 While Key Energy traces its roots to New Hope, Pennsylvania, operating under the name The Yankee Companies, the company's current name is a legacy of Yale E. Key, a West Texas oilman from Midland, Texas, who started his oilwell service business in the 1940s.After his death in the 1980s, his company, Yale E. Key, Inc., was sold to the Yankee Companies.As a result of the continued acquisition of oilwell service companies, the Yankee Companies changed its name to Key Energy in the 1990s.