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Mountain V Oil and Gas recently acquired AXP Energy holdings located in Harlan County, setting up shop in a facility leased to the company by the county. The company is expecting a long-term business relationship in the area.

Mountain V held a meet and greet on Wednesday, July, 24, at the company’s facility located off US 119 near Coldiron to introduce themselves to the community.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley was among those in attendance.

“We’re excited to see Mountain V acquire the assets of AXP and keep this operation going,” Mosley said. “We appreciate what they do…Just like coal, gas and oil are needed to power our nation.”

Mosley noted the facility has been operated by multiple companies in the past. He mentioned the facility is a county owned property which is leased by Mountain V in the same way as previous companies including AXP Energy and Magnum Hunter.

Mike Shaver, President and Owner of Mountain V Oil and Gas, talked about the company’s vision.

“We’re having sort of a grand opening,” Shaver said. “We acquired the assets of AXP Energy and have been the owner/operators here for six months. We just wanted to have some lunch, meet everybody, and show them we’re good neighbors and plan on being here a while.”

According to Shaver, Mountain V Oil and Gas owns and operates approximately 1,250 oil and natural gas wells in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

“Forty percent of them are in Harlan County,” Shaver said.

Shaver explained Mountain View also owns 2,200 additional wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Mountain V currently has 25 employees in Harlan County.

“That will remain the same for a while, but we’re looking at some other assets to acquire, and we have plans to drill when pricing gets better,” Shaver said. “I’m looking forward to expanding.”

Mountain V Oil and Gas is headquartered in Buckingham, West Virginia.

“We’ve been in business since 1994,” Shaver said. “I’m the sole owner and president – I started with my dad – we’ve grown exponentially over the last 30 years. We just celebrated 30 years of being in business on March 7. We’ve been around a while.”

Shaver pointed out natural gas is used to produce 40 percent of the electricity generated in the United States, and the need for electricity will not likely diminish.

“There’s only going to be more of a need for electricity,” Shaver said.

For more information on Mountain V Oil and Gas, go to their website at https://mountainvoilandgas.com.