Ted Williams is the Founder of the Rockport Companies (est. January 2022 in Austin, Texas), a family of energy investment and operating businesses spanning Rockport Energy Partners, Rockport Energy Solutions, Rockport Oil & Gas, and Rockport Minerals & Royalties. He serves on the boards of Rockport Oil & Gas I and IV and Rockport Energy Fund. Rockport operates in the Permian and Williston basins with gross development capital commitments approaching $1 billion.

Ted previously advised Castlelake LP through its Strategic Technical Advisory Committee, where Rockport Energy Solutions led the restructuring and operations of EnCore Permian. He also served as President of Luxe Minerals and Vice President of Business Development for Luxe Energy, raising $1.034 billion with NGP Natural Resources XI. Luxe Minerals sold for $360 million (2.5x MOIC), and Luxe Energy was acquired by Permian Resources (NYSE: PR) and later liquidated at a positive return.

Earlier, Ted built and led Citigroup’s Energy A&D division as Co-Head and COO, scaling a 35-person team, and previously served as a Vice President at RBC Richardson Barr. Across his career, he executed over $20 billion in transactions, including the $7.15 billion EP Energy LBO, the Riverstone SPAC that created Centennial Resources (now Permian Resources), and the IPO of Jagged Peak (now Exxon, NYSE: XOM). He began his career at Cawley, Gillespie & Associates as a reservoir engineer and petroleum consultant.

Ted is a decorated U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper (Sergeant) and holds degrees from UCLA (Economics) and UT Austin (Petroleum Engineering).

Chad Shirley is the Chief Financial Officer of the Rockport Companies, overseeing finance, accounting, treasury, and administrative functions across Rockport Energy Solutions, Rockport Oil & Gas, and Rockport Minerals & Royalties. He serves on the boards of Rockport Oil & Gas I and IV, Rockport Permian Water Company, and Rockport Williston Water Company.

Prior to joining Rockport, Chad played a vital role in the financial operations on behalf of Castlelake LP covering two of their portfolio investments, EnCore Permian Development LLC, and EnCore Permian Holdings LP.

With over 30 years of industry experience, he has held various financial and accounting positions with both public and privately backed producers to include Tradition Resources, Milagro Exploration, Mission Resources, and Ocean Energy. During his tenure at Tradition Resources, Chad served as Chief Financial Officer, where he managed all accounting and financial functions. His responsibilities included debt and treasury management, hedging execution, budgeting and planning, as well as interaction with the Board of Directors. Additionally, he oversaw human resources, insurance and benefits programs, and corporate administration, contributing to the overall success of the organization.

Chad Shirley earned his B.S. in Accounting from Louisiana State University and holds the designation of Certified Public Accountant (CPA). With his extensive financial knowledge and industry expertise, Chad has been instrumental in driving the financial growth and success of the Rockport Companies.

Dax Atkinson serves as Chief Investment Officer of the Rockport Companies, bringing more than 25 years of experience investing across the capital structure with a focus on oil and gas, energy services, and real assets. His background spans private equity, distressed credit, and special situations, with deep expertise in sourcing, structuring, and actively managing complex investments from origination through exit.

He most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Independence TX LLC, a family office with energy services holdings, where he provided financial leadership across operating and investment platforms, secured nearly $100 million of third-party capital, and led the modernization of finance, accounting, and reporting functions.

Dax spent more than six years at Castlelake LP as a Managing Director in the Special Situations Group, managing the firm’s oil and gas portfolio and deploying approximately $1 billion across distressed asset acquisitions, recapitalizations, start-ups, and growth equity investments. He worked closely with portfolio company leadership to improve operations, enhance capital efficiency, and execute monetizations.

His earlier career includes senior investment roles at CarVal Investors and Deephaven Capital, where he focused on distressed credit and special situations across energy, industrials, and shipping. At CarVal, he co-developed and served as execution lead for a shipping investment platform in partnership with Cargill. He began his career in investment banking at Piper Jaffray, advising financial institutions on M&A and capital markets transactions.

Dax holds a B.S. with Distinction and Honors in Finance from Iowa State University and is a CFA charterholder.

Gene Beck, Ph.D., serves as Drilling Manager for the Rockport Companies, providing technical and operational guidance across drilling, completions, and reservoir development. He brings more than four decades of experience spanning senior operating leadership, consulting, and academia.

Previously, Gene was a Senior Advisor with Endeavor Management’s Energy Advisory Group, advising operators on complex drilling and completion programs. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of U.S. Onshore for Statoil (now Equinor) from 2015 to 2018, overseeing large-scale operations across major U.S. shale plays, including the Bakken. Earlier roles included Bakken Asset Manager and Bakken Drilling Manager. Over his career, Gene has led drilling and completion engineering on numerous high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) wells.

Gene has also consulted for leading industry organizations, including Brigham Oil & Gas, Statoil, and Halliburton, and has provided expert witness testimony in high-profile matters, including the BP Macondo incident. He began his career at ARCO Alaska, where he helped pioneer short- and medium-radius horizontal drilling in Prudhoe Bay, earning multiple Exceptional Contribution Awards.

In academia, Gene served as an Associate Professor and Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University, where he directed funded research in HPHT cementing and drilling-fluid gas solubility and mentored graduate students in petroleum engineering. He has published extensively and presented at technical conferences worldwide.

Gene holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Petroleum Engineering and a B.S. in Geology from Louisiana State University. He is a long-standing member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, where he served as a Distinguished Lecturer and on multiple program committees.

Chris Seegers serves as Corporate and Business Development Advisor to the Rockport Companies, supporting leadership across business operating systems, organizational culture, deal sourcing, and transaction execution. He brings deep experience in scaling and operating successful businesses including oversight over corporate strategy, business development, and negotiations across mineral, royalty, and operated assets.

Previously, Chris served as Chief Development Officer of EnCore Permian Holdings, where he led business development efforts resulting in the acquisition of more than 10,000 net royalty acres and over 20,000 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin. During his tenure, he spearheaded mineral and operated asset sales exceeding $100 million, achieving realized multiples ranging from approximately 2x to 5x.

Earlier in his career, Chris structured and executed joint ventures and DrillCo agreements with a publicly traded Permian Basin operator and supported acquisition, divestiture, leasing, and due diligence activities for multiple operators across the basin. In parallel, he has actively managed his family’s oil and gas and commercial real estate assets for more than a decade, further strengthening his operator- and owner-aligned perspective.

Chris holds a B.A. in Equine Science with a minor in Business and a Master of Business Management Practices from Colorado State University.

Davis Walker serves as Senior Vice President of Exploration and Integrator for the Rockport Companies, where he leads geoscience, exploration, and subsurface development while coordinating cross-functional execution under EOS operating principles. He also supports deal sourcing and technical underwriting across Rockport’s investment platform. Davis brings deep expertise in prospect risking, reservoir characterization, and integrated subsurface execution, with a track record of guiding drilling programs and managing multidisciplinary geoscience and drilling teams.

Prior to Rockport, Davis was Geoscience Manager for Luxe Minerals and Luxe Energy, both NGP Natural Resources XI portfolio companies. During his tenure, Luxe Minerals sold for $360 million (2.49x MOIC), and Luxe Energy was acquired by Permian Resources. Davis led a team of seven geologists, helped develop the geologic model underpinning Luxe Minerals’ proprietary acquisition software, evaluated 24 operated transactions, contributing to the acquisition of approximately 35,000 net acres in the Delaware Basin, and played a key role in planning and geosteering 35 operated wells.

Earlier, Davis served as Senior Exploration Geologist and Senior Geologist of Acquisitions at Jones Energy, applying advanced geologic and petrophysical modeling across the STACK, SCOOP, and Merge plays in the Midcontinent. He was recognized with the Jones Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Contribution in 2016. Previously, he was a Geologist and Asset Manager at the Cinco Companies, supporting acquisitions, development, and exits totaling approximately $458 million across the Arkoma, Eagle Ford, and Powder River basins.

Davis holds a B.S. in Geology from Baylor University and is based in Austin, Texas.

Scott Eads serves as Vice President of Engineering & Corporate Development for the Rockport Companies, where he is responsible for engineering strategy, capital allocation support, and corporate development initiatives. He brings deep experience across acquisitions and divestitures, reservoir engineering, and operational optimization in major U.S. resource plays.

Previously, Scott was a Partner at Grey Rock Energy Partners, where he evaluated acquisition opportunities and helped deploy approximately $450 million of equity across three funds. During his tenure, Grey Rock executed a $1.32 billion portfolio sale in 2022 through a SPAC transaction that created publicly traded Granite Ridge Resources. Scott led or supported transactions with counterparties including Oxy, Marathon, Penn Virginia, and Stone Energy, and evaluated A&D opportunities totaling approximately $2.1 billion.

Earlier in his career, Scott held engineering and corporate development roles at Statoil (now Equinor) and XTO Energy, where he drove material improvements in completion design and single-well economics. In the Bakken, he led the transition to high-rate slickwater fracturing, replacing legacy crosslinked gel designs. In the Fayetteville, he recommended significantly larger fracture stimulations, resulting in materially higher EURs and improved project returns. His experience spans the Permian, Williston, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, DJ, Piceance, Marcellus, Anadarko, and Fayetteville basins.

Scott holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Dylan Morales serves as Operations Manager for the Rockport Companies, where he supports operations across production, completions, and facilities. His experience spans artificial lift optimization, production uplift identification, and infrastructure design and execution, with a consistent focus on improving operating efficiency and reducing unit costs.

Prior to joining Rockport, Dylan worked as an operations consultant supporting multiple Permian Basin operators. He also served as a Production Engineer at Parsley Energy, where he supported the Delaware Basin asset, led the flowback of the company’s first ten-well pad, and was selected to participate on the extended transition team following Parsley’s acquisition by Pioneer Natural Resources.

Earlier in his career, Dylan spent several years at Jagged Peak Energy as an Operations Engineer in the Delaware Basin. During that period, he supported production growth from approximately 5,000 to more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day, led the Facilities and Automation function, and managed artificial lift optimization across roughly 300 wellbores. His work contributed to Jagged Peak’s successful IPO and subsequent acquisition by Parsley Energy. He began his career at Denbury Resources, gaining experience across conventional, waterflood, and CO₂ tertiary recovery operations.

Dylan holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and is based in Austin, Texas.

Tyler Rheinlander serves as Senior Reservoir Engineer for the Rockport Companies, where he leads reservoir engineering, reserves analysis, and asset evaluation across Rockport-operated and managed portfolios. He previously held this role while Rockport managed the EnCore portfolio companies on behalf of Castlelake LP.

Prior to joining Rockport, Tyler was Senior Asset Manager at Catena Resources, a Carnelian-backed operator in the northern Delaware Basin of New Mexico. In that role, he managed reserves reporting, borrowing base determinations, and quarterly asset valuations, and led technical studies covering well performance, artificial lift optimization, upside target identification, and development economics.

Earlier, Tyler served as a Reservoir Engineer with Luxe Energy and Luxe Minerals. He was instrumental in building Luxe Minerals’ proprietary acquisition and underwriting model across the Midland and Delaware basins and contributed to the technical evaluation of a high-quality royalty portfolio with extensive vertical and horizontal well exposure, strong cash flow, conservative leverage, and attractive returns. He also supported the technical underwriting of Luxe Energy’s development program, including more than 34 Wolfcamp A and B wells in Reeves and Ward counties.

Tyler began his career with engineering internships at Chesapeake Energy, supporting field operations in the Haynesville Shale and production engineering in the Mississippi Lime.  He holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering with a minor in Geology from Texas A&M University.

Jarad Guynes serves as Land Manager for the Rockport Companies, Jarad is a land professional with over 20 years of experience directing land operations, acquisitions, and commercial strategy across major U.S. onshore and offshore basins. He currently serves as Land Manager for the Rockport Companies, where he oversees land acquisitions, operations, title examination, and contract management across the company’s entire portfolio.

Prior to joining Rockport, Jarad held multiple senior land roles at Equinor (formerly Statoil), including Area Land Manager for the Appalachian Basin, where he directed a 13-person land team and supported development across approximately 650,000 gross acres. His process and workflow improvements generated approximately $5 million in recurring annual cost savings.

Earlier at Equinor, Jarad served as Principal Landman for the Eagle Ford Shale asset, leading business development initiatives, including strategic acreage trades and commercial negotiations, that generated approximately $80 million in net value while coordinating regulatory, legal, and operational matters across the asset. As Senior Landman, he also managed operated and non-operated activities across roughly 80,000 gross acres in the Appalachian Basin during the early stages of his tenure with the company.

Jarad began his career serving in multiple roles at Chesapeake Energy during a period of aggressive leasing and development activity, where he supported multi-rig drilling programs and negotiated lease acquisitions across the Texas Gulf Coast and East Texas regions, as well as the Haynesville and Marcellus shale plays.

Jarad holds a B.S. in Business from St. Gregory’s University.

Kelly Tapken is the Office manager for the Rockport family of companies. Prior to joining Rockport, Ms. Tapken built a successful career in business operations, real estate, and client services. She is our dedicated office manager, bringing over 15 years of experience in organization, problem-solving, and administrative leadership. Her ability to streamline processes and create a positive, productive workplace ensures seamless daily operations.

Throughout her career, Ms. Tapken has held key roles in escrow services, loan processing, sales, marketing and business development. Her expertise is supporting people, managing transactions, and fostering strong relationships. These qualities have made her an invaluable asset to every team she has supported. She takes pride in providing the structure and support that keeps the company running efficiently.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Criminal Justice from the University of South Dakota, demonstrating her analytical mindset and commitment to detail. Now, as an integral part of the Rockport Companies team, Ms. Tapken embraces the dynamic nature of the industry and looks forward to contributing her skills to support the company’s continued success.

Outside of work, she enjoys photography and cheering on her two boys who play competitive basketball. Kelly is married to Chris. They have two boys; Teddy and Tate.