Mabre Maness (1927-2001)

Mabre graduated from East Texas State University in 1950 and joined the Atlantic Refining Company as a geological draftsmen.  He joined Hycalog in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1951, where he worked in several positions, ultimately being named their Michigan district manager.  In 1961, he founded Maness Petroleum Laboratories, Inc. in Mt. Pleasant, to focus on mudlogging, core analysis, and other analytical services.  When Core Laboratories acquired his company in 1973, Mabre became manager of their operations in the northeastern United States.  After dedicating more than 30 years of work to formation evaluation in the Michigan Basin, he took early retirement from Core Laboratories in 1985.  He then established Maness Petroleum Corporation with his sons and worked with them until his death in 2001.

From the beginning, Mabre realized the importance of keeping core and analytical data.  At a time when others were simply throwing them away, he retained these invaluable data.  He later donated them, laying the foundation for the Michigan Basin Core Research Laboratory at Western Michigan University.

David Maness

A Mt. Pleasant native, David obtained a degree in Applied Geophysics from Michigan Technological University and moved to Texas where he was employed in the oil and gas exploration business from 1975 through 1991.  In the mid 1980’s he formed Maness Petroleum Corporation with his late father, Mabre and his brother, Tim.  In 1992, he returned to Mt. Pleasant to pursue oil and gas exploration in Michigan.

From 1996 to 2002, he served on the Mt. Pleasant Public Schools Board of Education including two years as the Board President.  He serves as a Chairman of Isabella Bank Corporation and as a Director of the Michigan Oil and Gas Association.  He is a member of several professional societies including the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Tim Maness

Tim has geology degrees from Lake Superior State University and the University of Kansas.   He worked for TXO in Kansas prior to returning to Michigan in 1986.  In addition to his primary focus on oil and gas exploration in the Michigan Basin, he has worked on several industrial well projects and manages Huffman Royalty LLC.

Over the years Tim has enjoyed sharing geologic concepts at professional conferences.  He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and past president of the Michigan Basin Geological Society.

Mike Covington

Mike’s company MLC Land Services, LLC provides title and brokerage services on the majority of Maness Petroleum’s projects.   Mike is an Alma, Michigan native and obtained a B.S. degree from Central Michigan University after serving in the military in the mid 1970’s.  Mike started as an independent landman in the oil and gas business in 1980.  Since that time he has worked on numerous projects for a wide variety of clients in Michigan and Ohio.

Alan Billingham

Alan has a Geology degree from Central Michigan University and has worked for Maness Petroleum since the late 1980’s.  Alan specializes in cartography for the company and assists in prospect development.

Lora Beatty

Lora is a native of Odessa, Texas and ended up working in the Michigan oil and gas industry after having grown up in the Texas oil industry.  She has served as Office Manager for Maness Petroleum since 1997.