(Daily Oklahoman, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 4--Community leaders are mourning the passing of a pioneering oil and natural gas exploration leader who co-founded a business that today is Oklahoma's largest publicly-traded company.

John Nichols, 93, chairman emeritus of Devon Energy Corp., died early Sunday after a lengthy illness.

Nichols, who co-founded Devon with his son, Larry Nichols, was chairman of its board from the time Devon began operations in 1971 until 1999, when he was named chairman emeritus.

Larry Nichols is Devon's chairman and CEO.

John Nichols also was a founding partner of Blackwood and Nichols Co., which put together the first public oil and gas drilling fund ever registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Those who knew him say Nichols "left a lasting imprint" on Oklahoma's history, both through the work he did and through the charitable gifts he made to his church, his university and to a host of other institutions. His roots in the oil and gas business can be traced back to just after World War II, when he organized investment groups in Europe to pursue oil and natural gas development.

"He was way ahead of his time," Oklahoma City Mayor Mick CornettÖ said. "He was a creative genius who seemed to cross into a lot of different areas -- from finance, to accounting, to energy, to putting deals together.

"He was a deal maker -- a true entrepreneur," Cornett said.

Services are scheduled for 1 p.m. ThursdayÖ at Oklahoma City's First Presbyterian Church, 1001 NW 25. IntermentÖ will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery.

From the ground up

Nichols earned an accounting degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1936, and went to work as a CPA in Oklahoma City, where for several years he participated in the audit of books of local oil companies, including Kerr-Lynn, the predecessor company of Kerr-McGee Corp.

In 1950, he used his knowledge of tax laws to create the world's first public oil and gas drilling fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since, SEC-registered funds have raised tens of billions of dollars for oil and gas exploration in the nation, with much of that spent in Oklahoma.

During the next two decades, he and oilman F.G. "Blackie" Blackwood and other partners built a company they started in 1946 -- Blackwood and Nichols Co., Ltd. -- into one of the region's largest oil and gas companies.

When he and his son founded Devon Energy Corp., the company's first acquisition was five gas wells southeast of Dallas, and it continued to grow during the next 20 years as it pioneered recovery techniques in fields such as a coal bed in northwest New Mexico that produced natural gas.

In 1987, Nichols was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame by the Oklahoma Heritage Association.

"Oklahoma has seen the bottom," Nichols said in an interview that year about Oklahoma's wrecked economy after a bust in the state's oil boom that had started about a decade earlier. "I think we will improve slowly. I don't see a big increase in oil and gas, and petroleum is not going to be the dominant business it has been for generations.

"There has to be a broader base and I think Oklahoma will provide it."

Growing the business

Nevertheless, Devon continued to grow. In 1988, it became publicly traded. In 1992, the company acquired Hondo Oil & Gas and then, in subsequent years, a string of other companies and assets, including Kerr-McGee's onshore oil and natural gas properties.

The company moved into offshore exploration and production work in 1999 when it acquired PennzEnergy Co. for $2.6 billion. The next year, it merged with Santa Fe Snyder Corp. for $3.5 billion, making it a top-five U.S. based oil and natural gas company.

In 2001, Devon moved into Canada when it acquired Anderson Exploration Ltd. for $4.6 billion. The next year, it acquired Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. for $3.5 billion, adding the just-emerging Barnett Shale natural gas field in north Texas to its portfolio.

It became the largest independent oil and natural gas producer based in the United States in 2003 after it merged with Ocean Energy Inc.

Since then, the company has been growing its proven reserves through drilling activities, with numerous successful oil discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico and successful oil and natural gas production from Canadian fields.

The company also turned in impressive performances in the Barnett, where daily net production from Devon's wells has surpassed a billion cubic feet equivalent.

Nichols received an honorary doctorate from OU in 2002. In 2004, he and his wife, Mary, announced a $10 million gift from Devon Energy Corp. to the school for its engineering program. Nichols also was the inaugural recipient of the university's Oklahoma Trailblazer Award.

Remembering a friend

"John Nichols has left a lasting imprint on the history of our state. As an entrepreneur, he helped create the modern oil and gas industry. John Nichols is also one of the state's most generous benefactors -- to his church, his university and a host of other important institutions. In every area of his life, he was widely respected as a person of complete honesty and integrity." -- David L. Boren, president, University of Oklahoma.

"We've lost a great Oklahoman and a wonderful, caring person in John Nichols. He was truly one of the giants of our state and our country ... I looked up to him as a role model and an example of a successful, self-made man. Later in my life, I was honored to forge a personal relationship with John and develop an even greater appreciation for him and his accomplishments. John was a leader and a success in everything he did, whether it involved business, community or family. He really was a great man and will be dearly missed." -- Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry.

"John Nichols was an indispensable citizen and his contributions to our state's energy industry were significant. Oklahoma City was elevated by him and is diminished without him." -- former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.

"Mr. Nichols represented the pioneering and visionary spirit that typified the culture of Oklahoma City and made it what it is today. His determination made an energy company that has become one of the greatest assets this city and state has." -- Roy Williams, president and chief executive, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

"John was a visionary leader who has left a lasting mark on Oklahoma ... Perhaps his greatest achievement was his family. His strong character and commitment to service will always remain an example to us all." -- Burns Hargis, Oklahoma State University president.

Business Writers Steve Lackmeyer, Don Mecoy and Jack Money contributed to this report.

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