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LEADERSHIP

Experience & Knowledge

The Oleum leadership team of Management and Advisors is experienced and committed to bringing success to the bottom line. The individual members have extensive technical knowledge in all aspects of optimal economic field development, and experience with industry-focused technologies including field optimization techniques, hydraulic fracturing, and superior operations management.

Kerry Smith

President & CEO, BOM

Mr. Smith has served in executive positions and directorships for several domestic and international oil and gas companies in his career. He has experience…

… in all areas of oil and gas production, from the wellhead to P&L responsibility, and project management experience that includes strategic planning, operations enhancement, evaluation of oil and gas reserves, and integrated interpretation studies that include 3D seismic to develop cost effective drilling programs. He has experience in all areas of exploration well preparation, production enhancement, well stimulation and design, and drilling and production operations. His responsibilities will include vetting all recommendations from the Oleum team.

Mark Leonard

Chairman of the BOM, Strategic Advisor

Mr. Leonard more than 40 years of progressively more responsible experience in the oil and gas industry,… 

from seismic acquisition and processing to generating, screening, and evaluating drillable prospects. He has a record of successes leading multidisciplinary teams and developing and running EP businesses worldwide with Royal Dutch Shell. Accomplishments at Shell include Director of New Business Development – Russia and CIS, Director – Shell Deepwater Services, Chairman of the Board – Eventure Inc, Director/ Chairman – Shell Technology Ventures Inc. Mark has extensive board experience, including University of Texas Geology Advisory Board 1999-2003 and Indiana University Geology Advisory board 2000-2011. He currently serves on the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences Executive Dean’s Advisory Board (2011 – present) and recently retired from the Greater Houston YMCA Board (2013- 2022) and the Board of TGS (2009-2023), a global multi client seismic service company publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Patrick Morris

BOM, Senior Vice President & Legal Counsel

While serving most recently as President of All American Oil and Gas, Mr. Morris worked with Private Equity firms including…

…GE Capital, Alliance Bernstein, and Goldman Sachs, among others, and managed a $400M portfolio while restructuring refinancing and stock repurchasing programs. As the Managing Member and Chief Operating Officer of Hagin Capital, LLC from 2006 to 2015, he managed a $250M portfolio and led compliance and risk management. He has nearly 25 years of expertise in emerging markets, corporate governance, compliance, fraud detection, and corporate restructuring within the financial, energy, environmental services, and media industries. He co- founded and secured multimillion- dollar funding for several growth companies in addition to transforming multiple companies through reorganization to create financing /refinancing solutions. Mr. Morris is an attorney (New York) and a graduate of Syracuse University (B.A.) and Emerson College (M.A.).

Tom Skirvin

Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Skirvin has more than 33 years of experience as a geoscientist in the petroleum exploration and production industry…

He began his career with Shell Offshore, Incorporated as an exploration and development geologist where he had success as the lead interpreter and evaluator on several Deepwater GOM oil and gas discoveries. After Shell, he became Chief Geologist at Benton Oil and Gas Company, gaining experience in rank exploration and development projects on several continents. Mr. Skirvin was the primary development & operations geoscientist at Benton, responsible for planning 3D-seismic based horizontal development programs, overseeing geologic operations for the drilling of more than 125 horizontal wells in the heavy oil fields in eastern Venezuela, and lead geoscientist on a team responsible for evaluating resource potential of the Samburg and Yevo-Yakha blocks in western Siberia (East Urengoy Gas Project). As a founding partner of Rincon Energy in 2001, he expanded his experience in directing all aspects of exploration, development, and production projects world-wide, with approximately equal experience in rank exploration and field development. Field development experience included leading teams of geoscientists and engineers to produce successful long-term depletion programs in undeveloped and mature fields.

Chad Touchet

Vice President, Manager of Operations

Mr. Touchet brings to Oleum over 30 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas sector…

He previously served as the VP of Operations for Bluescape Energy Partners, where he managed over two billion dollars in assets across drilling, completions, and midstream operations. Additionally, Mr. Touchet currently sits on the board of directors for Aleanna Energy. Prior to his role at Bluescape, he served as a worldwide completions advisor for Occidental Petroleum and an engineering manager for Baker Hughes. Throughout his career, Mr. Touchet has been involved in over 6,000 completions across nearly every major resource play worldwide, making him a highly experienced and respected figure in the industry.

Clint Melnechenko

Drilling Superintendent

Mr. Melnechenko founded and currently manages the Global Operations and international expansion of New Horizons Global Inc. (New Horizons Global Tech LLC – US Division)…

For more than 34 years Mr. Melnechenko has gained extensive experience working and leading teams in all aspects of international drilling, directional drilling, operations and management, in various roles including Oil and Gas Executive Management, Operations and Business Development. He has directly supervised and successfully managed drilling projects and oil and gas assets all over the world. Clint has held various positions of senior technical and executive management, including Executive VP of Sales and Marketing for Revolution Directional and Business Development and Operations Manager for Precision Drilling Services, a major oil and gas rig and service company.  Prior to those positions, he acted as Executive VP of Operations with a public E&P oil and gas company that focused on heavy oil operations and production, and served as Chief Operating Officer and Owner of Exile Drilling and Standard Directional Services where he built the successful private oil services drilling company that sold to a South American drilling service company. Clint has served on numerous boards and is an active oil and gas professional and consultant. Clint graduated from the University of Regina in 1992.

Virginia Sue Smith

Vice President, Treasurer

Ms. Smith has been in practice for 36 years in accounting, specializing in tax and business management consulting, and she has an extensive…

… background in business management and process consulting, as well as financial consulting. She has owned her own firm in West Texas and Dallas since 1991. While in college, she started her firm and by 1979 was one of the few software accounting consultants in Texas. She has worked closely with the Internal Revenue Service throughout her career, and is an enrolled agent with the Internal Revenue Service, preparing tax returns and becoming proficient in tax problem resolution. She is also proficient in financials, financial reviews and analysis, having math and programming in her background as well as accounting. She is a member of the National Society of Tax Professionals, the Texas Association of Financial & Tax Specialists, the National Society of Accountants, and the National Association of Enrolled Agents and is both Accredited Tax Advisor and an Accredited Tax Professional through the Accreditation Council of Accountancy & Taxation, Inc..

Dr. James M. Funk, PhD

Technical & Strategic Advisor to the BOM

Dr. Funk has over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. He spent 23 years with Shell, in roles as District Exploration Manager…

… Division Exploration Manager, GM Exploration, VP Shell Offshore Shelf and President Shell Continental Companies.  He subsequently served as Sr VP of Equitable Resources (now EQT) and President of Equitable Production Co.  Jim is currently President of J.M. Funk & Associates, Inc. an E&P focused consulting and advisory business; he is also President of Star Ridge Resources, LLC and Star Ridge Energy, LLC, which invest in select oil and gas projects and royalties. He currently serves as a Director of Range Resources Corp. and previously served as a Director of Superior Energy Services, Inc., Sonde Resources Corp., Matador Resources Company and Westport Resources. Jim received a B.A. in Geology from Wittenberg University, a M.S. in Geology from the University of Connecticut, and a PhD in Geology from the University of Kansas. He is a Certified Petroleum Geologist and has been recognized as a Heritage Petroleum Geologist by AAPG.

Joe Colonnetta

Finance & Strategic Advisor to the BOM

Mr. Colonnetta is a Dallas based investor with 30 years of Private Equity industry experience. From 1985 to 1996…

…he served in a variety of banking and corporate finance roles. From 1997 to 2011, Mr. Colonnetta worked for Hicks Muse Tate & Furst (Hicks Muse), a nationally prominent private equity firm in the United States. He served as a Partner of Hicks Muse beginning in 2003 where he led the energy investment effort. Since 2011, he has been the Founding and General Partner of HBC Investments, which focuses on private equity investments. In 2013 Mr. Colonnetta was appointed to serve on the Teachers’ Retirement System of Texas (Texas Teachers’ Board), where he serve s as the Chairman of the prominent Investment Committee. Mr. Colonnetta is a 1985 graduate of the University of Houston and resides in Dallas.

Don Pence

BOM, Technical Advisor

Mr. Pence has more than 41 years of experience in all facets of drilling and operations management and supervision throughout North America…

…with a succession of companies including Anadarko, Kerr McGee Oil & Gas, Oryx Energy, and Sun Oil Company. For the past 29 years Mr. Pence managed and directed large asset operations in several locations worldwide, including: Operations Manager responsible for all field operations in Louisiana and Texas with 300+ personnel, SCADA Operations Manager responsible for Field SCADA and Measurement, Water Management director responsible for all water services including produced water as well as supply water services for all FRAC Services, Drilling Foreman Manager in West Texas and Southern New Mexico responsible for implementation of drilling procedures and well completion and workovers, and Manager of Enhanced Oil Recovery projects for several locations in Texas and Oklahoma. Previous positions include Executive Staff associate reporting to VP of operations and responsible for drilling permits, the P&A program for Oryx, and tracking and analysis of field LOE costs.

Joe Frantz

Technical & Strategic Advisor to the Board

Mr. Frantz has more than 35 years of industry experience working for operators such as Getty Oil, Texaco, Unbridled Energy and Range Resources…

… and high technology consulting firms including S.A. Holditch & Associates and Schlumberger DCS. He has been involved with hydraulic fracturing and reservoir engineering for most of his career and with horizontal shale well completions during the last 18 years. Joe has studied the Barnett Shale and brings relevant experience to Oleum. He is currently on several SPE committees to advance technology through conferences and workshops; thus, he is familiar with state-of-the-art technologies in the areas of drilling, completions, water management, production, facilities, and reservoir engineering. Most recently as VP of Engineering and Technology at Range Resources, he worked on assets in the Marcellus, Utica, Mississippian Lime, Spranberry, Wolfcamp, and Cotton Valley. Joe has been an SPE Distinguished Lecturer on technology evolutions in horizontal shale reservoirs and he recently completed a term on the SPE Board of Directors.

Mike Weill

BOM, Technical Advisor to the BOM

Mr. Weill has more than 40 years experience in various managerial and technical positions in North America and worldwide…

He spent 16 years with Shell in assignments in New Orleans, Houston, and The Hague, and more than 11 years in a variety of roles with BHPBilliton Petroleum. Mr. Weill’s career spans many roles and disciplines, including President of Operations and Development, E&P New Business Strategy Manager, EP Economics, and Production Engineering and Reservoir Engineering. Mike has lead companies and teams with significant responsibility, expertise and leadership for Operations, Production, Economics, Advanced Technologies, and New Ventures. As an industry leader, Mike has served on the Board of the Domestic Petroleum Council, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors of Enerflex Ltd, a full cycle energy solutions company. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.

Dave Witter

Technical Advisor to the BOM

Mr. Witter has more than 37 years of experience in oil and gas exploration and development and is recently retired from Cimarex Energy…

… where he was Chief Geologist for 12 years of his 19-year tenure. Dave was part of the exploration management team focusing on horizontal drilling of unconventional reservoirs in the lower 48 with emphasis on the Permian and Mid-Continent areas of the U.S. Additional responsibilities while at Cimarex included deal screening and acquisition analysis, investor presentations, and professional development of all geoscience staff. Prior to Cimarex, Dave held various technical and leadership positions at Shell Western Exploration and Production Inc., Benz Energy, Andex Resources, and Transco Energy Company. Dave is currently President of Gretna Resources LLC, an Exploration and Production consulting firm. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Geosciences (Geology and Geochemistry) from The Pennsylvania State University, and a master’s degree in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines.