Speakers

Nicole Baird has been Asset Manager for Equinor’s operations in Appalachian Basin since August 2018 and has previously served as Equinor’s Manager for its partner-operated portfolio in the region since October 2017. Prior to joining the company, Nicole served in multiple capacities for Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil. Her time in the energy industry spans technical, operational and strategic leadership roles across the USA, Africa and Europe. She holds a Chemical Engineering degree from University of Southern California, and a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Finance from Tulane University.

Timothy C. Dugan is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of CNX Resources Corporation. Mr. Dugan held the same position at CONSOL Energy Inc. prior to its separation into two separate companies. Before being appointed to his current position, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of CNX Gas Corporation from May 2014 to December 2014 when he became President and Chief Executive Officer. In January 2018, Mr. Dugan was appointed Director and Chief Operating Officer of the general partner of CNX Midstream Partners LP (formerly known as CONE Midstream Partners, LP). Prior to joining CNX, Mr. Dugan was Vice President – Appalachia South Business Unit at Chesapeake Energy Corporation. During his seven years with Chesapeake Energy, he held several titles, including Senior Asset Manager and District Manager. Mr. Dugan began his petroleum and natural gas engineering career in 1984 with Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation as a General Foreman and Field Consultant, and he held other industry related positions with progressing responsibility at various oil and gas companies. Mr. Dugan is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Jeff Fisher has been Chief Executive Officer since December 2014 and has served as Ascent’s Chairman of the Board since February 2015. Before joining Ascent, he served as COO for American Energy Partners and was instrumental in building multiple basin-focused companies including Ascent. Mr. Fisher worked at Chesapeake Energy Corporation from 2003 to 2013, most recently serving as Executive Vice President of Production, where he was responsible for upstream operations and integrated field developments. Prior to Chesapeake, he worked in various engineering and operational leadership roles at BP PLC, Vastar Resources and ARCO Oil and Gas, Inc. Mr. Fisher earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

Greg Haas serves as Director of Integrated Energy for Stratas Advisors. Haas leverages 20 years of integrated global energy experience garnered in operating and fundamental research roles at Exxon, at EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute) and pipeline and power consultancies, and at institutional sell-side investment brokerage firms including Raymond James Financial. Haas holds an MBA from Rice University and mechanical Engineering Masters and Bachelors of Science degrees from the University of Illinois.

Born and raised in West Virginia, Mr. Hutson, Jr. is the fourth generation in his family to immerse himself in the oil and gas industry, with family roots dating back to the early 1900s. Rusty spent many summers of his youth working with his father and grandfather in the oil fields of West Virginia. He graduated from Fairmont State College (WV) with a degree in accounting and earned his CPA License (Ohio). After college, Rusty spent 13 years steadily progressing into multiple leadership roles at well-known banking institutions such as Bank One and Compass Bank. His final years in the banking industry were spent as CFO of Compass Financial Services.Building upon his experiences in the Oil & Gas Industry as well as the financial sector, Rusty established Diversified Gas & Oil in 2001. After years of refining his strategy, Rusty and his team quietly took DGO public in 2017. He continues to lead his team and expand the company’s footprint throughout the Appalachian Basin. With a rapidly growing portfolio, Rusty remains focused on operational excellence and creating shareholder value.

Jerry is from Zanesville, Ohio, and currently resides in Marietta, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Marietta College in 1980 where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Jerry has served as President of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) and previously served as chairman of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP). He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Jerry is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers as well as the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers. Jerry has served as President of Artex Oil Company since 1995. Prior to assuming his current role, he held positions with various major oil companies in Texas, Louisiana, and Wyoming. Jerry is also a founder and an active volunteer of Shale Crescent USA.

Senior Vice President and Specialty Polymer Marietta, Ohio Site Manager for Solvay. Wally worked for Chevron / Chevron Phillips for 20 years before joining Solvay in 2007. He is a co-founder and volunteer Director for Shale Crescent USA, an organization dedicated to Branding and Marketing the Ohio Valley region also known as the Shale Crescent USA for economic development. Wally is a petroleum engineer by degree and has worked in the industry for over 30 years with experience working on 4 continents.

Des is the Area Technology Manager for Halliburton in the Northeast Area and leads the Technical Team in providing multi-PSL solutions to technical challenges in unconventional reservoirs. He has been with Halliburton for 22 years, with a background in Wireline, and Perforating and Formation Evaluation. Prior to his tenure with the Technical Team, he has filled various operational leadership and technical roles within Halliburton.

He joined Halliburton in 1996 as a Wireline Maintenance Engineer, and then progressed to Field Engineer where he was posted to Indonesia. Various field postings included New Mexico, Utah and Colorado followed by a period as Wireline and Perforating Country Manager for Australasia. Des transferred to the Northeast area in 2011.

He is a holder of an Associate’s Degree in Electronic Engineering from Wodonga College of TAFE, and a Certificate in Maintenance Engineering from the Australian Army.

Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Mr. Petrie was Vice Chairman of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Previously, he was a co-founder of Petrie Parkman & Co. Mr. Petrie was a former Managing Director and Senior Oil Analyst of The First Boston Corporation. During his career, Mr. Petrie has been an active advisor on more than $250 billion of energy related mergers and acquisitions, including many of the largest in the industry. Among his other assignments, Mr. Petrie led the teams that advised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on its natural gas initiative, the State of Alaska on gas pipeline options, and the U.S. Department of Energy on the sale of the Elk Hills oilfield. Mr. Petrie has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and received his Master of Science in Business Administration from Boston University. In December 2005, Mr. Petrie received an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines. He is also a member of the CFA Institute.

Charlie Schliebs is a co-founder and Managing Director of Stone Pier Capital Advisors, a Pittsburgh-based boutique M&A advisory firm and investment bank serving upstream, midstream and downstream energy-related companies in the Appalachian Basin. Charlie has advised on deals in oilfield services, unconventional and conventional oil and gas, petrochemical, LNG, midstream gathering and pipelines, compression, processing and fractionation, renewable methane, energy construction, nuclear services, waste coal, wind and solar. Charlie is annually the Chairman and Emcee of the Northeast Petrochemical Conference, is annually named to "Who’s Who in Energy" by American City Business Journals and is a national Judge for the Oil & Gas Awards. He is a regular speaker, moderator, panelist or conference leader with respect to energy topics and a judge for energy technology competitions. Following his serving as a member of the 2014-2015 Transition Team for then newly-elected Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Charlie became recognized as a leading critic of Governor Wolf’s annual proposals to make Pennsylvania the only state in the nation to double tax unconventional natural gas with both an impact tax and a severance tax. His energy-related editorials and articles have been published in Marcellus Drilling News and Natural Gas Now as well as his own firm’s energy newsletter. As a founding Board member and officer of the non-profit Pittsburgh Energy Innovation Center Institute, Charlie has spearheaded a number of energy-related initiatives, including workforce development training involving some of the largest exploration and production companies in the Marcellus/Utica region, and also with respect to preparing minorities and women for energy construction jobs at projects such as the new Shell Polymers Petrochemical Complex in Beaver County, PA. Through a second non-profit that Charlie co-founded, the Huddle Up for Kids Foundation, Charlie works with leading energy or energy-related companies such as Chevron Appalachia, Shell Polymers and MSA Safety, and retired pro football players, to raise money for children’s and veterans’ charities in the Appalachian Basin. Charlie is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BS from the Wharton School and BA in Russian and Slavic Studies), and a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Donald R. Raikes is senior vice president–Gas Transmission Operations, Gas Infrastructure Group. He oversees operations of the company’s portfolio of natural gas terminaling, processing, storage, transportation and related assets. Since joining the company in 1985, he has held various positions in the interstate gas pipeline business unit. Raikes was part of the commercial team that implemented the wholesale restructuring and also led the commercial team that reactivated the Cove Point LNG terminal. He was also responsible for the commercial transactions relating to the Cove Point Export project, as well as the ACP project. He previously was vice president-Transmission Marketing & Business Development and was named vice president–Pipeline Customer Service & Business Development in November 2014. In August 2017 he was appointed senior vice president-Dominion Midstream Operations and assumed his current role in February 2019. Raikes serves on the board of Homeward Virginia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fairmont State University.

Ms. Simpson joined Chief Oil & Gas in 2016 as Senior Vice President, Engineering & Operations. Prior to Chief, Ms. Simpson held the position of Vice President of Engineering with EXCO Resources. Throughout her career in the oil and natural gas industry, she has held positions in engineering, operations, reserves reporting, acquisitions and divestitures with Gulf Oil, Chevron, Mobil Oil, J-W Operating Company and EXCO Resources. She is a graduate of Penn State University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer.

Ray Walker was elected Chief Operating Officer for Encino Acquisition Partners in September 2018. He also serves as a director of Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, elected to that directorship in August 2018. He retired from Range Resources Cor. in April 2018 after serving as Executive Vice President and COO. He joined Range in 2006, and led the origination and development of the company's Marcellus Shale divisions. He has more than 40 years of oil and gas operations and management experience, having previously been employed by Halliburton in various technical and management roles, Union Pacific Resources and several private companies in which he served as an owner and officer. He earned a BS in Agricultural Engineering with honors from Texas A&M University in 1979. Most notably, he opened the PA office focused on the Marcellus in January of 2007 and was the sole employee at that time with less than 1.0 MMcfed of production. Under his leadership, Range’s Marcellus Division grew to over 400 employees and produced approximately 2 Bcfed net to sales. Range is now consistently a top 10 gas producer. As COO, he was instrumental in several breakthroughs for the industry such as recycling of produced water, zero vapor protocol and the first public disclosure of frack fluid additives. He has testified in front of numerous committees for both the PA state legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives, and met with leadership of the European Union, numerous European utilities and companies, Asian company executives and various international companies in developing international markets for Range. Ray has presented at numerous industry events, investor conferences and public events throughout his career.

Rich is a founding partner of PennEnergy Resources, LLC and currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PennEnergy Resources, LLC, a private equity backed independent oil & gas operator focused on the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Weber was President of Atlas Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATLS), from 2006 until Atlas’s sale to Chevron Corporation in 2011. Atlas operated more than 10,000 oil & gas wells in four different basins, including the Appalachian Basin, where Atlas was a pioneer in the development of the prolific Marcellus Shale. In addition, Atlas owned and controlled the general partner of Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: APL), a mid-stream MLP having pipeline and natural gas processing assets in the Appalachian Basin and Mid-Continent region. He oversaw all operations of the company as well as the IPO of Atlas Energy Resources, LLC in 2006, the $1.2 billion acquisition of DTE Energy’s Antrim Shale assets in 2007, the formation of Laurel Mountain Mid-Stream Partners, L.P., a 50/50 mid-stream joint venture in the Marcellus Shale with The Williams Company, a $1.7 billion joint venture in the Marcellus Shale with Reliance Industries, Ltd, and the $4.4 billion merger of Atlas Energy into Chevron in 2011. During his tenure at Atlas, the company accumulated nearly 300,000 acres, drilled over 300 wells and built one of the premier operating teams in the Marcellus Shale. In 2008, Mr. Weber co-founded the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which continues today as the leading trade organization serving producers and service companies involved in the Marcellus Shale industry.

Mr. Weber graduated in 1985 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a B.S. in Finance. Between 2006 and 2013, he served on Miami’s Board of Advisors. In 1989, he graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana with a M.B.A. where he was also a Freeman Scholar.