James Royal is the CEO of Staghorn Petroleum, LLC, an EnCap backed private equity company operating in the STACK play of the Anadarko Corridor. Prior to Staghorn Petroleum, James held various roles at Newfield Exploration including New Ventures Manager, Asset Manager, and Engineer. He also held several significant roles at BP including Business Development Advisor, Manager of Technical Information Services, and Lead Reservoir Engineer. James Royal has a BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa.

Jeff Tanner joined Jones Energy in 2014 and serves as Executive Vice President - Geosciences and Business Development. Mr. Tanner has over 27 years of diverse technical and managerial experience in the oil and gas business. Prior to joining Jones Energy, Mr. Tanner was Vice President, Exploration for Southwestern Energy. During his career, Mr. Tanner has held a variety of management and technical positions for Laredo Petroleum, Cabot Oil and Gas, and Noble Energy. He began his career with Shell in Houston. Mr. Tanner is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Houston Geological Society. He holds a B.S. in Geology from Texas A&M and an M.S. in Geology from the University of Houston.

Ali Ahmed is currently the President and Co-Founder of HighMark Energy LLC in Irving, TX.

 Previously, Ahmed served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Woodbine Acquisition Corporation and sold their assets to Meidu Holdings for $535 million. Prior to joining Woodbine Acquisition, Ahmed was a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at O'Brien Resources, a family owned independent operator in East Texas. Ahmed started his energy career as a corporate banker at Union Bank of California. Ahmed earned a B.B.A. and a J.D. from the University of Houston.