Management and Administrative Team
Our people: Our strength
At Black Elk Energy we believe in our talented group of highly-experienced professionals. People, and community, are the core of our business value. Our seasoned team possesses proven track records of achievement and is able to offer innovative solutions. The Black Elk Energy work environment is highly-collaborative and people-oriented which drives superior business performance. Every employee is respected for their unique ability, experience, skills, and competencies as individuals and professionals. Biographies of our growing team follow:
|
|
Lolita Howell - Logisitics Procurement ManagerLolita Howell serves as the Logistics Procurement Manager for Black Elk Energy. Mrs. Howell has over twenty-two years experience. She worked with British Petroleum, specifically as the Logistics Coordinator within their drilling department. Mrs. Howell also worked as a Production Operator and Logistics Coordinator in their Gulf of Mexico division. Her expertise extends into the realm of accounts payables, field/rig coordination, and general personnel management. |
|
|
Richard Brantley - Operations ManagerRichard Brantley serves as Operations Manager for Black Elk Energy. Mr. Brantley has over 25 years experience in the operation and maintenance of offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to joining Black Elk Energy Mr. Brantley served as Operations Superintendent for BP America’s Gulf of Mexico Decommissioning project which focused on the removal of offshore platforms severely damaged by hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005. Prior to this assignment Mr. Brantley held positions with BP America as a Production and Maintenance Supervisor. Mr. Brantley began his career with Arco Oil & Gas in 1985 and gained knowledge of all phases of operations while assigned to various locations with BP America, Arco Oil & Gas, and Vastar Resources in the Gulf of Mexico. |
|
|
Kari Schoeffler - Director of Special ProjectsKari Schoeffler serves as the Director of Special Projects for Black Elk Energy. Ms. Schoeffler has oil and gas experience which extends outside the realm of the oil and gas operator, to investment, and into the legal field which enchances her ability to perform at optimum level for Black Elk. Ms. Schoeffler is responsible for management of special projects including organizational development, team leadership, business outreach, community outreach, volunteer coordination, marketing, archiving, community events, and education programs. In addition, Ms. Schoeffler works with Black Elk's outside marketing team to supply information to the public via preparation of press releases and the like. Lastly, Ms. Schoeffler coordinates the charity donations made on behalf of Black Elk to organizations such as the Louisiana Association of Community Action Partnerships. Ms. Schoeffler previously worked as a Regulatory Compliance Officer for Black Elk. Prior thereto, Ms. Schoeffler served as Paralegal, specializing in Louisiana law, working on cases which involved oil and gas-related matters including, but not limited to, compliance, litigation, and mediation. Ms. Schoeffler's former experience included Office Management and Personnel Coordination for several companies working to synchronize office agendas, implement personnel documentation, maintain the accounts payable and receivables department, oversee the payroll management and grievance control departments, prepare operations manuals, supervise staff, and other general office management duties. |
|
|
Julie Grossman - Regulatory and Compliance ManagerJulie Grossman joins Black Elk Energy as the Regulatory and Compliance Manager. Ms Grossman began her career with Oil and Gas Regulatory Affairs in 1981 with the Texas Railroad Commission. Over a four-year period she became familiar with the terminology and documentation required by the State of Texas, and picked up a basic grounding in the technology of Oil and Gas production and transmission. In 2004, Ms Grossman obtained a position with a regulatory consulting firm, where over the next six years she served in various positions of increasing responsibility, advancing to the position of Regulatory Manager. Ms Grossman is familiar with all phases of Drilling and Production regulations and reporting, including strong practical experience dealing with the problems facing our Gulf Coast facilities from storms and Hurricanes. In addition to the necessary familiarity with the documentation required by our Industry, Ms Grossman has developed contacts and the ability to coordinate with personnel from MMS, the Coast Guard, the Rigs to Reefs staff and Engineers of various disciplines to facilitate accurate and complete compliance to applicable regulations. |
Jim A. Slater - Senior Production EngineerJim A. Slater joins Black Elk as Senior Production Engineer. Mr. Slater is a registered Professional Petroleum Engineer with over 30 years of experience in reservoir and production engineering. Prior to his engagement with Black Elk, Mr. Slater worked for Fairways Offshore Exploration, Inc. as Production Manager and was later named Vice President of Production Operations in August 2009, where he was responsible for all non-drilling operations. Prior to joining Fairways, he served as Production Manager at Beryl Oil and Gas, LP and as Senior Production Engineer of the Offshore Region for Apache Corporation. Earlier, Mr. Slater was a Senior Reservoir Engineer for Cockrell Oil Corporation and Amerada-Hess Corporation. For several years, Mr. Slater worked in both Houston, Texas and Anchorage, Alaska, for Arco Oil & Gas and Arco Alaska, Inc. Mr. Slater earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University. We welcome Mr. Slater to the Black Elk team. |
|
|
|
Mark Rutherford - Geoscience ManagerMr. Rutherford graduated in 1983 from the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a BS in Geology followed by a MS in Geology in 1988. He began his career in 1982 with Coalinga Corp. where he worked as a field hand and an exploitation geologist. At Coalinga Mr. Rutherford was involved in the drilling of over 70 wells, ranging from the shallow Austin Chalk to the Lower Tuscaloosa. There he developed a strong appreciation for the interactions of an oil company, from field activities to various engineering aspects. In 1990 Mr. Rutherford joined Unocal Corp. as an exploration geologist prospecting on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf. Here, he gained an insightful understanding of seismic, both 2D and 3D along with pore pressure systems. Yearning to drill more wells, in 1995 Mr. Rutherford joined Flores & Rucks, Inc./Ocean Energy, Inc. There, Mr. Rutherford established a 90% success rate drilling 22 commercial wells in 5 different fields. In 2000, Mr. Rutherford formed Lucas Resources and provided prospect generation consulting work for multiple companies, leading to the drilling of a number of successful wells. During this period he was fortune enough to work side by side with Mr. Joe Klutts. This proved to be advantageous as Mr. Klutts shared his wealth of exploration experience. In 2005 Mr. Rutherford joined Coldren Oil &Gas LP, later to be renamed Beryl Oil & Gas LP. At Beryl, he was a Limited Partner and utilized high end seismic to prospect generate/evaluate a number of opportunities, leading to the drilling of 13 for 16 high rate commercial wells. In 2010 Mr. Rutherford joined Black Elk Energy as their Geoscience Manager. Mr. Rutherford shares Black Elk's optimistic view and looks forward to monetizing scores of Gulf of Mexico Shelf properties. |
|
|
Huey Cognevich Jr. - Operations SupervisorHuey Cogenvich, Jr. began working for Getty Oil Company in 1978 and gained knowledge of the operation and construction of various equipment utilized in the production, injection, gathering, separation, storage, measurement and disposition of produced oil, gas and produced brine. In 1983, Texaco bought Getty and Mr. Cogenvich worked in various capacities, including operator, gang pusher and administrative assistant and later as an Engineer's Assistant. There Mr. Cogenvich created and maintained spreadsheets to measure various goals and measures, assisted in the development of the yearly Tactical Plan, and assisted with production and expense issues. In 1998, Mr. Cogenvich was made Field Foreman where he supervised installations, monitoring, repair and maintenance of 125 inactive wells, twenty-five active wells, five compressor stations, a CO2 membrane unit, and various production equipment and gathering systems. Mr. Cogenvich also managed controllable expense, capital expense and reserve for depreciation budgets, supervised well wireline work, e-line work, logging and coiled tubing and was also a member of North America Spill Response Team. In 2000, Chevron and Texaco merged where Mr. Cogenvich served as Workover Representative. His duties were to represent ChevronTexaco and supervise third parties while performing cased hole well operations including wireline, electric line, coiled tubing, acidizing, well killing, & plug and abandon. |
Kirk Trascher - Manager, Engineering & ConstructionKirk Trascher joins Black Elk Energy as our Manager of Engineering and Construction. Mr. Trascher received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2003, Mr. Trascher has worked for Devon Energy Corporation as a Construction Engineering Advisor providing Project Management for various Shelf properties in the Gulf of Mexico. While at Devon Energy, Mr. Trascher managed capital projects in excess of $100+MM on prospect developments encompassing Engineering, Procurement, Fabrication, Inspection, Regulatory, Land, and Contracting. He also served as Hurricane Rita Recovery Facilities Project Manager with the responsibility of Facility evaluations of Devon’s toppled platforms and associated remediation efforts; those efforts included Field Production optimization studies utilizing existing facilities/structures as well as managing the EPIC efforts of setting newly fabricated production structures and associated rerouting and installation of newly laid pipeline systems. Prior to his direct employment with Devon, Mr. Trascher served as Project Manager for Technip Offshore tasked with Construction Project Management of various clients offshore Gulf of Mexico Capital developments. He also provided guidance on Field optimization and debottleneck studies as well as maintaining Devon’s Fleet Management System. In 2000, Mr. Trascher worked with Lowe Offshore, Inc. as Project Engineer/Manager for several clients inclusive of Samedan’s Mediterranean Sea - Mari-B Development, (onshore Israel) where he was responsible for bidding, evaluation and recommendation of several onshore skid packages. Additionally at LOI he consulted as Project Engineer for Pogo Producing Company on High Island 451-A and Eugene Island 295-B where he assisted in managing platform removals and associated pipeline abandonments along with detailed cost estimates and feasibility comparisons prior to salvage. He also consulted for Newfield Exploration where he worked on many facilities located in both State and Federal waters, most notably the High Island area. Prior to LOI, Mr. Trascher worked as a Project Engineer for Petroleum Professionals International, Inc. where he helped managed EPIC efforts for several systems, including Brass Exploration’s OPL 230 Field Development Project. Within that development he interfaced with many companies domestically and traveled abroad (London/Paris) as well as working directly overseas onshore and offshore Nigeria. In 1995, Mr. Trascher served as Facilities Engineer for Paragon Engineering Services, Inc. performing consulting engineering for various companies including Ker-McGee Corporation, Chevron, Amerada Hess Corporation, Saudi Aramco, Enron (Madison Deep Gas and Tapti) and several others notable clients. Mr. Trascher began his oil and gas career as a Field Engineer with Dowell-Schlumberger whereby he was responsible for the design, execution, and evaluation of well stimulation and pumping services including Fracturing, Acidizing, and Cementing. Black Elk proudly welcomes Mr. Trascher to our team. |
|
Carolyne Chung-Acquisitions and Joint Venture AuditorCarolyne Chung serves as the Acquisitions and Joint Venture Auditor at Black Elk Energy. Having previously worked for Ernst & Young, LLP for four years, Ms. Chung brings a background in public accounting and internal audit. Ms. Chung’s responsibilities include coordinating and performing post-close statement audits on acquisitions and joint interest audits on fields operated by others. Ms. Chung also manages the Company’s financial statement audit and the documentation and the implementation of processes and controls. Ms. Chung reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer on the status of all ongoing audits and other special projects. |
|
Linda Sellers – Land ManagerLinda Sellers serves as Land Manager for Black Elk Energy. Mrs. Sellers is a Registered Land Professional and is a current and active member of the AAPL and HAPL. Mrs. Sellers is a seasoned veteran in Land and Land Management with over 38 years of industry experience. While attending the University of Houston, Mrs. Sellers began her Land career with Mitchell Energy and progressed to various Land Management positions with TransOcean Oil, Texas International Petroleum (TIPCO), Felmont Oil and Apache. Prior to joining Black Elk Energy, Mrs. Sellers spent the last 15 years as a Independent Landman, serving as Project Manager on numerous multi-million dollar divestitures and acquisitions. |
|
Keith Hubbard – Well Operations EngineerKeith Hubbard joins the Black Elk family as Well Operations Engineer with over 30 years of oilfield experience. Prior to joining the Black Elk team, Mr. Hubbard worked for West Star Operating Company as an Operations Manager. Mr. Hubbard was responsible for all drilling, completion and production operations. Mr. Hubbard’s experience includes operations in the United States, both land and offshore, and internationally in South America and Africa. Before working with West Star, Mr. Hubbard had 27 dedicated years with Halliburton Energy Services, with his latest assignment as the Gulf of Mexico Business Development Manager from 2003-2007. Mr. Hubbard was responsible for managing three Business Development offices - Houston, TX and Lafayette and New Orleans, LA. Mr. Hubbard’s duties included business sales strategy, financial planning, and personnel development. From 1999–2003, Mr. Hubbard was Halliburton’s Gulf of Mexico Operation’s Manager for the Logging and Perforating Product Service Line, both land and offshore. Mr. Hubbard’s duties included well analysis, quality control, personnel and equipment mobilization, customer negotiations, and personnel development. Previous to this assignment, Mr. Hubbard was an Integrated Solutions Service Coordinator in Halliburton’s project management group from 1996-1998. There, Mr. Hubbard’s responsibilities included coordinating all land and offshore drilling and completion services for major and independent oil and gas producers. This included pre-job planning, AFE generation, mob & demob, quality control, failure analysis, and financial report generation. Mr. Hubbard had two international operations assignments for Halliburton: Venezuela (1990-1993) and Tunisia (1993-1996). Mr. Hubbard has also held other various positions within Halliburton in the United States; such as Logging Engineer, Maintenance Engineer, and Supervisor. He has an Associate’s Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from Devry Institute of Technology, Dallas, TX. Mr. Hubbard’s years of experience and dedication to excellence will be a great asset for Black Elk Energy. |
|
|
|
Jeremy Jones - Operations EngineerJeremy Jones serves as Operations Engineer of Black Elk Energy. Mr. Jones is relatively new to the industry and therefore brings a fresh perspective to our Engineering Team. Prior to joining Black Elk Energy, Mr. Jones held a multi-year Petroleum Engineer position with Chevron and previously served on the San Juan/Alabama CBM Ops Team. Mr. Jones strengths rest in his understanding of multiple well setups and completion depths; rod pump, ESP, flowing, and plunger lift systems; single zone and multi-zone completions; producer, water injector, and water supply wells; as well as return to injection/production situations. Mr. Jones’s experience extends out of the office as he received hands-on field training during his time as a roustabout for Artex Oil Company. His field experience allows Mr. Jones to evaluate projects with an understanding of the personnel actually tasked with operations work on platforms and wells. Mr. Jones holds a Bachelors of Science in Petroleum Engineering (Accredited by the EAC of ABET) from Marietta College. |
|
|
Limon Cooper - Operations SupervisorLimon Cooper has over 37 years of offshore experience. His career ranges from his experience working for Jay Ray McDermott focused on the installation of platforms and laying pipelines to his expertise honed during his time with BP America tasked with restoration and clean-up for hurricane-damaged platforms. Mr. Cooper has been involved in all phases of production operations, including but not limited to construction, production, maintenance, measurement, MMS inspections rules and regulations and decommissioning of platforms. Mr. Cooper has gained skill and knowledge through his various positions in the industry. Some of which have included roustabout, mechanic, electrician and field foreman. Mr. Cooper has always been a leader in personnel safety and job quality and has seen platforms from the ship yard to the scrap yard. |
|
|
Carrie Cole - Executive AssistantCarrie Cole serves as the Executive Assistant for Black Elk Energy, directly under President and CEO, John Hoffman. Mrs. Cole's previous experience is an asset to our company as she works to coordinate schedules, manage meetings, maintain the Black Elk calendar system, assist Black Elk's vendors and investors, and provide wide-ranging administrative assistance to the Black Elk team. Mrs. Cole's focus and organizational skills help to ensure the efficiency of the company and its communication with vendors, investors and other parties critical to Black Elk's success and proper management. |
|
|
Christine Wehmeyer - Sr. Engineering Tech/Production AnalystChristine Wehmeyer serves as the Sr. Engineering Tech/Production Analyst here at Black Elk Energy. Having previously worked with Brammer Engineering, Yuma Exploration & Production, and Sanchez Oil & Gas Ms. Wehmeyer brings with her a wealth of industry experience featuring an extensive background ranging from the drilling, operations and reservoir side. Ms. Wehmeyer's responsibilities include providing economic and reserve evaluations, data assessment, economic modeling and evaluation of potential acquisitions. Ms. Wehmeyer analyzes and tracks production history and reserves and also provides support to NSAI on mid-year and year-end reserve reports. |
Chad Nicosia - Petroleum EngineerChad Nicosia joins Black Elk Energy as a Petroleum Engineer working with Black Elk’s Reservoir group conducting field studies identifying and planning to harvest remaining reserves in mature GOM shelf properties. Mr. Nicosia has 13 years of experience in the industry, extending through the Gulf of Mexico and locales around the world. Mr. Nicosia began as a well site engineer for Halliburton Energy Services in the GOM for multiple product service lines, and then rose to the position of Lead GOM Engineer for the Tools, Testing and TCP product service line. During his tenor, Mr. Nicosia was charged with managing a staff of 18 engineers primarily in the GOM but also providing support on a global level. Some of the note worthy projects with which Mr. Nicosia was tasked included a deep water drill stem test for Shell Oil off the coast of Brazil, well tests on the North Slope of Alaska for Conoco, and drill stem tests for Chevron off the coast of Molongo Africa. After a transfer to the Production Enhancement group, Mr. Nicosia spent two years as a Well Site Engineer working on Halliburton’s GOM Frac boat fleet and one year as Lead Engineer in Rock Springs Wyoming. In this role, Mr. Nicosia worked on many notable projects including pumping over 1 million pounds of proppant on an offshore frac pac on a single well and numerous multi stage multi zone frac’s in Wyoming. Mr. Nicosia then spent two years in Halliburton’s Project Management Group, managing multi-service projects and was assigned as the Lead Engineer on the initial role out of Halliburton’s Complete Solutions Team, which pioneered the fusion of one team of highly experienced personnel offshore delivering multiple services in regards to planning, execution and invoicing. Mr. Nicosia later worked as a Production/Operations Engineer for Nippon Oil Exploration, USA researching, developing and executing workovers and re-completions for GOM shelf properties. Mr. Nicosia’s experience and knowledge will be a great asset to the Black Elk reservoir and engineering departments. We welcome Mr. Nicosia to the Black Elk Team. |
|
|
|
Robert J. Davidson - Reservoir EngineerRobert J. Davidson serves as Black Elk Energy’s Reservoir Engineer and recently joined the Black Elk family in September of 2009. Robert has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Davidson began his career in 1974 with Amoco Production Company. Mr. Davidson’s focus was Operations and Production Engineering, working with Gulf Coast onshore soft rock anticlines, strat traps and salt domes. Mr. Davidson furthered his training through Amoco's Reservoir Engineering training in Tulsa, OK. Around that time, Mr. Davidson completed several Performance Reviews of West Texas hard rock water floods and later went before New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission to obtain approval to drill irregular spaced infield drilling wells. Mr. Davidson worked for Marathon International Oil Company in 1982 as Joint Interest Coordinator attending world-wide Engineering Subcommittee meetings as the Engineering representative where he worked onshore and offshore hard and soft rock formations in Indonesia, Libya, the North Sea and Offshore Abu Dhabi, UAE. While at Marathon International, Robert prepared a comprehensive presentation to obtain multi-million dollar project financing from a consortium of three U. S and one European Bank to increase interest in The Netherlands offshore concession. He prepared yearly Bank Engineering Reports, which maintained the project financing for the Bank Consortium. In 1990, Mr. Davidson joined Marathon Oil Company, serving as Reservoir Engineer for onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico fields whereby he appeared before the MMS on multiple occasions to obtain exceptions to standard rules. Mr. Davidson expanded his career by later joining Santa Fe Energy Corp. in 1995 and continued his work onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico fields as Reservoir/Production Engineer. Due to his experience and expertise, Mr. Davidson appeared before Texas Railroad Commission on a Unitization issue. When Devon acquired Santa Fe in 2000, Mr. Davidson continued work as Reservoir/Production Engineer and from 2005 to 2009 was Devon's Gulf Division Reservoirs Coordinator responsible for insuring SOX compliance. We welcome Mr. Davidson to the Black Elk team. |
Ashley Juskowich - Production TechAshley Juskowich serves as a Production Tech for Black Elk Energy. Ms Juskowich’s responsibilities include Quality Control and upload of all daily production, well tests, comments and BHPS. Further, Ms. Juskowich generates daily field level production reports utilizing RIO software. Some of Ms Juskowich’s other responsibilities consist of maintaining production report files, supplying production reports to partners, and drilling and completion tech work such as tracking costs on current OBO projects and filing daily reports electronically and in well files. Ms Juskowich is an invaluable member of our team. |
|
Kari Dominguez - Sr. Land Analyst and Division Order ManagerKari Dominguez serves as Black Elk Energy’s Senior Land Analyst and Division Order Manager. In her role, Mrs. Dominguez is directly responsible for coordination and management of the Authorizations for Expenditure, analysis, interpretation, preparation and expedition of leases, assignments, and contracts, and coordination support to the Vice President of Land. Further, Mrs. Dominguez works hand-in-hand with the accounting department to facilitate revenue and joint interest billing documentation. Mrs. Dominguez has over 20 years experience in the oil and gas industry. Her career began with her seven year tenure with American Exploration Company where she served as Property Technician & Property Analyst and also as Division Order Secretary where she analyzed, interpreted, compiled and documented all rights and obligations contained in leases, assignments, title opinions and contracts. During her employ, Mrs. Dominguez served as a major contributor on the Oklahoma Senate Bill 168 team. Mrs. Dominguez served the next several years as a Division Order Analyst for Pogo Producing Company and later TransTexas Corporation where she was responsible for also tasked with analysis, preparation and maintenance on all legal land-department-related documentation. Over the next several years, Mrs. Dominguez honed her skill set and expanded her knowledge through her work as an independent Division Order Contractor for several major players in the industry. In October of 2007, Mrs. Dominguez joined Beryl Oil and Gas as a Senior Lease Analyst where she was responsible for new acquired assets based in the Gulf of Mexico Region including 130 active leases and 65 producing wells. The skills, knowledge and experience which Mrs. Dominguez brings to the Black Elk family are invaluable and highly regarded. |
|
Kay Carnell, Revenue Accounting ManagerKay Carnell serves as the Revenue Accounting Manager for Black Elk Energy. Ms. Carnell is tasked with supervision and management of the Black Elk Revenue Department. Through her direction, the Revenue Department handles oil and gas related accounting functions including royalty payment bookings, collection of revenue, monthly accruals, owner payments, analysis of production reporting, and organization of revenue accounting pertinent to operated and non-operated fields. Ms. Carnell has over 25 years of industry experience, having gained her knowledge and expertise through her service with many major companies in the industry. Over these years, Ms. Carnell became an expert dealing with oil and gas marketing, severance and production taxes, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (formerly Minerals Management Service) royalties. Ms. Carnell also worked as a Land and Lease Analyst which enhances her abilities to understand the full magnitude of proper accounting in terms of legal contracts, assignments and division orders. Ms. Carnell’s knowledge and understanding of the Land Department are prized attributes which set her apart from other revenue managers in the industry and make her a valuable asset to the Black Elk team. Black Elk warmly welcomes Ms. Carnell to the family. |
|
|
|
Kara Crumpler, Senior Revenue AccountantKara Crumpler serves as the Senior Revenue Accountant for Black Elk Energy. Ms. Crumpler is tasked with oil and gas related accounting functions including royalty payment bookings, collection of revenue, monthly accruals, owner payments, analysis of production reporting, and organization of revenue accounting pertinent to operated and non-operated fields. Ms. Crumpler has over 13 years of industry experience, having gained her knowledge and expertise through her service with companies like SPN Resources, Dynamic Offshore Resources and BP Marine. Ms. Crumpler’s strong analytical, problem-solving and organizational skills are an asset to the Revenue Department. Ms. Crumpler’s proficiency extends to operations both onshore, offshore, both State and Federal jurisdictions, thereby giving her an additional advantage as she offers guidance to the other members of the Accounting and Revenue Departments. Ms. Crumpler’s attention to detail and superior communicative abilities make her an excellent addition to the Black Elk family. |
|
|
Kim Hurt, Senior Property AccountantKim Hurt serves as the Senior Property Accountant for Black Elk. Ms. Hurt is charged with management of the Accounts Payable and Joint Interest Billing Department. In addition to her duties, Ms. Hurt also offers training and mentorship to new members of the Accounting and Financial team. Prior to joining Black Elk, Ms. Hurt served for over 11 years with Apache Corporation. During her time with Apache, Ms. Hurt was a lead for the Accounts Payable Department where she was responsible for coding and allocation, vendor relations and collaboration with the Purchasing Department. Ms. Hurt also worked on projects for non-operated joint interest billing for offshore and onshore properties. Ms. Hurt’s prior experience involved extensive client relations obligations, documentation and inventory management and management of Accounts Receivable Departments for various non-energy related organization. Ms. Hurt’s superior management abilities, her willingness to educate and advise others and her can-do attitude are invaluable to Black Elk. |
|
|
Ashley Wischnewsky - Accounting AssociateAshley Wischnewsky serves as an Accounting Associate for Black Elk Energy. Although new to the oil & gas industry, Ms. Wischnewsky brings experience in the Administrative field from her previous Real Estate employ with RE/MAX Legends. Ms. Wischnewsky attained her real estate license and increased her marketability by handling prime real estate listings and providing up to date market analysis on residential listings. Ms. Wischnewsky also worked in RE/MAX Legends’ marketing department, building work relationships with new home builders in the greater Houston area. Working in Black Elk’s Accounts Payable department, Ms. Wischnewsky helps our vendors by providing one-on-one vendor relations, processing incoming invoices and managing the accounts payable documentation. Ms. Wischnewsky’s attention to detail and personable attitude make her a winning addition to the Black Elk Financial Team. |
|
|
Hilary McVay - Accounting AssociateHilary McVay is one of Black Elk’s Accounting Associates. Ms. McVay will be charged with duties that span the accounts receivable, accounts payable and revenue departments. New to the oil & industry, Ms. McVay brings 15 years of experience in the administrative field. Prior to joining the Black Elk team, she worked for the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District as Administrative Assistant to the Cy-Woods High School Athletic Department. Ms. McVay attended Stephen F. Austin State University, Wharton Jr. College, Tyler Jr. College, and Houston Community College. Ms. McVay handles her duties with an eager attitude, commitment to accuracy and offers results in a timely and efficient manner. Ms. McVay adds a highly positive benefit to the Financial Team. |
Lester Pittman - Operations SupervisorLester Pittman serves as Operations Supervisor for Black Elk Energy. Mr. Pittman has 28 years experience in the operation and maintenance of offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to joining Black Elk Energy Mr. Pittman served as Construction Superintendent for BP America’s Gulf of Mexico Decommissioning project which focused on the removal of offshore platforms severely damaged by hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005. Prior to this assignment Mr. Pittman held positions with BP America as a Production Supervisor. Mr. Pittman began his career with Arco Oil & Gas in 1982 and gained knowledge of all phases of operations while assigned to various locations with BP America, Arco Oil & Gas, and Vastar Resources in the Gulf of Mexico. |
|
Wendy Williams - Office CoordinatorWendy Williams joins the Black Elk Energy team as Office Coordinator. Ms. Williams is new to the oil & gas industry, having served as Office Manager and Coordinator with Louisiana Binding Services in Louisiana for nearly 18 years. Ms. Williams will be tasked with client and vendor relations, office management of supplies and materials and management of the inner office calendaring system, among many other duties. Ms. Williams’ attention to detail, her accurate documentation oversight and her project management skills will be a welcome asset to the Black Elk family. In her roles with other companies, Ms. Williams has been tasked with high-level customer service obligations and responsibilities. Ms. Williams was a dependable member of an efficient team-environment, where each member of the staff was charged with personal time management and organization toward the success of the organization as a whole. Ms. Williams’ ability to work well in a team while maintaining self-discipline and organization will be a proven asset to our organization. We welcome Ms. Williams to the Black Elk Energy family. |
|
Lisa Rees - Operations/G&G TechnicianLisa Rees has joined the Black Elk Energy team and brings over 27 years of solid industry experience in geological and production support. Ms. Rees will serve as the Operations/G&G Technician for our Generation and Execution Team. Ms. Rees’ career was jump-started at DeKalb Energy where she worked as a Geological Assistant, Office Administrator and Land Secretary. Ms. Rees gained invaluable experience through her work with industry leaders such as Marathon Oil, Conoco, Forest Oil, Transworld Exploration and Production, Petsec Energy, Byron Energy and Object Reservoir. Prior to her hands-on industry experience, Ms. Rees attended Metro State College and North Harris College. Ms. Rees will be a wonderful addition to Black Elk as her expertise and knowledge are a great asset for any company. We welcome Ms. Rees to the team. |
|
Joe Sauvageau – Production EngineerJoe Sauvageau has joined the Black Elk Energy team as a new Production Engineer. Mr. Sauvageau is a recent Petroleum Engineering graduate from Texas A&M University. Mr. Sauvageau worked three summer internships before working for Black Elk. Mr. Sauvageau’s first internship was for the Marketing and Risk Management group at Energy XXI where he had exposure to the financial and physical marketing aspect of the oil and gas industry. The next two summers were spent at Hilcorp Energy as a reservoir and operations engineering intern. While at Hilcorp, Joe gained experience in the development and exploitation of mature oil and gas assets along the Gulf coast and the Gulf shore. During his time at Texas A&M, Mr. Sauvageau competed for the varsity cross country and track teams and was a part of two national championships and four regional championships. Mr. Sauvageau’s competitive spirit and drive for success will be a winning combination to enhance the Black Elk team. |
|
|
|
Deanna Granger, Financial AccountantDeanna Granger serves as a Financial Accountant for Black Elk Energy. Ms. Granger has fifteen years of diversified and progressive experience in accounting. Prior to joining Black Elk, Ms. Granger worked for Milagro Exploration where she was tasked with coding, registering, data entry, vendor inquiries, cash disbursement, 1099 processing, and work with Joint Interest Billing on allocation updates. In addition to these efforts, Ms. Granger provided training and support to new members of the Accounting Department. Before her work with Milagro, Ms. Granger worked in a similar role with Norse Energy Corp. as a member of their Accounts Payable Department. Ms. Granger also assisted Norse’s Controller and CFO on various projects including, but not limited to, closing, financials, and budget management. In addition to her successful efforts with Milagro and Norse, Ms. Granger gained valuable experience in her work with other firms, enhancing her abilities and making her an expert in her field. Ms. Granger’s ability to manage hundred of accounts simultaneously and her attention to detail make Ms. Granger an invaluable member of our Accounting Department. Ms. Granger’s experience and problem-solving abilities make her a smart and welcome addition to the Black Elk Financial Team. |
Nancy Ferguson – Document Control ManagerNancy Ferguson joins Black Elk Energy from BP America Production Company. Mrs. Ferguson worked over two years at BP as a contractor involved in many different roles with the preparation of files to be scanned for digital document control. Mrs. Ferguson was involved in indexing the electronic files, organization of electronic files, data control, and the migration from the old land application (TLS) to Quorum Land Suite (QLS). Mrs. Ferguson has an extensive background in business where she owned and operated a retail business in Lake Charles, LA. for over twenty years. Mrs. Ferguson’s responsibilities included buying, inventory control, open-to-buy evaluation and managing a sales floor of approximately twenty sales associates. Mrs. Ferguson was very involved in the community including volunteering her expertise in several local fund-raising charity events. Mrs. Ferguson’s efforts in business afforded her family the opportunity to liquidate the business and move to Houston and return to the oil and gas business. Mrs. Ferguson is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, including a minor in Business Management and Marketing. |
|
Rebecca Flynn- Document CoordinatorRebecca Flynn joins Black Elk Energy as Document Coordinator. Mrs. Flynn worked for BP as a contractor for over two years in document management for the North American Gas Land Digital Scanning Project. Mrs. Flynn was responsible for the daily operation of all incoming and outgoing records, including verifying files received, logging files into specific spreadsheets and maintaining the system-wide database accessed by all North American Gas users for location of all scanned records. In addition, Mrs. Flynn was involved in creating and maintaining bi-weekly accounting reports detailing performance and production of specific contractors. Mrs. Flynn was trained in Tobin Land System (TLS), Quorum Land Suite (QLS), Insight Database Management System and Documentum database. Prior to joining BP, Mrs. Flynn was a Litigation Paralegal for fifteen years at a large Texas law firm, specializing in oil and gas catastrophic pipeline explosions and discharges. She was involved in all aspects of litigation including pre-trial discovery, coordinating, attending and summarizing factual and expert depositions, preparation of trial, mediation and settlement documents and attending trials. Additionally, Mrs. Flynn was skilled in Ringtail Database indexing and cataloging of legal documents and PowerPoint presentations. Mrs. Flynn is actively involved with the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, where she has been a committee volunteer for over sixteen years. |