PEDEVCO Corp. ("PEDEVCO" or the "Company"), an energy company engaged in the acquisition and development of strategic, high growth energy projects in the U.S., announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed J. Douglas Schick, the Company's current President since August 2018, as the Company's new Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board, and is expanding its executive management and development team with the hiring of Mr. Jody Crook as the Company's new Chief Commercial Officer, all effective January 1, 2025. Mr. Schick succeeds Dr. Simon G. Kukes, who will step down as Chief Executive Officer and assume the role of Executive Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors.
Dr. Kukes, the Company's current Chief Executive Officer and newly appointed Executive Chairman, commented, "Since taking over the Company in 2018, our team has worked closely to increase production, contain costs, raise capital, secure a $250 million reserve based credit facility with Citibank, and enter into key joint development agreements in the Permian and D-J Basins, all of which Mr. Schick has been instrumental in achieving. With the Company's clean balance sheet, cash on hand, zero debt, and $250 million reserve based lending facility available to fund future organic development and accretive acquisition opportunities, and now with an expanded operations and development team, we believe the Company is well-positioned for continued growth under Mr. Schick's leadership."
About J. Douglas Schick
Mr. Schick has over twenty-five years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining the Company as President on August 1, 2018, Mr. Schick was employed by American Resources, Inc., a privately held oil and gas investment, development and operating company which he co-founded and serves as Chief Executive Officer (from August 2017 to the present) and formerly as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Development (from August 2013 to August 2017). Prior to starting American Resources, Mr. Schick served as the founder, owner and principal of J. Douglas Enterprises, an energy industry focused business development and financial consulting firm (from June 2011 to August 2013) as Vice President of Finance (from January 2011 until its sale in June 2011) for Highland Oil and Gas, as Manager of Planning and then Director of Planning at Mariner Energy, Inc. (from December 2006 until its merger with Apache Corp. in December 2010), and in various roles of increasing responsibility in finance, planning, M&A, treasury and accounting at The Houston Exploration Company, ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil Company (from 1998 to 2006).Mr. Schick holds a BBA in Finance from New Mexico State University and an MBA with a specialization in Finance from Tulane University.
About Jody Crook
Mr. Crook has over twenty-five years of experience in the energy industry. Mr. Crook has served as a Senior Advisor for Land and Business Development activities for the Company since April 2020. Prior to joining the Company, in 2015 Mr. Crook co-founded Tenet Advisory Group LLC, a Houston-based consulting firm that provides engineering, land, regulatory, and business development services to the oil and gas sector, and from 2017 to 2018 Mr. Crook co-founded and served as principal of Bronze Four Resources, LLC, an Austin-based contract operating company focused on contract drilling, completion, and production operations in the Anadarko basins. From 2004 to 2014 Mr. Crook held various leadership roles at Jones Energy, Ltd., a public oil and gas company based in Austin, Texas, including as Land Manager, Senior Vice President of Land, Senior Vice President for the Arkoma Region, and Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Exploration. Mr. Crook holds a BBA in Finance & PLM from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
