Prior to 1944, W.R. “Witt” Stephens, Sr. purchases Western Oklahoma Gas Company, a natural gas exploration and production company. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers, Stephens combines Western Oklahoma Gas Company, then known as Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Company, with Fort Smith Gas Corporation, which he had acquired nine years prior. Stephens merges the distribution properties under the name Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation (AOG) and combines the production assets under the name of Stephens Production Company (a business), jointly owned by Witt and his brother, Jack Stephens