude oil and natural gas to enterprise buyers — refiners, traders, and large energy companies — through direct sales and long-term or spot contracts, with crude transported via owned or contracted pipelines and oil barges, and natural gas delivered through pipeline infrastructure. Pricing is determined by market benchmarks (WTI for crude, Henry Hub for gas) and is not publicly disclosed. The company is entirely privately held by the founder, with no external institutional or private equity investors, and is led operationally by CEO Majid Jourabchi (formerly leading Permian Basin operators, MBA from NYU Stern) and COO Muammer Alboamemah (former Schlumberger/Weatherford engineer with Iraq field experience). Its GTM motion is enterprise-direct: it acquires assets through private transactions and direct negotiations rather than public auctions, and it relies on demonstrated exploration success and industry reputation rather than traditional marketing channels.

Name

Thyssen Petroleum

Legal name

Thyssen Petroleum USA

Website

https://thyssenusa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Thyssen Petroleum is a privately held, Houston-based upstream oil and gas exploration and production company operating a diversified asset portfolio across Louisiana, Texas, Alaska's North Slope, the Gulf of America, and Iraq, selling crude oil and natural gas to refiners and energy traders via pipeline and barge logistics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Upstream Oil and Gas Exploration and Production

NAICS

Crude Petroleum Extraction (21112), Oil and Gas Extraction (211), Oil and Gas Extraction (2111)

SIC

Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas (1311), Drilling Oil & Gas Wells (1381)

akta.pro primary industry

Production Operations & Well Optimization (Artificial Lift, Flow Assurance) (EUALAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Crude Oil & Condensate Terminals (Tank Farms, Marine/Truck/Rail Loading) (EUALAEAA)

Keywords

• Upstream oil exploration
• Oil and gas production
• Offshore drilling services
• 3D seismic surveying
• Arctic oil operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Oil and Gas Production Sales: Revenue is generated through the sale of produced crude oil and natural gas to market. Oil is transported via pipelines and oil barges to market, while gas is similarly transported through pipeline infrastructure.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Core offering

Thyssen Petroleum is an upstream oil and gas exploration and production company that acquires, explores, develops, and produces crude oil and natural gas from a diversified portfolio of assets. Core activities include acquiring and processing proprietary 3D seismic data, drilling exploration and development wells, operating production facilities, and transporting produced hydrocarbons to market via pipelines and oil barges across Louisiana, Texas, Alaska's North Slope, and the Gulf of America.

Product overview

Thyssen Petroleum is a privately held upstream oil and gas exploration and production company operating a diversified portfolio of assets across Louisiana, Texas, Alaska, and the Gulf of America. The company offers integrated oil and gas field development services encompassing exploration, drilling, production, and reservoir management across four primary asset areas: the Bayou Bouillon Field in Louisiana (the founding asset with over 7 million barrels produced), the Kuparuk River Oil Field in Alaska's North Slope (with 72 million barrels of oil reserves), Gulf of America Offshore Operations (with 526 million barrels of oil and 3 TCF of gas estimated across 12 blocks), and scattered fields in Texas and Louisiana. The company leverages proprietary 3D seismic surveys, advanced drilling technologies, and specialized engineering capabilities including arctic engineering for operations in extreme environments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bayou Bouillon Field An upstream oil and gas asset located in the Louisiana wetlands, serving as Thyssen Petroleum's founding asset. Operations include exploration, drilling, and production activities supported by proprietary 3D seismic data, with produced oil and gas transported to market via pipelines and oil barges.
• Kuparuk River Oil Field A major oil field project on Alaska's North Slope where Thyssen Petroleum completed Phase 1 of a Central Processing Facility and connected into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Operations require specialized arctic engineering solutions designed and executed for -50°C conditions.
• Gulf of America Offshore Operations Deepwater offshore drilling and production operations across the Vermilion-153 Block and 11 additional acquired blocks in the Gulf of America, utilizing jack-up rig technology, subsea gas pipeline installation, and production platform deployment. The company has discovered commercial quantities of gas and condensate in the Vermilion-153 Block.
• Texas and Louisiana Scattered Fields A portfolio of scattered wells across Texas and Louisiana where Thyssen Petroleum conducts comprehensive reservoir evaluations and prepares field development plans to optimize production and maximize asset value from legacy properties.

Quantifiable outcome

• Discovered and produced over 7 million barrels of oil and 3 BCF of gas from Bayou Bouillon Field
• +4 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Northern Oil and Gas: Non-operating working interest owner in US shale plays, primarily the Williston Basin and Permian. Comparable in scale and as a US-domestic upstream investor with similar diversification across producing assets, though structurally different (non-op vs operator).
• W&T Offshore: Pure-play Gulf of Mexico independent E&P focused on shallow-water and deepwater production. Comparable in size and asset class to Thyssen's Gulf of America operations, with a similarly concentrated offshore production profile.
• Talos Energy: Houston-based independent E&P with a primary focus on the Gulf of America deepwater and Gulf of Mexico Shelf, plus Permian Basin operations. Highly comparable as a smaller, US-centric offshore and onshore operator with similar reserve scale ambitions.
• Civitas Resources: Independent E&P operating in the Permian, DJ, and Powder River basins, formed through the merger of Bonanza Creek and Extraction Oil & Gas. Comparable as a US-domestic, multi-basin independent producer pursuing aggressive growth through acquisitions and development.
• Amplify Energy: Houston-based independent E&P with offshore Gulf of Mexico and onshore oil-weighted assets. Comparable as a smaller-cap, US-domestic producer with offshore operations analogous to Thyssen's Gulf of America footprint.
• Magnolia Oil & Gas: Independent E&P focused on the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk in South Texas. Comparable as a US-domestic, mid-cap operator with a focused asset base and conservative capital allocation philosophy.
• Crescent Point Energy: Canadian-headquartered independent E&P with US operations including the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin. Comparable as a multi-basin operator pursuing reserve growth through development and tuck-in acquisitions.
• Vital Energy: Independent E&P focused on the Permian Basin, with operations spanning both Delaware and Midland sub-basins. Comparable as a US-domestic operator pursuing growth through development drilling and M&A, similar in size and operational complexity to Thyssen.
• Berry Corporation: California-based independent E&P with operations in the San Joaquin Basin, Utah, and the Permian. Comparable in scale as a US-domestic operator focused on optimizing mature, legacy oil fields for cash flow generation.

Broad incumbents

• Murphy Oil: Independent E&P with operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Eagle Ford, and international (Canada, Malaysia). Comparable as a diversified upstream operator with both US Gulf and international exposure, though significantly larger and publicly traded.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Thyssen Petroleum