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Michael N. Foster, Jr.
President and Co-Founder
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Lary D. Knowlton
Executive Vice President and Co-Founder
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Nathan A. McGough
Chief Financial Officer
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Malinda Barnes
Chief Accounting Officer
Mr. Foster has served in this position since the company’s inception in May of 1989. As President, Mr. Foster has grown the assets under the company’s management to over $1 Billion while distributing hundreds of millions of dollars. Mr. Foster is responsible for the creation and management of BĀSA’s financial, acquisition, and operational strategies. The success of these strategies is evidenced by the firm’s growth in production and value since inception. Mr. Foster also manages and reviews the engineering of all field operations for approximately 3,600 wells spread across the more than 50 fields operated by BĀSA. Before co-founding BĀSA, Mr. Foster served as Vice President of FEC Securities Corp., an oil and gas exploration marketing firm. Mr. Foster directed the marketing of FEC’s oil and gas products and managed the firm’s training and development programs. He played an integral role in the selection of numerous drilling prospects and the review of geological, geophysical and reservoir engineering reports. Mr. Foster is a graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Mr. Foster serves on several boards including the Austin College Board of Trustees and the East Texas Saltwater Disposal Company Board of Directors. Mr. Foster is a member of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the East Texas Engineering Association, and the Dallas Petroleum Club where he previously served on the Board of Directors.
Mr. Knowlton has served in this position since the company’s inception in May of 1989. As Executive Vice President, Mr. Knowlton is responsible for business development and high-level company strategy. Early In the company’s history many of the firm’s acquisitions were partially funded with the help of third party investor relationships managed by Mr. Knowlton. In this process Mr. Knowlton grew BĀSA’s partner base from a single domestic partner in 1989 to a large global network of thousands. From 1988 to May 1989, Mr. Knowlton served as Vice President of FEC Securities Corp., an oil and gas exploration marketing firm. Prior to 1987, Mr. Knowlton served as a financial planning consultant specializing in the areas of estate and insurance planning for Prudential Insurance Company. Mr. Knowlton attended college at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, Missouri. Mr. Knowlton is a member of The Dallas Petroleum Club and the Independent Petroleum Association of America and serves on the board of the East Texas Saltwater Disposal Company.
Mr. McGough joined BĀSA in 2004 and is responsible for the firm’s financial strategy, management of banking relationships, portfolio management, risk analysis and management including derivatives trading, operations analysis, and strategic development & implementation. Mr. McGough also manages all aspects BĀSA’s institutional direct energy private equity fund – BĀSA PetroFund I which has delivered an internal rate of return in excess of 20% to limited partners over the last 11 years. Prior to joining BĀSA, Mr. McGough served as Manager of Risk Operations for Capital One Financial, Inc.’s Installment Lines of Business. While at Capital One, Mr. McGough held various leadership positions within the risk management arena. In his term as Manager of Risk Operations, Mr. McGough increased assets under management of an unsecured portfolio from $200 million to $575 million in less than two years while driving a 100% increase in profitability per dollar under management. Mr. McGough was also responsible for the development and application of analytical processes for the Auto Finance Division which were later applied across other installment lending lines of business at Capital One. Mr. McGough is a member of the Dallas Petroleum Club, Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Dallas ADAM Energy Group (Acquisition, Divestiture, and Merger).
Ms. Barnes joined BĀSA in February of 2014 as the company’s Controller and became the Chief Accounting Officer in 2017. She has over 25 years of experience in oil and gas accounting. Ms. Barnes supervises the accounting functions of the company, including accounts payable, joint interest billing, revenue, and financial reporting. Prior to joining BĀSA, Ms. Barnes held various accounting roles at Hunt Petroleum Corporation and Aethon I LP/Hyperion Energy LP. Ms. Barnes graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1991. She is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS).
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Zachary H. Drake
Chief Compliance Officer
General Counsel & Vice President of Land -
Chris Arnold
Vice President of Operations
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Robert N. Marshall
Vice President of Operations
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Steve Limke
Vice President of Drilling
Mr. Drake joined BĀSA in 2013 and serves as the company’s Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel and Vice President of Land. As a member of the executive leadership team, he oversees the Company’s legal, land, title and compliance functions, providing strategic counsel on corporate governance, regulatory matters, risk management and business transactions. He also directs land and title operations supporting more than 6,000 wells operated by BĀSA in over 50 fields throughout the State of Texas. Mr. Drake has extensive experience in complex oil and gas transactions, title and ownership matters, acquisitions and divestitures, contracts, real estate matters and regulatory compliance. He plays a key role in the company’s growth initiatives, overseeing legal due diligence, transaction structuring and the negotiation of a broad range of commercial agreements while ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations and corporate policies. Prior to joining BĀSA, Mr. Drake worked for a private oil and gas company focused on the Barnett Shale before serving as Head of the Title Curative and Due Diligence Department working as a broker for numerous large public exploration and production companies where he managed title and due diligence projects throughout the United States. Mr. Drake earned a Bachelor of Science in Multinational Business from Florida State University and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Mr. Drake is an active member of the State Bar of Texas and is Board Certified in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Drake is a member of the Oil, Gas & Energy Resources, Environmental & Natural Resources, Corporate Counsel and Real Estate Law Sections of the State Bar of Texas; the Dallas Bar Association, Energy Law Section; the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL); and the Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen (DAPL). He is also a Licensed Real Estate Sales Agent with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and an Eagle Scout.
Mr. Arnold joined BĀSA Resources, Inc. in May of 2023 with 16 years of experience as a petroleum engineer. His background is concentrated in operations and completions across oil and gas fields in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. He began his career with BĀSA Resources, Inc. as an Operations Engineer from 2007-2017 working East Texas oil and gas assets. During this time, he helped lead a large-scale reduction in well failures via artificial lift modifications and optimization. Prior to re-joining BASA, he worked as a Senior Operations Engineer at TXO Partners. There he oversaw operations and completions in the Permian, San Juan, and Green River Basins. Throughout his career, he has excelled in his ability to move into a new area, assess an operation, and quickly implement an improved operational business model to maximize production and profitability. Mr. Arnold holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a licensed professional engineer. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
Mr. Marshall joined BĀSA Resources, Inc. in January of 2005 with 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry. Mr. Marshall has held a variety of management, supervisory, and technical positions with Ascent Energy, Inc., Kerr-McGee, Oryx Energy, and its predecessor, Sun Exploration & Production Company. Mr. Marshall began his career with Sun Oil Company in 1980. He has a very broad base of experiences operating in a multitude of geologic basins in the U.S. Mr. Marshall has a proven track record of exploiting assets as both an engineer and a manager by enhancing volumes and reducing costs in a variety of fields in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. His strengths include his technical competence in drilling, completions, workovers, EH&S Management, artificial lift, compression, and operations management. Prior to joining BĀSA, Mr. Marshall worked for Ascent Energy, Inc. as V.P. of Operations. Previously Mr. Marshall managed Kerr-McGee’s domestic onshore operations where his responsibilities included financial authority and management of a staff including 5 operations engineers, 3 field superintendents, and 80 field operations employees. These operations consisted of more than 2,300 active producing wells in 35 fields with daily production of 8,000 barrels of oil and 3 million cubic feet of gas. He has excelled in his ability to move into a new area, assess an operation, rapidly deploy the resources, and implement the systems and processes to achieve a streamlined, efficient business unit. Mr. Marshall attended Louisiana State University where he earned B.S. degrees in Zoology and Petroleum Engineering. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Petroleum Institute, American Association of Drilling Engineers, and Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association. He is also a certified Incident Commander for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) and is certified by the MMS at the “Supervisor” level for Well Control on Workovers/Completions/Well Servicing.
Mr. Limke joined BĀSA Resources Inc. in February of 2007 with over 25 years of experience as a petroleum engineer. Mr. Limke is responsible for reviewing all drilling prospects, supervising the drilling and completion of wells, and overseeing workover operations. Prior to joining BĀSA, Mr. Limke served as Vice President of Drilling and Operations at Ascent Energy Inc. Mr. Limke also managed the drilling operations at Prize Energy Inc. previous to his employment at Ascent. For the prior 22 years he held a succession of managerial and technical positions with Oryx Energy and its predecessor, Sun Exploration and Production Company. During this time Mr. Limke gained a wealth of experience drilling across the United States including: South Texas, Midcontinent, Appalachia, East Texas, as well as offshore. Mr. Limke attended Oklahoma State University where he earned B.S. degrees in Agriculture and Petroleum Engineering Technology. Mr. Limke is a member of the Society of Petroleum engineers. Mr. Limke is also a member of the American Association of Drilling Engineers and is a past board member and past president of the Dallas chapter of that organization.
Mr. Liu joined BĀSA in March of 2014 and is responsible for management of the company’s oil and gas reserves for internal reporting, third party audited reporting, compliance deliverables, as well as acquisition and divestiture evaluations. Additionally, Mr. Liu collaborates with the company’s technical team on asset development programs, production optimization, and upside identification. Mr. Liu holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Southern Methodist University. Mr. Liu is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Mr. Anderson joined BASA Resources, Inc. in August of 2021. Prior to joining BASA, Mr. Anderson spent six years with Fairway Resources III. During this time, he was directly involved in the acquisition, exploration, development, and ultimate sale of Fairway’s Anadarko Basin assets. Mr. Anderson began his career with NUTECH Energy, utilizing petrophysics and reservoir modeling to provide geologic evaluations in numerous onshore basins. Mr. Anderson earned his B.S. and M.S. in Geology from Stephen F. Austin State University. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Fort Worth Geological Society, Dallas Geological Society, East Texas Geological Society, and Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts.
Mr. Stolle joined BĀSA in January of 2025 and has over 26 years of experience in various capacities in the tax/accounting world. Prior to joining BĀSA, Mr. Stolle began his career with Hunt Petroleum Corporation, ultimately serving as Corporate Tax Manager. While working for the Hunt family, he was involved in many of their outside business ventures, which encompassed the oil & gas, real estate, restaurant, and aviation industries, among others. He later worked as Controller for Porter Investments, a privately held real estate investment group in North Texas. During this time he also carried full asset management responsibilities—blending aggressive property leasing & sales negotiation with proactive asset management and revenue generation. Following this opportunity, he was welcomed as a partner in Patriot Development & Construction, a commercial construction company. While with Patriot, he directed the financial health & management, human resources, and investment aspects of the company. Mr. Stolle graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of North Texas in 1999.
Dallas, Texas 75254 Phone: 214-559-4200
Facsimile: 214-528-1988