Natural Resources >> CEO Interviews >> January 29, 2016
J. Russell Porter has been a member of the board and has served as Gastar Exploration Inc.’s President and Chief Executive Officer since February 2004. From August 2006 until January 2010, he also served as Chairman of the board. From September 2000 to February 2004, he served as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Porter has an energy-focused background, with approximately 23 years of natural gas and oil exploration and production experience, and five years of banking and investment experience specializing in the energy sector. From April 1994 to September 2000, Mr. Porter served as an Executive Vice President of Forcenergy, Inc., a publicly traded exploration and production company, where he was responsible for the acquisition and financing of the majority of its assets across the United States and Australia. He currently is a Director of Caza Oil & Gas, Inc., a publicly traded exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London AIM exchange, and Petrel Energy Limited, an Australian-listed exploration and development company with assets in Uruguay, Spain and Canada. Mr. Porter holds a Bachelor of Science in petroleum land management from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Profile
TWST: Can you provide a brief overview of Gastar Exploration and describe your business model?
Mr. Porter: We are a Houston-based exploration and production