Leadership

Tony is currently the Head of Contracting and Procurement Americas at Shell Lubricants. He has a wide management experience in Downstream Retail and Lubricants holding various leadership roles in Sales and Marketing, Deal Making/Strategy and Supply Chain throughout his 26 years in Shell, including business turnarounds and organizational cultural change in different geographies.

Married to Viviane, they have two wonderful kids (Bernardo and Maria Clara). He is passionate about sports (swimming / watching Brazilian soccer and the US big three sports) being fascinated with analytics, particularly how data can influence team building / performance. They also love to travel/discover new places and meet new people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Luke Brandenberg is a Managing Director of Vortus Investments.  After starting his career in investment banking, Luke transitioned to principal investing in 2010 where he has focused on providing growth capital to the independent sector of the U.S. oil and gas industry. 

Most recently, Luke partnered with Grey Rock Energy Partners to launch a special situations initiative and to lead the deal origination, structuring and relationship management efforts for the new platform.

Prior to Grey Rock, Luke spent ten years with oil and gas venture capital firm EnCap Investments.  In his final role at EnCap, Luke was the primary relationship manager and a key board member on multiple portfolio companies representing a significant portion of EnCap’s equity commitments.

Luke started his career in the Energy Investment Banking Group at Raymond James & Associates where he focused on public capital raises, restructuring and M&A advisory work within the upstream, midstream and oilfield service sectors. 

Outside of the office, Luke serves on the Executive Council for the McCombs Energy Initiative at The University of Texas at Austin, is a board member of the Dallas Hunting and Fishing Club and volunteers with the TouchDown Club supporting the Ashford Rise School of Dallas.

Luke holds Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in Business Honors and Finance from The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with honors.

Stephen has over 22 years of energy investment banking experience.  He has completed numerous transactions within the upstream, oilfield service and midstream sub-sectors of the energy industry.  His career began as an Associate in 1996 at Bear Stearns in the NY office, he moved to the Dallas office in late 1998 and was promoted to Senior Managing Director in 2007.  In early 2008, when JP Morgan acquired Bear Stearns, he joined JP Morgan's energy investment banking group in Dallas where he helped start their midstream investment banking franchise.  In 2015, Stephen moved to the Dallas office of Raymond James where he helped build their midstream franchise until September 2018.  He received his BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin in 1991 and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania in 1996.  He was a four year Letterman on the Longhorn Football Team.   

Prior to joining EnCap in 1999, Mr. DeLorenzo spent four years at ING Barings in New York working in Corporate Finance specializing in the energy industry. Previously, he was an Associate in the Energy Group at Wells Fargo Bank based in Houston from 1993 to 1995.

Mr. DeLorenzo received a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. DeLorenzo serves on the board of directors of several EnCap portfolio companies and is a member of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Houston Producers’ Forum.

Mr. Downie has over 24 years of investment experience and co-founded Tailwater Capital in January 2013. At Tailwater, Mr. Downie’s primary responsibilities include deal sourcing, execution, and monitoring of the Firm’s investments as well as management of the Firm. He currently serves as a Director of Southcross Energy Holdings, Southcross Energy Partners, TexStar Logistics, Align Midstream Partners, Petro Waste Environmental, and Pivotal Petroleum Partners. Prior to co-founding Tailwater Capital, Mr. Downie was a Partner with HM Capital and served on the Investment Committee. He joined HM Capital from Rice, Sangalis Toole and Wilson, a mezzanine private equity firm, where he was an Associate. Prior to Rice, Sangalis Toole and Wilson, Mr. Downie was an Associate in the Equity Trading Group with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, responsible for energy and transportation. He earned both a BBA and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Edwards has over 22 years of energy private equity investment experience, and is currently a Partner at White Deer Energy, an energy-focused private equity firm based in Houston, Texas.  As a member of White Deer’s investment committee, Mr. Edwards helps direct the firm’s investment efforts across the upstream, midstream and oilfield services sectors, and currently serves as a Director of Flogistix, Global Petro Storage Group, Cust-O-Fab Holdings, Quannah Panhandle, Axios Industrial Group, Extract Production Services, and Midstream Texas.  Prior to becoming a partner at White Deer, Mr. Edwards spent 13 years at First Reserve Corporation, one of the world’s largest energy-focused private equity firms, where as a member of the firm’s investment committee he had responsibility for the firm’s oilfield services investing efforts.  Mr. Edwards began his career as an Analyst with Simmons & Company International, and earned a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

https://www.bakerbotts.com/people/e/emmons-david

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurt-hanson-35256326/

Brett Hauser has helped shape the electric vehicle (EV) industry by advocating for open standards and supporting the broad-based deployment of EV charging infrastructure to enable the transition to electrified transportation.  As CEO of Greenlots, a global provider of EV charging and grid management software, Hauser is leading the company through strategic investments, market expansion, and scaling new product and services with some of the largest utilities, municipalities, cities, and automakers.

Hauser spent more than 25 years in strategic and financial planning, product management and business development roles.  As a private equity investor, Hauser was responsible for restructuring various multi-million-dollar transactions in telematics, mobile resource management, telecommunications and natural resources.   Hauser currently sits on the Board of Directors for Greenlots, the Alliance of Transportation Electrification, and the Open Charge Alliance.  Hauser earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

https://www.tailwatercapital.com/team/herring/

Aaron Hoover is Managing Director, Head of Energy Americas in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division. Mr. Hoover has 23 years of energy investment banking experience. He joined Morgan Stanley in its Houston office in November 2014. Prior to that, he worked as a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Houston office of Greenhill & Co. from 2009 to 2014. Previously, he worked in the Energy Group at Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America Merrill Lynch) in Houston for 13 years and was promoted to Managing Director in 2005. He began his career with Arthur Andersen as a CPA. Mr. Hoover received his MBA in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and BBA with Highest Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.

Now an Independent Director at Summit Midstream Partners, LPMr. Jacobe currently serves as an advisor with respect to energy investments for Kelso & Company, a New York based private equity firm. From 2008 through 2018, Mr. Jacobe was involved in various capacities at Barclays Investment Banking –Energy Group, including head of the firm’s midstream coverage effort, co-head of its US Oil & Gas group, and Vice Chairman of the firm. From 1993 through 2008, Mr. Jacobe was an investment banker in the energy group at Lehman Brothers, including serving as a managing director from 2001–2008. Mr. Jacobe began his investment banking career at Wasserstein Perella & Co. in 1990. He has a B.B.A., with a major in Finance, from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Jacobe has valuable and extensive experience in the energy banking sector, including a vast array of experience in corporate finance, capital structure, and the evaluation of financial risks associated with publicly traded partnerships that invest in midstream infrastructure.

Mr. Rob L. Jones has been Director of Spire Inc. since Feburary 22, 2016. Mr. Jones served as a Co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Commodities from 2007 to June 2012. Mr. Jones held various positions with Merrill Lynch & Co. from 1993 to 2007, including Managing Director, Co-Head of Merrill Lynch's Global Energy and Power Investment Banking Group and is the Founder of Merrill Lynch Commodity Partners. From 1980 to 1985, he served as a Financial Associate with the oil and gas exploration and production division of Sun Company, primarily based in Dallas, Texas. From September 2012 to June 2014, he served as an Executive in Residence at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin (McCombs). He has been a Director of The Laclede Group, Inc. since February 22, 2016. He has been a Director of Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, the General Partner of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. since October 29, 2014.

He is an Advisory Board Member of Climax Global Energy, Inc. He served as a Lead Independent Director of Susser Petroleum Partners GP LLC and Sunoco GP LLC from September 2013 to August 29, 2014. He served as a Director of Susser Petroleum Partners Gp Llc since September 2012. He serves as a Member of Advisory Council at Red McCombs School of Business. He is a Life Member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He served as a Director of Susser Petroleum Partners Gp Llc since September 2013. He continues as a Guest Lecturer and speaker at McCombs. Mr. Jones is a graduate of the University of Texas, where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with Honors and an MBA with High Honors and was a Sord Scholar.

Sean has over 20 years of energy industry experience and is currently the President and CFO of Hibernia Resources III, LLC in Houston, TX.  Hibernia is a portfolio company of Natural Gas Partners and is focused on developing unconventional resources across their asset base in the Central Midland Basin with core operations in Upton and Reagan counties. Prior to Hibernia, he was a partner in multiple private equity backed upstream ventures (Plantation Petroleum and Empresa) beginning in 2001.  The majority of Sean’s career has been focused in the Permian Basin but was also involved in the development and divestment of three large assets in the North Louisiana Haynesville and South Texas Eagle Ford.  Prior experiences include various roles with Koch Industries and Enron. Sean holds a BS in Engineering and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.

Chris has over 20 years of experience in the Energy industry and is currently Head of Strategy and Trading at Vega Energy Partners.  Vega Energy Partners, Ltd. (“Vega”) is a privately held company located in Houston, Texas. Through its predecessor companies, Vega and its principals have been engaged in the management, optimization, and development of natural gas assets for over 25 years. Today, Vega focuses on structuring solutions for its customers, which include producers, midstream companies, utilities, LNG exporters, large end-users, and retail aggregators. These solutions include natural gas infrastructure development, asset optimization, and physical commodity management services.  Chris has spent most of his career trading energy and developing natural gas assets and  holds a BBA from the University of Texas as well as an MBA from Rice University.

Mr. Lange graduated from the University of Texas Business in May 1985. I knew I wanted to be in the oil business as a Landman. In 1985 that meant the Oil &Gas crash left very few job opportunities. I was fortunate to find field land work from 1985-1990. I traveled Monday through Friday to small town courthouses and did title checks using court records. The best part of my job was the interaction with landowners. Much of my success in the O&G business today is based on what on learned in the field and from the contacts I made during those early days. I worked in house for Chevron for seven years to learn that side of the business and in 1997 became an Independent.

My startup experience began with North Central Oil Company, where I bought leases retaining an ORRI. From North Central, I took my ideas and overrides and partnered with a group of Aggies and Encap Investments to form Laredo Energy, where we successfully drilled natural gas wells. All the naturals gas wells were drilled in south Texas. My partners and I successfully developed and sold three partnerships, Laredo I, Laredo II and Laredo III. The Laredo companies sold for approximately $867,000.00 and averaged 5.1X and 198.36% ROI. Today I am currently in another partnership (still with Aggies) and rely on the experience and education I received from my time at the University of Texas.

Samuel G. Pitts is a Managing Partner of EnCap Flatrock Midstream. Prior to joining EnCap Flatrock Midstream in 2014, Mr. Pitts was part of the senior leadership team in the Global Energy Investment Banking Group at Citigroup. In this capacity, he focused on financial advisory work related to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures within the midstream and upstream sectors, as well as public and private capital market raises. Prior to that, he was with UBS Investment Bank and a predecessor, Dillon Read & Co. During his investment banking career, Mr. Pitts advised on over $50 billion in transactions and represented issuers in over $15 billion of securities offerings. Mr. Pitts holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently serves on the board of directors of several EFM portfolio companies, including Aspen Midstream, Greenfield Midstream and Lotus Midstream.

Josh is the Partner in charge of the Complex Financial Reporting group of Opportune, including oversight of the firm’s Denver and Tulsa offices. Josh has 20 years of experience in providing clients across the energy spectrum with technical research, capital markets and SEC reporting assistance. Josh and his team of over 30 professionals have led all financial statement and disclosure aspects of the IPO process for over two dozen clients within the E&P, midstream, oilfield service and power sectors. In addition, he assists over 100 clients annually with researching, concluding and reporting for the most complex transactions affecting their businesses. Prior to joining Opportune, Josh worked in the audit and global energy markets department with Deloitte & Touche, where he managed the audits of regulated gas and electric utilities, independent power producers, and energy trading entities.

Justin T. Stolte is a partner in Latham & Watkins’ Houston office and serves as Global Co-Chair of the firm’s Energy & Infrastructure Group.  He advises clients on strategic transactions across the energy sector.

Mr. Stolte has significant experience in several sectors of the energy industry, having previously worked in business development, commercial, and engineering roles at Chevron Corporation and Apache Corporation.  He is a frequent speaker and author on trends in the energy industry – particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and other energy transactions – and serves on the Advisory Committee for The Institute for Energy Law.

Mr. Stolte received an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Business, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School, and a Bachelor of Science from the Colorado School of Mines.

https://www.goodnightmidstream.com/swd-leadership.html

Mr. Weinberg is Founder and Managing Director of Energy Capital Solutions with more than 30 years of investment banking experience for the energy industry.  Energy Capital Solutions is a Dallas-based investment banking and advisory firm focused on raising capital and M&A advisory for energy-related clients.  Prior to starting Energy Capital Solutions in 2001, Mr. Weinberg primarily advised public energy companies while a managing director with RBC Dain Rauscher. He has focused his career on covering exploration and production companies, oil service companies and other energy-related companies. Mr. Weinberg has led, generated and executed a wide variety of transactions, including 83 M&A transactions, 24 public equity offerings, 41 public & private debt financings and 67 private placements, along with various strategic advisory assignments. Mr. Weinberg received a B.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and a M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.

Claire grew up in Midland, Texas and has a BBA in Petroleum Land Management from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ben Richie is a Director of Account Management at Quorum Software in Houston. Ben is responsible for managing all aspects of relationships with key Quorum customers and helping our customers to maximize the return on their investment in Quorum technology. Ben is the McCombs Energy Initiative's Energy Technologies Subcommittee Chair. Ben earned his BBA from The University of Texas at Austin in 2002.

Quorum Business Solutions, Inc. is the leading provider of software for the energy industry. Founded in 1998, Quorum employs over 400 staff in the US and Canada, and offers an integrated suite of software that manages operational, administrative, financial, and business processes. Over 200 energy companies trust Quorum to run their business, including 25 Fortune 500 companies. In our 17 year history we have executed more than 1,000 successful deployments, and I invite you to learn more at qbsol.com.

Andrew Rubenstein joined Plains All American in 2018 and works in business development, concentrating on corporate finance, M&A, asset sales and supply / demand forecasting. Prior to joining Plains, Andrew was an Investment Banking Analyst at UBS Investment Bank, focusing on financing and M&A transactions in the Natural Resources Group. Andrew received his B.B.A in Finance in 2016 from The University of Texas at Austin.