Omega Energy, an Indiana Corporation, is an independent energy company engaged in oil and gas exploration, development and production. We currently participate in these activities through the interests we hold in oil and gas exploration and development projects in the Illinois Basin. While the name has changed many times over the years the evolution of Omega Energy can be traced through one family. It all started in 1947 when Davis 'Slim' Lambert and Paul Hood headquartered Lambert & Hood, an oil pumping and transportation company in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. The company'operations spread throught mid and southern Illinois and into Indiana and Kentucky. V.G. Greer, Slim Lambert's brother-in-law, ran the daily operations of the company and was their primary crude oil buyer. In 1974, upon Slim Lambert's death, Lambert & Hood was aquired by Big Heart Oil Company out of Tulsa, Oklamohma. Big Heart was later acquired by Koch Industries. Koch Industries owns or operates about 4,000 miles of pipelines that trasport crude oil and natural gas. They are the largest independently owned oil company in the United States. During the two acquisitions, V.G. was retained by both companies to run their Illinois Basin operations and he would remain one of the largest oil buyers in the Illinois Basin for close to 40 years. Just prior to his retirement, V.G. introduced his son-in-law, Robert Barbee, into the family business. Robert was successful on his first drilling venture and he would become a partner in 3 separate oil companies. Robert was directly involved in over 30 drilling ventures from 1978 up until 1985 when the price of oil dropped to $9 a barrel. This rapid drop in prices caused the independent oil and gas drilling and production infrastructure in most of the United States to collapse and resulted in most of the people in the Illinios Basin's oil business to permanently retire.