On The Solid Rock, I Stand.
Management Team
Extensive and deep technical and operational experience across the sedimentary basins and resource plays of the US is an outstanding attribute of the Solid Rock team. This broad experience not only provides flexibility, but also improves our ability to quickly and correctly recognize the fundamental drivers for the success or failure of any given resource play.
Management Team
Allen Howard
Chairman and Founder
Allen is acknowledged by Oil and Gas Financial Journal as “one of the world’s foremost authorities on oil and gas reservoirs.” He has identified unconventional oil and gas reservoirs in multiple worldwide sequences, as well as new reservoir targets in other trends like the Eagle Ford Shale, leading to discoveries including the Apache-operated “Alpine High” play and the Chesapeake-operated LaSalle County Eagle Ford. These are currently being developed as Tier-1 resource projects. Allen’s energy experience spans more than 40 years, most significantly as a successive and successful entrepreneur founding five energy-related companies across three decades: Solid Rock, established in 2019; Throne Petroleum Resources, an E&P company launched in 2013; Tri-Tech Energy Partners, founded in 2008 and through a partnership with Chesapeake, created an asset value of $2+B; NuTech Energy Alliance, founded in 1998, that became the recognized industry leader in unconventional reservoir intelligence; and NUMAR, as a member of the 1991 founding team, where he led the development of proprietary petrophysical evaluation technology, an IPO and listing on NASDAQ, and ultimately the sale to Halliburton for $360MM. He also served a decade in senior positions for Schlumberger and Halliburton. Allen has taken coursework toward an MBA from the University of Texas, Permian. He earned a BS degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Texas Tech University; he has been honored by the school and is active with the university’s engineering college and foundation board.
James Edmiston
Chief Executive Officer
James is an accomplished senior executive in the upstream oil and gas industry, bringing nearly 40 years of experience in acquisitions, engineering, operations, finance, and E&P management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Harvest Natural Resources and Jaguar Exploration and Production. In 2017, he was Principal Founding Partner of St. George Resource Partners, a company applying cutting-edge and fit-for-purpose technology to drill and produce oil and gas from wells in the US. For the prior 13 years, he served as President and CEO of NYSE-traded Harvest Natural Resources where he led all global activity and was involved in leasing, drilling, and selling of the Uinta Basin project for $308MM; quadrupling Venezuelan asset production; and sponsoring two discoveries in offshore Gabon. Earlier still, he served for 22 years in senior positions at Conoco and ConocoPhillips including: President Dubai Petroleum Company; GM of the $4.5B JV Petrozuata in Venezuela; and the South Texas Asset Manager in the Lobo Trend, where he tripled production. James began his career in engineering and supervisory roles in the Lower 48 and Gulf of Mexico. He earned an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University; earlier, he received his Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University.
Karl Nesselrode
President
Karl is a proven global energy executive. He brings five decades of experience in strategy management and execution across all phases of exploration/development, engineering, operations, reserves, economics, and risk assessment. In 2017, he was a Founding Partner of St. George Resource Partners. He served the prior 14 years in Vice President roles at Harvest Natural Resources, responsible for engineering, business development, as well as technical and operations management for the company’s JV business in Venezuela. Karl began his career in 1979 as a petroleum engineer with Union Pacific Resources, serving until and after the merger with Anadarko Petroleum in increasingly senior roles, including Director of Strategic Transactions, Director of Minerals, and General Manager of the Rockies and Land Grant Business Unit, overseeing drilling, completion, and fracture stimulation. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Tulsa. More recently, he completed the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.
Stephen Haynes
Chief Financial Officer
Steve is a financial executive with deep experience in the domestic and international oil and gas industry. He has strong experience producing analysis and advising C-level executives, boards of directors, and owners on assignments/projects in the United States, South America, United Kingdom, and Africa. Since 2008, Steve has served as VP, CFO and Treasurer of Harvest Natural Resources, an independent global energy company engaged in the acquisition, development, production, and disposition of oil and natural gas properties. Earlier, he served as CFO and Corporate Secretary for Cygnus Oil and Gas and as Controller for Carrizo Oil and Gas. From 1990 to 2001 he served British Gas in various roles, including VP Finance for Atlantic LNG in Trinidad and Tobago, and Finance Manager in Gabon. Steve received a BA in Business Administration from Sam Houston State University and an MBA in Finance from The University of Houston. He completed the Executive Development Program at Harvard Business School.
