EPM outsources all functions not critical to its core competencies of field acquisition, operations control and finance. Accordingly, we employ a small headquarters staff, while outsourcing well pumping, oilfield regulatory compliance, human resources, property accounting, IT, product marketing and other back office functions. Since July 1, 2004, our general accounting and related property administrative activities have been performed by an independent group that meets the requirements set by EPM for SAS70 Type II internal audit and financial process controls. Since July 1, 2008, we have been compliant with SOX 404(a) controls over financial reporting.

Robert S. Herlin, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, & Co-founder
Mr. Herlin is a co-founder, serving as our President and CEO since EPM’s inception in September 2003 under the name Natural Gas Systems, Inc., and serving as Chairman of the Board since 2010. Mr. Herlin has 30 years of experience in engineering, energy transactions, operations and finance with small independents, larger independents and major integrated oil companies. Since 2003 until early 2010, Mr. Herlin has also served as a nonactive Partner with Tatum CFO, a financial advisory firm that provides executive officers on a part-time or full-time basis to clients, where he has been assigned as a fulltime executive officer of our company. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Herlin served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Intercontinental Towers Corporation, an international wireless infrastructure venture. Previously, he served multiple private and public companies primarily in the energy industry in various roles from business development, strategy, operations, finance and general management. Mr. Herlin also served on the Board of Directors of Boots and Coots, Inc., an oil field services company, from 2003 until its sale to Halliburton Company in September 2010. He also serves on the Engineering Advisory Board for the Brown School of Engineering at Rice University, where he previously served on the Centennial Council for Chemical and BioMolecular Engineering.  Mr. Herlin graduated with honors from Rice University with B.S. and M.E. degrees in chemical engineering and earned an MBA from Harvard University. 

Sterling H. McDonald, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. McDonald joined EPM as our Chief Financial Officer in 2003. Since then, he has also been responsible for the administrative functions of the Company. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. McDonald served as an independent consultant and interim Chief Financial Officer to various companies, predominantly in the petroleum sector. From 1997 to 1999, he served as Chief Financial Officer for PetroAmerican Services, a subsidiary of an integrated NYSE-traded oil and gas company. Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer of PetroStar Energy, an independent exploration and production company, and Treasurer of Reading and Bates Corporation, an NYSE-traded international offshore drilling services, exploration and production company.  During his career, Mr. McDonald has raised over $4 billion for public and private companies worldwide.

Mr. McDonald holds an MBA with highest academic achievement from the University of Tulsa, a BSBA in Finance with a minor in Accounting from the University of Tulsa, and an associate certification as an Accredited Petroleum Accountant (APA) through the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS). He is an active member and former Chapter Committee Chair of Financial Executives International (FEI) and serves the Financial Executives Networking Group (FENG) as its national Chairman for Energy and Natural Resources.

Daryl Mazzanti, Vice President for Operations
Mr. Mazzanti joined EPM in mid-2005 to oversee all of our field operations. He previously served Anadarko Petroleum as Manager of U.S. Business Development. As Production Manager - Austin Chalk for Anadarko and its predecessor, UPRC, he managed 1,200 wells with 65 employees and 25,000 boe of daily production. Mr. Mazzanti previously managed operations in the Carthage Field in East Texas and fields in west and south Texas. He pioneered the adoption of drilling opposing laterals in the Austin Chalk. Mr. Mazzanti holds a B.S. degree with distinction in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and has more than twenty years of oil and gas operations experience.

Eddie Schell, General Manager for Drilling and Unconventional Gas
Mr. Schell joined EPM in late 2006 to oversee all drilling activities and to pursue our unconventional gas projects. He previously served Anadarko Petroleum as their Manager of Drilling and in other capacities. During his tenure, Mr. Schell drilled more than 800 wells, approximately one third being horizontal wells and most of the balance being in unconventional gas reservoirs in Texas. Mr. Schell holds a B.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas and has more than 25 years of oil and gas operations and drilling experience.

David Joe, Controller & Corporate Secretary
Mr. Joe joined EPM in March 2005, to manage our outsourced accounting services with P2 Energy Solutions (P2), perform financial reporting activities, coordinate our audits and assist with special projects. From 2004 to 2005, Mr. Joe was a Client Manager for a competitor of P2, providing outsourced accounting services to the petroleum industry. In this capacity, Mr. Joe was responsible for managing and executing the complete upstream accounting cycle for multiple clients. Previously, Mr. Joe served 17 years in a wide array of supervisory, accounting and financial analysis positions in the upstream division of the UNOCAL Corporation, an integrated oil company traded on the NYSE.

Mr. Joe received his B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is certified as an Accredited Petroleum Accountant (APA) through the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS). He currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of Petroleum Accountants Society of Houston (PASH), the local society of COPAS.  In addition, at the COPAS national level, he currently serves on the Board of Examiners, which provides administration and oversight of the APA accreditation process.