Rockies Resources LLC has a proven management team with a significant track record of value creation, and has drilled hundreds of horizontal wells in the Williston, Powder River, and Denver-Julesburg Basins. The team’s experience spans conventional and unconventional, oil and gas plays across North America. The team’s most recent experience has been drilling horizontal resource play wells in the Bakken, Three Forks, Frontier, Niobrara, Shannon, Sussex, and Codell formations. The team has led operations deploying up to 10 drilling rigs and producing over 30,000 BOE/D, and managed annual capital expenditures exceeding $1.25 Billion.

Chief Executive Officer

Mark Mueller

Prior to co-founding Rockies Resources LLC, Mark served as the Senior Vice President and Rockies Region Manager for SM Energy in Montana and Colorado.  Prior to this he was Vice President and General Manager for Samson Canada and Samson Exploration Ltd. Prior to joining Samson, Mark held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering and management for Unocal Corporation in California, Louisiana, Indonesia, and Canada.  He is a registered petroleum engineer in California and holds 12 patents on drilling and completion technology. Mark has a B.Sc. In Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and over 30 years experience in the oil and gas industry.

Chief Financial Officer/VP of Business Development

Ken Friedman

Before co-founding Rockies Resources LLC, Ken spent the last 15 years investing in private oil and gas companies in various capacities at several private equity firms. He was previously a Managing Director for SFC Energy Partners and prior to that, a Director for Denham Capital, LP. Ken began making oil and gas investments while at Battery Ventures. Previous to Ken’s oil and gas investment activities, he was in the mergers and acquisitions groups at Wasserstein Perella & Co, and Credit Suisse First Boston. As an entrepreneur in 2000, Ken founded Innovance Networks, a telecom equipment startup based in Ottawa, Ontario.  Ken has a B.Sc. In Finance & Accounting from Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.

Chief Operating Officer/VP of Engineering

Greg Hilton

Prior to co-founding Rockies Resources LLC, Greg was Rockies Region Manager for SM Energy in Colorado.  Prior to this he was Asset Manager, Powder River Basin running up to 4 drilling rigs in the Frontier, Niobrara, Shannon, and Sussex formations.  Previously he was Asset Manager, Williston Basin for SM Energy running up to 5 drilling rigs in the Bakken and Three Forks formations. Prior to this at Marathon, Greg held positions of increasing responsibilities in engineering and management in Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico.  He is a licensed Wyoming professional petroleum engineer and served on the North Dakota Petroleum Council Board for five years. Greg has a B.Sc. In Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech of the University of Montana and has over 19 years experience in the oil and gas industry.

Vice President of Exploration

Andy Hennes

Before co-founding Rockies Resources LLC, Andy served as the Permian Basin Exploration Manager for SM Energy.  Prior to this Andy was the Rockies Region Exploration Manager for SM Energy, leading new play development in the Williston, Powder River, North DJ, Uinta, and San Juan Basins.  Previously Andy was a Senior Geologist for SM Energy working the Powder River, DJ, Big Horn, Wind River, Laramie, and Hanna Basins.  Andy’s work led to the discovery of the Codell horizontal resource play in the Northern DJ Basin and he has been involved in drilling many horizontal and vertical wells across multiple formations and basins across the Rockies.  Before his time with SM Energy, Andy was a geologist for Chevron in the San Joaquin Valley of California working heavy oil.  Andy served as the Montana Geological Society President in 2013 and the Rocky Mountain Section AAPG President 2016-2017.  Andy has a B.Sc. of Geology from the University of Montana, Missoula, and an M.Sc. of Geoscience in Geophysics from the University of Arizona.  He has over 14 years experience in the oil and gas industry.

Vice President of Land

Jesse Martin

Before co-founding Rockies Resources LLC, Jesse was the South Rockies Land Supervisor at SM Energy where he managed all aspects of land operations for their Powder River Basin properties.  He started his career with SM as a Regulatory Compliance Specialist and subsequent Team Lead on a coalbed methane project in Wyoming and later transitioned to a field landman dedicated to leasing and securing surface access for their Williston Basin development.  Jesse graduated from Montana State University with a B.Sc. In Land Rehabilitation and has over 14 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.  He is an active member of AAPL, DAPL and is CPL certified.

Private Equity Partner

Trace Capital

Based in Houston TX, Trace currently manages funds with invested and committed capital of over $1.4 billion. Trace was formed in August 2022 via the “lift out” of Denham Capital’s Energy Resources investment platform including its active funds, people and associated infrastructure. The Trace executive team has managed over $2.9Bn in total committed and invested capital and 26 investment platforms.