Michael E. Kenney
Geoscience Expertise • Multi-Million-Dollar CapEx Budget Oversight • High-Profile Project Execution
About Me.
Result-oriented Senior Oil, Gas, and Clean Energy Executive with in-depth background in petroleum economics, onshore operations, engineering preplanning, international sales, executive management, business development, and investment capital sourcing from supermajors, NOCs, large cap independents, private equity funds, family offices, and high-net-worth investors. Proven asset-building geoscientist and 3D seismic acquisition project manager. Track record of success through boom-and-bust cycles in highly competitive landscape and delivery of strong investor ROI.
Result-Focused Leadership
Place the finest people in suitable positions and passionately influence results by providing the tools, training, accountability, and communications necessary to ensure personal, team, and organizational success.
Vision
Translate and communicate to team members the overarching vision into business strategies and operating plans that leverage the organization’s human, capital, intellectual, and technical resources.
Win/Win Deals
Create sustainable investor ROI by applying intuitive ability and business acumen to identify and capitalize on profit-bearing opportunities and negotiate multimillion-dollar projects while building customer trust and confidence.
Communication
Provide clear direction and information to improve buy-in and increase performance from internal and external stakeholders for mutually beneficial outcomes.
Achievements.
SUCCESS STORIES
Investor Relations
- Arranged $16 million in financing from in-house investors and other high-net-worth investors who funded 165,000-acre state lease to support acquisition of new 110-square-mile proprietary 3D project within wildlife refuge. Read Full Story
- Solicited Halliburton Energy Services to fund $16 million, seven-well drilling program at Jefferson Island and negotiated $3.2 million partial reimbursement for $5 million in sunk costs for seismic acquisition.
Project Management
- $19.5 million in CapEx funded project through effective management of stage-gated financial, budgeting, cost estimating, bidding, administration, proposals, insurance, and client relations process. Read Full Story
- Managed licensing, reprocessing in time and depth, and assembly of over 400 square miles of 3D seismic coverage to support Tuscaloosa Gas Trend Extension project and scale into Greif Corporation mineral lands.
- Located and assembled 40,000-acre lease block for North America’s largest conventional natural gas prospect.
- Executed 4,000-square-mile magnetic gravity study and basin analysis to define granitic basement and basement faulting required to support play-based exploration concept of Tuscaloosa Gas Trend Extension project.
Public & Private Financing
- Negotiated 3D seismic acquisition and land/leasing agreement with St. Martin Land Company, then sold program to Goodrich Petroleum (Houston) to fund and manage acquisition of technically unique and one-of-a-kind 3D survey in onshore Louisiana. Read Full Story
Scoping Engineering & Operations Preplanning, Cost Control
- Led, planned, and executed $5.2 million 3D program and supervised 50 personnel from in-house investors. Read Full Story
Return on Investment (ROI)
- Played most critical role in management and execution of company’s largest exploration and development project that yielded 24 high-value gas prospects.
- Co-funded parallelization and reprogramming of Spectral Power, a Wigner-Ville Spectral Decomposition software program for Microsoft Server 2008 OS, at cost of $40,000 funded equally by Kenney and Microsoft.
- Discovered new field oil and gas pay sands in three wells on salt dome brownfield redevelopment project.
Strategic Leadership
- $29 million in net proceeds earned by selling company assets to launch independent oil and gas newco based on potential resource exposure of >4Tcf (four trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and petroleum liquids.
- Earned second ultra-deep natural gas unit ever awarded by state through proposal of 25,000-foot drill-ready well that complied with all federal and state regulatory permits.
- Supervised total of 75 staff as project manager and geophysical team leader.
Capital Expenditure Planning
- Sourced 100% CapEx and managed $21 million drilling fund for deep Wilcox well test in Louisiana.
- Managed well site geology/geophysics, accounting, and financial disbursements for drilling contractor on deepest well drilled in Plumb Bob Field, St. Martin Parish, LA in onshore USA.
Vision & Purpose Management
- Directly responsible for managing highly complex and environmentally challenging regulatory permitting process for three-year scope of work, including negotiations with numerous federal and state agencies, Congressmen, state senators and representatives, subject matter experts, and State of Louisiana attorneys.
- Technically defended mini-basin exploration play concept ultimately sold to newco Bayou Bend Petroleum as consultant for Summit Energy Company, LLC after leaving company.
B2B Communication
- Supported HPC groups in presentations to energy industry companies, trade events, and special purpose demonstrations of deskside multi-node, CPU cluster supercomputer.
High-Quality Proposal Secures History-Making Survey Project
Presented the project plan to the owners in New York City, beating out all competitors. Proposed performing all operations in a marine transition zone and the 3D processing in Houston. The large team would be comprised of landmen, attorneys, permit agents, accountants, geophysicists, contractors, and state and federal agency representatives.
The wildlife refuge owners awarded the highly visible project to Summit Energy Company. Successfully project managed and safety acquired data with zero lost time accidents. The 3D seismic survey was executed on time and under budget, and it generated a large portfolio of oil and gas prospects. The project ultimately led to the sale of Summit Energy Company based on a total valuation of $170 million.
Comprehensive Joint Venture Project Plan Yields $19.5 Million in Funding
Defined the scope, cost, and schedule for the proposed project. Next, researched the team’s qualifications, negotiated work contracts, and expedited all work from approximately 75 individual consultants and contractor personnel. Finally, presented the results to C-level executives to fund the recommended go-forward plan.
As a result, successfully secured $19.5 million in funding for the proposed joint venture oil and gas project with a U.S. public and multinational industrial packaging company.
Land Negotiation Leads Enables Funding for Groundbreaking Survey
To maximize the acquisition of 3D seismic data, designed the first-ever static spread recording operation in Louisiana. Additionally, used ARCGIS software to memorialize all operations and airboats to minimize surface vegetation damage.
As a result, the 3D seismic survey was executed on time and under budget. Moreover, succeeded in imaging salt dome flanks with high precision and positioning accuracy.
First-Class Management Abilities Lead to Highly Successful Salt Dome Survey
Managed a 50-person team of landmen, attorneys, permit agents, accountants, geophysicists, contractors, and state and federal agency representatives. For the first time in history, utilized ARCGIS software for a 3D seismic operation in a Louisiana land operation with excellent results.
The 3D seismic survey was acquired on time and under budget, and it succeeded in imaging salt dome flanks with high precision and positioning accuracy. Furthermore, reduced typical surface damage costs to under $15,000 (a major financial achievement) through active project management and daily operational oversight.
Work History.
click on a job title for more information
2013– 2022
Petrolex Investments, LLC | Lafayette, LA / Houston, TX
Company formed to assist and advise Greif Corporation subsidiary Soterra, LLC in managing mineral land assets spanning onshore regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in USA.
- $19.5 million in CapEx funded project through effective management of stage-gated financial, budgeting, cost estimating, bidding, administration, proposals, insurance, and client relations process.
- Located and assembled 40,000-acre lease block for North America’s largest conventional natural gas prospect.
- Earned second ultra-deep natural gas unit ever awarded by state through proposal of 25,000-foot drill-ready well that complied with all federal and state regulatory permits.
- Executed 4,000-square-mile magnetic gravity study and basin analysis to define granitic basement and basement faulting required to support play-based exploration concept of Tuscaloosa Gas Trend Extension project.
- Managed licensing, reprocessing in time and depth, and assembly of over 400 square miles of 3D seismic coverage to support Tuscaloosa Gas Trend Extension project and scale into Greif Corporation mineral lands.
2010 – 2013
Holleman & Kenney, LLC | Lafayette, LA
Expedited assembly and drilling of 18,600-foot well to test Deep Wilcox section in Plumb Bob Field, St. Martin Parish, LA.
- Sourced 100% CapEx and managed $21 million drilling fund for deep Wilcox well test in Louisiana.
- Managed well site geology/geophysics, accounting, and financial disbursements for drilling contractor on deepest well drilled in Plumb Bob Field, St. Martin Parish, LA in onshore USA.
- Negotiated 3D seismic acquisition and land/leasing agreement with St. Martin Land Company, then sold program to Goodrich Petroleum (Houston) to fund and manage acquisition of technically unique and one-of-a-kind 3D survey in onshore Louisiana.
- Technically defended mini-basin exploration play concept ultimately sold to newco Bayou Bend Petroleum as consultant for Summit Energy Company, LLC after leaving company.
2007 – 2009
Microsoft Corporation | Redmond, WA / Lafayette, LA
American multinational technology corporation that is one of the Big Five information technology companies alongside peers group leaders like Google, Amazon, Apple & Meta (aka Facebook).
- Co-funded parallelization and reprogramming of Spectral Power, a Wigner-Ville Spectral Decomposition software program for Microsoft Server 2008 OS, at cost of $40,000 funded equally by Kenney and Microsoft.
- Supported HPC groups in presentations to energy industry companies, trade events, and special purpose demonstrations of deskside multi-node, CPU cluster supercomputer.
1997 – 2006
Summit Energy Company | Lafayette & New Orleans, LA
Privately held company with $72.1 million in deployed CapEx and revenue. Company was sold in 2007.
MARSH ISLAND WILDLIFE REFUGE
- Arranged $16 million in financing from in-house investors and other high-net-worth investors who funded 165,000-acre state lease to support acquisition of new 110-square-mile proprietary 3D project within wildlife refuge.
- Assisted in negotiating final terms sheet for $15 million mezzanine-type financing facility from Trust Company of the West in Los Angeles, CA.
- Played most critical role in management and execution of company’s largest exploration and development project that yielded 24 high-value gas prospects.
- Supervised total of 75 staff as project manager and geophysical team leader.
- Directly responsible for managing highly complex and environmentally challenging regulatory permitting process for three-year scope of work, including negotiations with numerous federal and state agencies, Congressmen, state senators and representatives, subject matter experts, and State of Louisiana attorneys.
- $29 million in net proceeds earned by selling company assets to launch independent oil and gas newco based on potential resource exposure of >4Tcf (four trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and petroleum liquids.
JEFFERSON ISLAND
- Solicited Halliburton Energy Services to fund $16 million, seven-well drilling program at Jefferson Island and negotiated $3.2 million partial reimbursement for $5 million in sunk costs for seismic acquisition.
- Led, planned, and executed $5.2 million 3D program and supervised 50 personnel from in-house investors.
- Discovered new field oil and gas pay sands in three wells on salt dome brownfield redevelopment project.
Additional Experience: Consulting Geologist for Maersk Energy, Independent Prospecting Consultant, Staff Development Geologist for Great Southern Oil & Gas Company, Inc.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science
in Petroleum Geology
University of Southwestern Louisiana
Licensed Professional Geoscientist in Texas and Louisiana (Renewals Pending)
SIPES / AAPG / SEG / Houston Geologic Society
Contact Me.
