Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Evans.
Derek, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I founded Veteran Oil Partners in 2010 when I was 26 years old. At an ambitious 22 years of age, and only a few months after I received an honorable discharge from the United States Marines Corps, I began my oil and gas industry career as a licensed financial broker that connected private investment capital to quality domestic oil and gas development projects. My tours overseas as a Marine really made me aware of just how important the global oil and gas business was and is to our national economy and national security, so it was a very natural industry for me to establish myself in. Brokering capital was just the beginning for me, and from the very start I knew I had a passion for the challenging business of finding and producing American oil, and one day I aspired to walk in the footsteps of the legendary wildcatters that pioneered the business like Roy Cullen, H.L. Hunt, Sid Richardson, Glen McCarthy, and Clint Murchison Jr. After the industry had made a recovery from the great financial collapse of 2008, which sent oil prices tumbling down to $37 per barrel from a historic high of $147 per barrel, I decided that the time was ripe to dive in head first, and all in on my oil and gas entrepreneurial pursuits. I credit the confidence to do so to a vision that came to me as I ate dinner one night. The name of my company would be Veteran Oil Partners, and every well that we would drill would be named after a Veteran that paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in support of the Global War on Terrorism. We would name our initiative “Operation: Preserve Legacy”.
Our goal was twofold; 1- to honor the courageous men and women that lost their lives while fighting to protect our freedoms in Iraq and Afghanistan. 2- to produce as much American oil as possible since every barrel produced here is one less American dollar that goes to importing oil from middle eastern countries that are known financiers of terrorism.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Any entrepreneur, much less an oil and gas wildcatter, that claims they have had a smooth road in launching and developing a startup business idea is flat out lying to you! There have been many bumps in the road that we have had to overcome and adapt with as a company. The first thing that sticks out in my mind is the 1st 3 wells that we worked so hard to find the funding for and finally drill were all dry holes. Finding oil and gas is a very tough business with many many factors and risks that are beyond the CEO’s control. It was a very frustrating start to say the least. Investors lost confidence and discontinued participation, heck I lost confidence for a moment there, but as the Marine Corps taught me to do I was able to adapt and overcome and reconfigure to fight another day. I was able to organize a new team in a new geological area that held promise, recruit a seasoned and respected geologist to our team to aid in our exploration, and finally convince reluctant investors to pool capital and give us another shot to be successful. Low and behold the very next well we drilled came screaming in around 100 bbls of oil per day! Having some success brought on a new whole set of challenges like building out an accounting and administrative dept. etc… The better challenges to have. The other real challenge that sticks out in my mind is in the year 2014 the price of oil collapsed from an average price of $90-$100 per barrel all the way down to the high $20’s in 2015. Everyone in the upstream oil and gas industry felt this pain, and unlike the crisis in 2008, this one was an oversupply of global oil and the problem was here to stay. As a producer of oil, it is extremely difficult to navigate through these bust cycles, especially when your financial models were based on say $70-$80 per barrel economics. Luckily for us, this price collapse coincided with a nice little field discovery we made that was panning out quite well for us. It allowed us the time to once again reconfigure as a company, recruit prestigious industry technical experts, and make land acquisitions in areas that had economics that supported drilling wells in a sub $40 oil market. Being an oil wildcatter certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be able to thrive in uncertainties. I believe my training that I received as a United States Marine perfectly prepared me for the challenges we face daily in the upstream oil and gas industry.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Veteran Oil Partners – what should we know?
Veteran Oil Partners and our sister company Veteran Exploration & Production is an oil and gas exploration and development operating company that is financially backed by Accredited Investor partners that seek the unique investment benefits of direct participation in oil and gas wells. Benefits like potential long term cash-flow from production operations, significant tax benefits, and the excitement of potential high upside returns. This is a segment of the industry that is plagued by opportunists that prey on unbeknownst investors, so what makes me the most proud is the quality of projects that we generate for our investor partners, and the transparent platform in which we offer them upon for participation.
Communication is a vital part of every military operation, and as a company we take great pride in communicating with our investor partners throughout all phases of the projects open to participation. One thing that truly sets us apart from other great small oil and gas producers is our mission; Operation: Preserve Legacy. We name every well we drill after a fallen Veteran that paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Global War on Terrorism. In their memory we support several Veteran themed charities that focus on bettering the quality of life for our nation’s heroes that have put it all on the line in defense of our freedoms that we so enjoy here. Outside of that, we have absolutely the best of the best in Petroleum Engineering which gives us enormous operational capabilities as a small company with our relationship with Allen Hadaway, managing partner of Hadaway Engineering and Consulting out of Canadian Texas.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Perseverance. Confidence. Determination. Judgement. Integrity. Honesty. Enthusiasm. Just to name a few. Basically, leadership traits that were ingrained in me as a Non Commissioned Officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.veteranoilpartners.com
- Phone: 844.655.5216
- Email: devans@veteranoilpartners.com
Image Credit:
Jennifer Griffin
Joshua Bruton
Dustin Schoonover
Chris Martinez
Nick Cox
Michelle Griffin
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