President & Chief Executive Officer

Craig Adams has 28 years of experience in the energy industry with expertise in geology, geophysics, petrophysics, project and play management, operations, economics, and reservoir analysis. He has been involved in the discovery of and currently owns interests in producing properties in the Fort Worth Basin, Arkoma Basin, Anadarko Basin, Eastern Shelf, and Permian Basin. Mr. Adams began his career with Amoco Production Company in Denver, CO, where he worked the Rockies, Mid-Continent and several international projects. He left Amoco in 1996 to help manage Beartooth Energy Partners and later co-founded and served as President of its successor, ADEXCO Production Company. He was responsible for ADEXCO being an early entrant in the Barnett Shale play, where he owned interest in 150,000 acres and over 120 wells. Mr. Adams earned an Executive M.B.A. from Rice University, a M.S. in Geology from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a B.S. in Geology from Texas Christian University.  He serves on the Board of the Energy Institute at Texas Christian University and on the Petroleum Geoscience Advisory Board at the University of Texas at Arlington, served as President of the Board of Directors for the Oil Information Library of Fort Worth, and is a founding member of the Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Professional Exploration Geoscientists. He is a Licensed Professional Geoscientist (TBPG), a Certified Petroleum Geologist (AAPG), and is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Fort Worth Geological Society. 

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Paul Teske has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry acquiring and developing unconventional resources. Prior to joining Newark E&P, he was President of DTE Gas Resources and previously held several other senior management positions in the oil and gas industry where he has earned a well-established track record of acquiring, developing, and monetizing large-scale unconventional projects. He has extensive transactional experience, with over $2 Billion in acquisitions and divestitures in many of the active unconventional basins. Mr. Teske earned a B.S. in Engineering from Michigan State University.

Vice President of Operations and Engineering

Al Davis has over 28 years in the oil and gas industry with experience in drilling, completions, and production operations, which since 2004 has been focused on operations in unconventional resource plays, including the Barnett Shale and Fayetteville Shale plays. He began his career as an engineer with Shell Oil Company and has subsequently held Senior Engineer and Operations Manager positions for several independent operators. Before joining Newark E&P he was Operations Manager for ADEXCO Production Company, implementing an active development drilling and completion program in the Barnett Shale play. Mr. Davis earned a B.S. in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from Penn State University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and Fort Worth Wildcatters. 

Chief Financial Officer

Mike Herman has 30 years of operational, strategic, and financial leadership experience throughout North America and Europe with a diverse background in valuation modeling and due diligence for acquisitions and divestitures, accounting, finance, treasury, compliance, information technology security, risk management and human resources.  Prior to joining Newark E&P, Mr. Herman served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for First American Payment Systems, then as Group Executive Accounting & Finance and Chief Compliance Officer for JP Morgan’s Chase Paymentech Division. Previously, he held key roles with Jacobs/Carter & Burgess Engineers, AMR/American Airlines, and Arthur Andersen. His experience includes managing oil & gas company audits and managing personal oil & gas interests. Mr. Herman earned both his BBA and MBA from Texas Christian University. He is a Certified Public Accountant, has served as Adjunct Professor in the College of Business Administration at the University of Texas at Arlington, and is a member of the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies and Financial Executives International.

Geology Manager

Trey Hargrove has 12 years of experience as a research geologist in the U.S. and internationally and has more than six years of experience in the oil and gas industry, where he has worked primarily in unconventional resource plays, including the Barnett Shale, Fayetteville Shale, and Marcellus Shale. His experience has been in drilling operations, prospect and project evaluations, acquisitions and divestitures, and GIS management. Before joining Newark E&P, he was Associate Professor of Earth Science at Collin County College and then worked as an operations geologist at ADEXCO Production Company. Dr. Hargrove earned a Ph.D. in Geosciences from The University of Texas at Dallas and B.A. and M.S degrees in Geology from Texas Christian University. He serves on the Research Committee of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, on the Petroleum Geoscience Advisory Board at the University of Texas at Arlington, and as a Research Associate with the Energy Institute Research Consortium at Texas Christian University, and is a member of the Fort Worth Geological Society, the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts, and Fort Worth Wildcatters.

Land Manager

Brad Ashburn has eight years of experience in the oil and gas industry, including practicing oil and gas law and land management in unconventional resource plays. Prior to joining Newark E&P, he served as Land Manager at DTE Gas Resources, where he oversaw leasing efforts for the Barnett Shale play. Mr. Ashburn earned a J.D. from Texas Wesleyan University and a B.B.A. from Texas Tech University. He is member of the State Bar of Texas (Oil, Gas & Energy Law and Resources Law), the American Association of Professional Landmen, and the Fort Worth Association of Professional Landmen.