When Chuck Farmer’s tenuous football career at The University of Texas at Austin was cut short (fortunately) by injuries, he switched to Petroleum Engineering. He graduated with a BS in May 1981 and went to work for Anadarko Petroleum in Denver, Colorado, and then worked for various independents and did rotational drilling duty with Amoco International in the Middle East and North Sea. In 1987, he took a job with Plains Petroleum as an acquisition engineer and soon moved to Midland as a district manager. In the following two years, Plains built its net production from 500 to 3,000 net BOPD; drilled a successful (500 BOPD, 500 MCFD) Canyon horizontal well in Knox County, Texas; and drilled one of the first Wolfcamp horizontal wells in the Midland Basin. In 1990 he was promoted to manager of corporate development, bringing in approximately $80 million in acquisitions, executing multiple infill drilling programs and creating dynamic cashflow growth.

In 1993, Chuck formed Saga Petroleum Corp in partnership with Brent Morse with $75,000 in capital to acquire and exploit properties in the Permian Basin. Over the years, they grew to operate in seven states; became the fifth largest oil producer in New Mexico; had over 100 employees, including a full staff of technical and financial personnel operating 95 percent of Saga assets; ran seven Saga-owned workover units; and owned and operated over 30,000 acres in SE New Mexico in a Morrow exploration program with Pure Resources (Unocal). Saga operated large compression, gathering and pipeline systems; successfully drilled 2- and 3D prospects; drilled large infill projects; and drilled horizontal wells in the Mowry formation in NW Wyoming and the San Andres formation in West Texas. Over 28 years, Saga created over $200 million in monetization value. Chuck and Brent Morse divested their last property in
Saga in 2021.

Chuck has twice served on UT PGE’s executive advisory committee and been its chair. He also served on Midland’s Economic Development and Water Resource Committee and has been a board member for the First Tee of the Permian Basin, Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, New Mexico Independent Producers Association, Permian Basin Petroleum Association, Colorado Special Olympics, Western States Cutting Horse Association, and the Midland SPCA. In 2004, Chuck and his wife, Dana, formed the Silver Lining Foundation to help the disadvantaged, including the homeless and young people unable to afford quality education. To date, Silver Lining has given out almost $3 million.