Arbusto Energy was an

oil and gas exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods ...

firm started in 1977 by former

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. In 1984, the company merged with

Spectrum 7 Spectrum 7 was an oil company started by William DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds. In 1984, Spectrum 7 merged with George W. Bush's Arbusto Energy. After the merger, Bush became the Chairman and CEO of Spectrum 7. According to George Soros ...

Energy Corp.

History

Arbusto Energy was organized in 1977, but did not begin operations until after Bush's unsuccessful 1978 run for Representative from Texas's 19th congressional district. In March 1979, the company began raising funds for

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods V ...

through private offerings. In April 1982, Bush decided to begin offering public drilling partnerships, but had difficulty raising subscriptions. A change in the company name to ''Bush Exploration'' brought no improvement. With little success in its drilling program, the company merged with

Energy Corp. in February 1984, with Bush holding the positions of Chairman and CEO. In 1986, a rapid fall in oil prices made investment in oil exploration unattractive, and put the company in financial difficulties. Spectrum 7 began looking for partners or purchasers, and in September of that year it was acquired by Harken Energy through a

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

swap, with Bush joining the Harken board of directors. From 1981–1986 the chief financial officer of Arbusto Energy was

Mike Conaway Kenneth Michael Conaway (born June 11, 1948) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district Conaway represented is located in West Texas and includes Midlan ...

. Conaway served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for from 2005–2021.

Arbusto and James Bath

One of the early investors in Arbusto was Houston businessman James R. Bath. Bath and Bush became acquainted when both men were serving as reserve pilots in the Texas Air Guard in the early 1970s, and according to journalist Craig Unger, Bath invested $50,000 in Arbusto. At the time of the investment, Bath was a representative for Saudi businessman

Salem bin Laden Salem bin Laden () (4 January 1946 – 29 May 1988) was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman. Life Salem was the eldest son of Muhammad bin Laden, the founder of the Saudi Binladin Group, and a half-brother of the militant jihadist Osama b ...

, the oldest son of Mohammed bin Laden and the older brother of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, founder of the Saudi Binladin Group, the largest oil construction company in Saudi Arabia. Bath's business partner Charles White later became involved in a legal dispute with Bath, during which he claimed that Bath had actually invested in the company on behalf of bin Laden and other Saudi businessmen. Both Bath and Bush have denied this, and according to journalist Craig Unger, who examined the relationship between the Bushes and Saudi financiers in his 2004 book '' House of Bush, House of Saud'', and journalist

Steve Coll Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an American journalist, academic, and executive. He was dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he also served as the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism until 2022. A staff w ...

, whose book '' The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century'' examines the family's history, there is no evidence to support the claim.Unger, 101

References

{{reflist Defunct oil companies of the United States Petroleum in Texas George W. Bush Bin Laden family Midland, Texas Energy companies established in 1977 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1977 Defunct companies based in Texas

History

Arbusto and James Bath

See also

References