Black-Owned Energy Company Drills For Oil & Gas

Black Enterprise magazine has named CAMAC, a multinational oil and gas exploration company led by CEO Kase Lawal, left, as its 2006 Company of the Year. This is the first black-owned company to significantly participate in the energy sector. CAMAC is the number two company on the BE 100 list with $1.5 billion in sales. CAMAC partners with Conoco and Chevron for big offshore projects. In 2005, CAMAC acquired a controlling interest in Unity National Bank, the only black-owned federally chartered bank in Texas.

Mr. Lawal is Nigerian born and raised. He received a B.A. in chemical engineering from Texas Southern University and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from Prairie View A&M. He worked at Shell, Halliburton, Suncrest Investment Corp and Baker Investments before forming his own company. In June 1999, he was appointed by the city of Houston to serve as a commissioner on the Port of Houston Authority Board. He also serves on the board of directors of the Houston Airport System Development Corporation.