LEADERSHIP TEAM
Leadership Team
Frank Semple, Chairman
Mr. Semple is the retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. Mr. Semple joined MPLX in 2015, at the time of the MPLX and MarkWest combination ($15.6B transaction) and retired in 2016. He joined MarkWest in 2003, as president and chief executive officer and was elected chairman of the board in 2008. Prior to joining MarkWest, Mr. Semple completed a 22-year career with The Williams Companies and WilTel Communications. He served as the chief operating officer of WilTel Communications, senior vice president/general manager of Williams Natural Gas Company, vice president, operations and engineering for Northwest Pipeline Company and division manager for Williams Pipeline Company. Prior to his time at The Williams Companies, Mr. Semple served in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Semple earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Naval Academy. He completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School. Frank also serves on the board of directors of MPLX LP (Owner of Markwest Energy Partners LP and Marathon Pipeline LLC).
Vernon Daniels, Co-Founder
Vernon Daniels is the Co-Founder and CEO of Nitro-Lift Technologies. He has 19 years experience with nitrogen units and 33 years experience with all phases of exploration and production. Prior to founding Nitro-Lift, he worked for Samedan Oil Corporation where he spent one year in Accounting, three years as the Assistant Manager Offshore Drilling and Production, and two years Joint Venture Land Department Liaison. Vernon also worked for W.H. Mengden Oil & Gas as a Manager where he supervised all phases of E&P activities including land and legal, accounting, and made all decisions on exploration and production activities. Vernon is also the Co-founder of the Daniels Corporation where he conducts E&P activities in the Gulf Coast Area.
Kevin Jordan, CEO of Black Gold Group
Kevin is the majority principal in the Black Gold Group of companies. A native Oklahoman, Kevin received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Oklahoma State University where he was named the Outstanding Graduate. He also received a Law Degree from the University of Tulsa and a Masters Degree in Business from Southern Methodist University in Texas. While certainly using the legal background in his various business endeavors, Kevin has spent most of his life in entrepreneurial roles in small and mid-size businesses. In addition to working for a commercial lender, an equity investment firm, and several large companies in various roles, Kevin has spent 25 years in executive management and ownership of numerous businesses that he has started, acquired, merged, or turned around and recapitalized amidst the turbulent times experienced by that business. He has consulted and/or facilitated financing and equity investments on dozens more in these same and other industries.
Danny Daniels, Co-Founder & CTO
Danny is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nitro-Lift Technologies. He has 19 years experience with nitrogen units and 28 years experience with all phases of exploration and production. Danny oversees all research & development activities for Nitro-Lift including enhanced oil recovery and wastewater reclamation as well as innovative research for improving nitrogen services and processes. He also holds numerous patents on processes and equipment related to nitrogen generation, completion, and production. Prior to Nitro-Lift, Danny was Manager at Jackson Oil Company. Danny is also the Co-founder of the Daniels Corporation where he conducts E&P activities in the Gulf Coast Area.
Matt Cantrell, Managing Director
Matt is the Managing Partner and board member of Nitro-Lift Holdings. Mr. Cantrell led the recapitalization and majority stake acquisition of Nitro-Lift Holdings and negotiated exclusivity for the distribution of Nissan Chemical’s nanoActiv® hydrocarbon recovery nanoparticle. Prior to joining Nitro-Lift, Matt worked for more than ten years for ONEOK, Inc. where he focused on corporate business development. During his tenure, he was a part of ONEOK’s restructuring from a GP/MLP to a pureplay C-Corp (NYSE: OKE, $17.0B transaction), the spinoff of ONEGas (NYSE: OGS, $3.0B transaction), the acquisition of Chevron’s West Texas LPG Pipeline ($.8B, transaction), and more than $7.0B in growth projects. Matt received his BS of Finance from Oklahoma State University.
Chase Daniels, CCO
Chase is the Chief Commercial Officer of Nitro-Lift Technologies and has extensive experience in nitrogen, drilling and production operations. Chase was a fidle operator on first nitrogen units in Barnett Shale starting in 2006. His nitrogen experience encompasses all phases of Upstream, Midstream and Downstream (Operations & Sales). Chase’s nitrogen sales experience includes bids, engineer interface and supervision of sales staff. Prior to NitroLift, he was a directional drilling operator for MWD Directional Drilling and supervised well re-work program for Don H. Wilson, Inc. where he upgraded infrastructure and effecting a workover program taking production from 8 BOPD to 110 BOPD.
John Beaver, COO
John is the Chief Operations Officer of Nitro-Lift Technologies and brings 14 years of broad experience in the oil and gas industry. John has been with Nitro-Lift since 2013, where his roles included fabrication general manager, fabrication sales and business development across all entities. Prior to Nitro-Lift, he assisted in leading the start-up of a small privately held E&P as well as handling land manager duties. John also spent 12 years trading oil and natural gas futures both as a broker and trader. He was also a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch and was an Executive Vice President at Smith Barney.