Adam Ferrari (BS 05) didn’t arrive at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a perfect academic record, but he brought something just as powerful: a strong work ethic, competitive mindset and a desire to pursue something difficult. Two decades later, those same qualities have helped him build Phoenix Energy, a successful private oil and gas company headquartered in California with operations across multiple states.
Ferrari’s path began in a small Illinois town about two hours north of Champaign. Coming out of high school as an “athlete who didn’t focus on academics as much as I should have,” he transferred into Illinois’ chemical and biomolecular engineering program after completing three semesters at a junior college.
“Why chemical engineering? It was literally this simple of a decision: everyone does mechanical and civil, and I wanted to go the path that less people were on,” Ferrari said. “Once I made that decision, I didn't look back.”
The program didn’t disappoint and fueled his competitive spirit. Long nights in the lab and challenging exams tested his determination and commitment.
“You're 20, 21 years old and studying all the time while everyone's out having fun,” he said. “To make it in engineering school, you can't have as much fun as students in some other majors. That's the trade-off. It's a sacrifice, but for those that are willing to make that sacrifice, there's potential reward in the future, and I'm super thankful that I made that sacrifice.”
But it wasn’t just academic rigor that defined his college years, it was family.
“I was super close to my parents during college and remain so to this day,” Ferrari said. “My parents knew when every big exam happened and would call me right after to ask how I did. I probably went home once a month. I needed that to be able to get through [the program], because it was hard. If I didn’t have such an amazing support system, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
His efforts paid off and he graduated magna cum laude in 2005. Soon after, Ferrari took his first job, working for BP.
“U. of I. gave me the knowledge and the credentials, and my experience with BP gave me on-the-ground experience.”
His career path took him from offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico to varied engineering roles in major oil and gas operations. He also spent a brief period in investment banking with Macquarie Capital before pivoting toward entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial path culminated in 2017, when Adam and his family founded Phoenix Energy. Today, the company has more than 160 employees and a growing footprint in Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana. They were recently named to the Financial Times 2025 list of the “The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies.”
Phoenix Energy is unique in the oil and gas industry for its capital structure, which includes retail investors instead of an exclusive focus on private equity or public markets.
“A primary mission of Phoenix was to bring a more equitable opportunity to the financial world,” Ferrari said. “Instead of being restricted based on your income or your class, we wanted to create something so that anyone who believed in the story of American energy independence could potentially be an investor.”
Phoenix’s origin is also personal to Ferrari family, specifically Adam’s parents, both of whom come from blue-collar backgrounds.
“My mom worked at Exelon for 40 years, my dad was a police officer and welder,” he said. “They didn’t have a ton of money, but they watched my journey, and they believed in it and wanted to invest in it. They went all in – their retirement funds, including my mom’s 401K, and their house went into initial funding for the company.”
The company name itself carries symbolic meaning for the family. After a severe vaccine injury left Ferrari’s father a quadriplegic, the idea of renewal and resilience held special significance.
“The Phoenix is a symbol of a rebirth, or re-purpose,” Ferrari said. “For me, I take the meaning as no matter what your condition is in life, you can still do great things.”
Phoenix has drilling operations primarily in North Dakota, with a growing footprint in Montana. Other parts of the portfolio, such as mineral rights and non-operating working interests, extend into Wyoming and Utah. The company focuses on high-efficiency drilling and long-lateral horizontal wells. A recent project in Williams County, North Dakota – known as the Nystuen pad – included the longest horizontal well ever drilled in the state based on available data, Ferrari said.
“We do everything,” Ferrari said. “We buy mineral rights. We lease them from mineral owners. We participate in other people's drilling. And we also drill our own wells. We're striving to be a well-rounded energy producer – all domestic, all onshore.”
According to Ferrari, the company’s integrated approach allows it to operate efficiently and make decisions quickly.
“What separates a company like Phoenix from a major oil company is that we don’t have much red tape,” he said. “When it comes to making quick decisions, we use data to solve problems quickly with our team. That speed can give us an edge over the larger players.”
Phoenix invests in infrastructure to minimize their footprint, including on-site water reinjection wells that significantly reduces truck traffic and fuel use, and combined surface units. Where possible, the company also consolidates operations by developing multiple drilling units from a single surface location to reduce land disruption.
“Our goal is to make the smallest environmental impact we can while maintaining operational efficiency,” Ferrari said.
Looking Ahead
Phoenix continues to grow. The company has experienced significant revenue growth in each of the last three years. Ferrari’s long-term goal is to make Phoenix into a leading U.S. oil and gas company, which he admits is “shooting for the moon,” and believes they can be one of the top five producers in North Dakota in the next decade.
“I love what I do,” Ferrari said. “This is personal for me. This is never just about dollars and cents. It's about legacy. It's about my father. All the work that my parents had to do in life to give me the opportunity to be sitting here today. So we're going to keep growing.”
Despite the demands of leading a large enterprise, Ferrari says he values the independence and responsibility that come with entrepreneurship.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” he says. “But if we fail, I want to know that it was because of me and nobody else. I can live with that. What I could never accept is failure based on something I didn’t want to do, that was forced on me.”
As he shared his story, Ferrari returned often to the role Illinois played in preparing him for his career, saying “were it not for the foundation at U. of I., I wouldn’t be sitting here.” When asked what advice he’d offer current students, Ferrari doesn’t hesitate.
“Set ambitious goals and don't look back,” he said. “Pursue them with everything you have. You have the skills to do it. Not everyone can get through engineering school at the University of Illinois – it's very difficult and everyone has different gifts. If you've been given these gifts, use them and do something good for the world.”