Ultra Petroleum Corporation
William R. (Bill) Picquet, VP of Operations

I have known The Energists team for over 25 years. My experience and observations of their work includes utilization of their search expertise to fill key technical positions. I was also the successful candidate on one of their executive searches. During this time span, I have used The Energists services to build successful teams in three different E&P companies.

Since joining Ultra Petroleum in 2006, I have retained The Energists on several “critical need” searches in engineering and operations in both our Denver technical headquarters and Pinedale, Wyoming field office. Their work has resulted in the addition of outstanding senior technical professionals whose performance has resulted in significant cost containment and driving down our drilling days per well in excess of 60 percent.

Most recently we retained The Energists for a senior leadership position in corporate planning and director of reservoir engineering. Once again, they delivered the goods. We at Ultra Petroleum are very pleased and consider it a coup The Energists was able to identify, attract, and secure such value building performers.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to evaluate a number of other search firms. In my opinion none have compared with The Energists in their depth of understanding and recognition of the value drivers of the E&P industry.

 

Milagro Exploration
Robert L. Cavnar, President & Chief Executive Officer

I have known The Energists team for over ten years and have relied on their search expertise at El Paso, Mission Resources, and now Milagro Exploration.

At Mission Resources, The Energists were instrumental in helping me build the executive team that rejuvenated the company resulting in a market capitalization increase from approximately $13 million to $350 million at the time of our merger with Petrohawk Energy Corporation. Critical officer level searches were conducted in Exploration, Engineering, and Operations.

At Milagro Exploration, we have utilized their expertise to secure top notch Drilling leadership to execute our drilling program.

Their abilities to source, engage, and ultimately deliver exceptional candidates with the requisite skill sets as well as cultural and philosophical compatibilities is one of The Energists key performance deliverables. I highly recommend them.

BHPBilliton Petroleum
Steven R. Bell, President, Exploration and Business Development

Since 1993, The Energists has been instrumental in helping BHP Petroleum assemble its key technical and management teams that have successfully established BHP as a prominent deepwater GOM operator. Initial engagements for exploration geoscientists were followed by searches in drilling, completion and reservoir engineering, as well as petrophysics and logistics management. In total, BHP engaged The Energists on nineteen of these critical skill set searches and all were successfully concluded.

As our exploration successes in the GOM and Trinidad progressed to development, most recently The Energists were engaged to identify and recruit a key Asset Team Manager and Facilities/Construction Manager. These, too, have been successfully concluded. The Energists has earned our respect over the years for their ability to source and recruit “A Team” contributors.

 

Chesapeake Energy
Aubrey McClendon, Chairman and CEO

At a time of significant growth within Chesapeake Energy, The Energists were able to locate and recruit people that we wouldn't have been able to find on our own. The caliber of candidates, the manner and professionalism in which they were attracted to our company resulted in a number of very successful management and technical additions to the Chesapeake team. It is apparent that The Energists know the E&P industry, the value drivers, the skills required for success, and are adept at securing the right people

BP 
Bob Tucker, Vice President of Human Resources

The personal touch and a complete understanding of our company culture sets The Energists apart from other executive search firms. For over twenty years they have become a trusted partner for Sohio, then BP Exploration after its acquisition of Sohio, BP Amoco, and now BP. Over the years they have assisted us in building and strengthening our management and technical teams. All told, over 100 successful searches have been conducted/completed and their performance through the years has been exemplary.

Triton Energy Company
Al Turner, Sr. Vice President and COO

1993-2000 was a period of unprecedented growth for Triton.  During this period, we were faced with participating in the development of a world class oil discovery in Colombia, and the discovery and development of a major gas discovery offshore Malaysia.  The tremendous effort put forth by The Energists, not only produced the kind of team that further led to the recent major oil discovery Offshore Equatorial Guinea, but laid the foundation for continued future success.

Over a period of seven years, The Energists helped build Triton’s E&P team and were instrumental in bringing onboard in excess of 40 extremely talented management and technical oil and gas professionals.

Newfield Exploration Company
 Joe B. Foster, Chairman
The Energists has conducted over twenty searches on Newfield's behalf, and has done a good job of scouting and attracting those candidates with entrepreneurial spirit and technical expertise. This has helped Newfield to sustain its growth and establish itself as a leading operator in the Gulf of Mexico.

Kerr-McGee

Howard Kewney, Director of Human Resources

With growth generated by the success of our oil and gas exploration and production operations, Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kerr-McGee Corp.  (NYSE:KMG), recognized the need for a recruitment effort that would address key needs in our engineering, operations, and geoscience groups.

We selected The Energists based on their previous experience and successes in large-scale recruitment campaigns, their knowledge of the E&P marketplace, and their ability to deliver results to their clients.

To date, The Energists has concluded over thirty five searches in geology, geophysics, operations, reservoir, drilling, completions and subsea engineering, international business development, and technology for our company, and has earned our confidence in their ability to deliver a diverse range of highly qualified technical specialists.

 

St. Mary Land And Exploration Company

Jerry R. Schuyler, Senior Vice President, Exploration and Production

 

  Since 2000, and with two separate companies, I have utilized The Energists on numerous important search engagements. Most recently, for St. Mary, The Energists was instrumental in the recruitment of our new Exploration Manager for the Houston Region. They produced an excellent slate of highly qualified candidates, and more importantly, were able to discern the intangible chemistry, philosophy, and personality matches that are critical in building a successful management team.

Previously at Dominion E&P, I utilized The Energists for key searches in the onshore division. They successfully provided a key manager and several senior level technical professionals for our exploration, engineering, and land management teams.

The Energists is composed of highly seasoned search professionals who truly understand the E&P business. Their ability to source and attract high quality talent for their clients is top notch. They have saved me a tremendous amount of time and provided outstanding talent. The firm has earned my respect and has produced excellent results. I highly recommend
them.

 

 

North Central Oil Corporation
Jim Winne, President & CEO

When North Central made the decision to reshape its exploration/exploitation investment strategy to a primarily internally generated opportunity portfolio, it was clear that additional Geoscience expertise would be required. To succeed, we needed talented geological and geophysical professionals to identify and evaluate appropriate play concepts, acquisition opportunities, and to develop attractive drilling prospects. The Energists were instrumental in helping us achieve this objective. They displayed a clear understanding of the mission, our culture and history, and what skill and experience factors were necessary to help strengthen our team. They conducted multiple searches that successfully brought value-added contributors to the company and helped reshape our exploration and development program.

 

 

 

 

 

Grant Geophysical
Rick Ward, President

Grant Geophysical made the decision to hire an experienced   
  exploration and business development executive to lead our efforts in becoming equity participants in oil and gas deals. We screened four executive search firms and did extensive interviews with two. The Energists understood our technical requirements and the cultural change that the new executive would face. Local contacts and experience in the E&P industry made The Energists a clear choice. They put together a group of well-qualified candidates and within a month of engagement, we had our new vice president of business development on board.