History

In January 1960, Brunner Barnes and Robert Click took a leap of faith and opened the doors of the consulting firm that still bears their names. The idea had its genesis during their work together as chief process engineer and chief operations engineer, respectively, in the gas department of Magnolia Petroleum, a 1950s subsidiary of Mobil Oil Corporation based in Dallas. It was brought to culmination by virtue of a sweeping corporate reorganization that would have transferred Brunner to New York and Bob to Midland.

Instead, the two decided to implement a long-discussed plan and start a private consulting firm focused on the downstream processing segments of the petroleum industry. Barnes & Click opened its doors in January 1960. Brunner Barnes, Bob Click, Tom King, and Tom Russell were the first four members of the firm, and given their background, gas processing was the primary focus of the new company.

In the early years, most of the business involved optimizing and/or expanding existing gas processing plants and designing new ones. The firm was well positioned to participate at the leading edge of the advent of cryogenic, turbo-expander technology, which revolutionized gas processing and was a major factor in the growth of the US ethylene industry, based on inexpensive ethane. Barnes & Click was the process consultant on the first application of turbo-expander technology in natural gas processing, acting as process advisors to Coastal Corporation in the design of the San Martin plant near San Antonio, Texas. The firm subsequently performed economic feasibility studies and process designs for many of the new plants built in the infancy and the heyday of the cryogenic processing industry through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

Allen Orr joined the firm in 1972 after an already full career with Cosden Oil and Hydrocarbon Research that included several overseas assignments. It was Allen who first introduced petroleum refining expertise to the firm and began developing that segment of the consulting business. He advised a number of independent refiners through the strange era of price controls, crude oil entitlements, and the small refiner bias.

Brunner Barnes led the firm until his retirement in 1983, when he was succeeded as Chairman and President by Charles Collins. Charles had joined the firm in 1976 when it was only 16 years old, followed closely by Jack Whiteside in early 1977. After Brunner’s unexpected passing in 1985, his clients, colleagues, and friends in the industry established as a tribute the permanently endowed Brunner C. Barnes scholarship in the Chemical Engineering Department at Texas A&M University, Brunner’s alma mater.

Charles Collins led the firm through 2000, significantly broadening its scope of services, bolstering its refining staff, and expanding its expertise to encompass the petrochemical industry. Charles was succeeded as President by Jack Whiteside in January 2001 and retired from his post as Chairman of the Board at the end of 2005. (Read Charles’ retrospective on his career in Barnes & Click Solutions, January 2005.)

Jack was instrumental in developing the firm’s due diligence practice starting in the mid-1990s and has continued to solidify Barnes & Click’s position as the premier firm for independent due diligence in support of mergers and acquisitions, not only in the gas midstream sector but also in refining and petrochemicals. He also led expansion of the firm’s nascent international presence, helping to win assignments in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, and Venezuela.

After nearly 50 years in business, it remains the mission of the Barnes & Click team to uphold the high standards of integrity and service established by Brunner Barnes and Bob Click at the firm’s inception and so ably cultivated under Charles Collins’ leadership.