Jacob Nagy
Jacob Nagy co-founded Avant in 2019 and serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer. He leads fundraising efforts and company strategy, while overseeing investment origination, operations execution and financial management. Jacob was previously a Partner and Managing Director at Petrie Partners, a boutique energy investment bank, where he was responsible for deal origination, transaction advisory and investment management. Jacob earned a bachelor’s degree from Rice University and was recognized by Oil & Gas Investor as a Forty Under 40 honoree in 2018.
Skyler Gary
Skyler Gary brings a decade of experience as a Petroleum Landman in onshore E&P, managing both leasing programs and drilling operations for multiple operators in premier basins. Most recently, Skyler was Director of Land and Business Development for Hat Creek Energy LLC, a Denver-based E&P company with operated and non-operated assets in several states. Previously, he worked for Sequel Energy, a private equity-backed operator focused on the Bakken Shale. Skyler earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego.
Pete Williams
Pete Williams brings nearly a decade of oil and gas transaction advisory and execution experience to the Avant team. Prior to joining Avant, Pete was a Vice President with Petrie Partners, where he successfully completed numerous asset acquisitions and divestitures, public company mergers and private and public company financings totaling over $25 billion in value. Pete earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.
Braden Harris
Operating
Officer
Braden Harris brings over 20 years of operational and technical experience from multiple basins across the United States. Braden has a proven track record building high performing operations teams with a focus on safety, regulatory compliance, capital discipline and operational excellence. He has been solely responsible for the deployment of over $1 billion in capital and delivered best-in-class results. Most recently, Braden was the VP of Drilling and Completions at Advance Energy Partners, an EnCap portfolio company, where he was responsible for all operations for over 100 horizontal wells. Prior to Advance, Braden served in various operational roles at Centennial Resource Development, Silverback Exploration, EOG Resources and ConocoPhillips, among others. Braden earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University.
John Harper
John Harper provides extensive geological insight from his years of exploration and development experience at EOG Resources and Centennial Resource Development. His efforts in the Permian Basin resulted in the expansion of known play boundaries and a significant increase in economic inventory. With over 350 horizontal wells drilled across multiple geologic targets, John has achieved several Permian production records while also playing active roles in 100+ acquisitions, divestitures and trades. John earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in Geology and Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Shane Kelly
Shane Kelly is an experienced petroleum engineer with a comprehensive understanding of the Permian Basin from his years of experience with EOG Resources and Centennial Resource Development. At EOG, Shane managed an annual operating budget in excess of $1 billion with responsibility over rig scheduling, production forecasting and capital management. Shane has been involved in drilling over 350 horizontal wells in the Permian and played key technical roles in acquisition and divestiture efforts across multiple regions. Shane earned bachelor’s degrees in both Petroleum Engineering and Business Management and Information Systems from Texas Tech University.
Sam Arneson
Sam Arneson brings nearly two decades of midstream and upstream experience covering multiple basins with both public and private companies. Over the course of his career, he has worked with midstream teams in the development of nearly 1 million barrels per day of Permian crude regional gathering and transportation along with over 7 billion cubic feet of gas gathering, processing and NGL fractionation expansions. Sam began his career with Markwest Energy Partners and has held senior level development, commercial and marketing roles with EagleClaw Midstream, Felix Energy II, Oryx Midstream, and WTG Midstream. Sam earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from St. Cloud State University.
Joe Sanders
Joe Sanders joined Avant in 2025 after an accomplished 20-year career in private practice, which was principally devoted to trying energy-related and other commercial cases in state and federal courts throughout Texas and New Mexico, as well representing clients throughout the country in a variety of transactional and regulatory matters. He has also written and presented numerous articles addressing various procedural and substantive law issues affecting the oil and gas industry. Joe is a high honors graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Austin College, for which he currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Alex Hinton
Alex Hinton brings over a decade of combined operational, transactional and field land experience to the Avant Team. Prior to joining Avant, Alex served as Landman at CrownQuest Operating, LLC in Midland, TX. During his time at CrownQuest, Alex was responsible for negotiating acquisitions, working trades and preparing well locations for CrownQuest’s development in the Midland Basin. Prior to CrownQuest, Alex worked multiple basins as a field landman in Fort Worth, TX. Alex earned a bachelor’s degree in Risk Management and Finance from the University of Mississippi. He is an active member of the AAPL and PBLA.
Sarah Ferreyros
Sarah Ferreyros brings over a decade of Regulatory experience to Avant. Having managed regulatory compliance for multi-rig development programs in the Permian Basin, she brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to the team. Most recently, Sarah worked as the Regulatory Manager at Permian Resources, successfully transitioning and building the Regulatory Department for the merger of Centennial Resource Development and Colgate Energy. Prior to Permian Resources, Sarah held significant Regulatory roles at Centennial Resource Development and Vantage Energy. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and completed the COGA EnGen leadership program, underscoring her commitment to continuous learning and professional development.
Katelyn Dick
Katelyn Dick brings nearly a decade of land experience with a focus on title research, curative and land administration functions. Katelyn has conducted field land work and minerals management across multiple basins, with most of her experience being in the Permian Basin and Appalachia. Previously, she was a Project Coordinator at Holland Services, where she specialized in managing land projects for E&P companies across the U.S. Katelyn is an active member of NALTA and earned a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University.
Ted Edwards
Ted Edwards brings extensive experience in upstream oil and gas finance and A&D to the Avant team. Prior to joining Avant, Ted was the M&A Finance Lead at Sitio Royalties, where he helped close over $2.5bn of public and private acquisitions, executed multiple capital markets processes and assisted in the transformation of Sitio from a private equity backed mineral portfolio into a public minerals aggregator. Ted earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from The University of Notre Dame.
Cooper Solich
Cooper Solich brings extensive experience in upstream oil and gas finance and A&D to the Avant team. Prior to joining Avant, Cooper was Vice President of Finance at BC Operating, an NGP portfolio company focused on acquiring non-operated working interests and mineral and royalty interests across the Lower 48. Previously, he worked for Civitas Resources, a public operator focused in the Denver-Julesburg and Permian basins. He started his career with the Energy Investment Banking Group at Jefferies. Cooper earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
Zack Wishon
Zack Wishon brings nearly two decades of oil and gas accounting experience to the Avant team. Prior to joining Avant, Zack worked at Silverback Exploration and Sequel Energy, both private equity backed E&P companies and he has extensive experience with acquisition and divestiture transactions. Zack began his career in public accounting at Ehrhardt, Keefe, Stiener and Hottman and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Colorado. Zack earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and information systems from Virginia Tech.
Asim Bidiwala
Asim Bidiwala joined Avant in 2025, bringing experience in upstream finance and A&D. Prior to Avant, he was an Analyst in the Energy Investment Banking Group at RBC Capital Markets, where he advised on numerous public M&A transactions, asset acquisitions and divestitures, and capital raises totaling more than $15 billion. Asim earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the Red McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.
Billy Jo Manzanares
Billy Jo Manzanares brings more than 20 years of accounting experience to the team. Her background includes successfully managing Joint Interest Billing, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable. Prior to joining Avant, Billy Jo most recently spearheaded JIB, A/R, and A/P at Franklin Mountain Energy. Billy Jo graduated with honors from Community College of Aurora and continued her accounting studies at CSU Global. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for COPAS Colorado.
Casey Kern
Kevin Jurgensmeier
Kevin Jurgensmeier came to Avant with years of accounting experience in the upstream oil and gas industry specifically in production allocations, joint interest billing, and revenue accounting. He has been primarily focused on revenue accounting, since 2015, in Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and New Mexico. He is a Certified Management Accountant and earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and management from Hastings College.
Roxanne Wilson
Ryan Harris
Ryan Harris comes to us with over 13 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, including 10 years as an on-site engineer and completions consultant. Throughout his career, he has played a key role in the successful drilling and completion of over 300 wells across numerous basins throughout the US for leading companies such as SM Energy, Continental Resources, Kraken Resources, and Advanced Energy. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University.
Sophia Guerra
Sophia Guerra brings a decade of land experience, with a background in land administration, division orders and leasehold record management for multiple publicly traded E&P companies with operations across the US. Most recently, Sophia was a Landman at Centennial Resource Production, LLC, where she maintained leasehold for several project areas within the Permian Basin, negotiated leases and trade opportunities and prepared acreage for full-scale development. Sophia earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Josh Payne
Josh is an accomplished geoscientist with over 6 years of expertise in unconventional petroleum exploration and development. Throughout his tenures with EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, and Guggenheim Partners, Josh has planned and drilled over 300 wells in the Permian Basin, successfully proposing over $2 billion in new development while strategically developing key company assets such as Red Hills, Poker Lake, and The Big Eddy Unit. Josh holds a Master of Science in Geology and Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University.
Chris Leyendecker
Chris Leyendecker brings a decade of combined operational and transactional Land experience to the Avant team. Prior to joining Avant, Chris served as Landman at EOG Resources, Inc. in both their Denver and Midland offices. During his time at EOG, Chris was instrumental in preparing well locations for EOG’s robust development plan in the Delaware Basin. In addition, Chris was responsible for negotiating and executing numerous trades and acquisitions of leasehold interests throughout multiple onshore US oil and gas basins. Prior to EOG, Chris served as a land administration professional with Southwestern Energy, based in Spring, TX. Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in Energy Management from the University of Oklahoma. He is an active member of the AAPL, DAPL and PBLA.
Rusty Sandry
Rusty Sandry brings a decade of operational and technical experience with his years in the field on the service side and experience with Centennial Resource Development and Permian Resources. At Centennial, Rusty worked in the Facilities, Production, and Drilling departments where he gained his knowledge to be a more well-rounded engineer. Most recently, Rusty was a Senior Drilling Engineer at Permian Resources, where he managed two drilling rigs in the Delaware Basin. He also served in numerous operational roles on a Completions workover rig in the Bakken Basin and Frac engineer for Halliburton in the DJ Basin. Rusty earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming.
Tiffany Sarantinos
Tiffany Sarantinos brings over 20 years of experience performing leasehold and data management. Most recently, Tiffany worked in the land department for Gary Permian, LLC, a private equity-backed company focused on the Permian Basin. Tiffany has conducted leasing activity, division order analysis and contractual work across multiple U.S. basins and supervised the land department for a public E&P company with over 500,000 acres under management. Tiffany has served on the board for DALTA and remains an active member of NALTA and Women’s Energy Network Colorado. Tiffany attended the University of Colorado Denver.
Cayla Gorski
Carl Messina
Carl Messina brings almost a decade of land experience, with a background in GIS and as a Land Coordinator for both publicly traded and privately backed E&P companies with operations in the Permian Basin. Most recently, Carl was a Senior Land and Business Development Coordinator at Revenir Energy, Inc. where he led the company’s mapping initiatives, managed operated and non-operated well proposals, and supported the Business Development team in executing successful trades and divestitures. Carl earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Connecticut State University.
Alex Zaitsev
Alex Zaitsev brings nearly a decade of Permian Basin engineering and A&D advisory experience. Prior to joining Avant, Alex was an Associate with Truist Securities, where he served as the lead engineer on upstream, midstream and mineral transaction advisory totaling $2.8 billion in value. Prior to Truist, Alex was a Reservoir Engineer with Apache Corporation where he worked on production, completions, facilities and reservoir engineering across Apache’s Permian Basin assets. Alex earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Texas Tech University.
Zack Hunter
Zack Hunter brings nearly two decades of land experience across multiple basins, with a focus on oil and gas lease acquisition, contract negotiations, along with mineral and production history research. Zack has earned a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Land and Resource Management from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is a certified petroleum landman and an active member of the AAPL.
Asher Miller
Asher Miller brings over a decade of land experience, with a background in land administration, division orders and leasehold record management for multiple publicly traded E&P companies with operations across the US. Most recently, Asher was a Team Lead of Division Orders at Crescent Point Energy, where he led a team of analysts and specialized in data integrity. Asher earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University.
Jet Akin
Jet Akin brings over six years of land experience with a focus on title research and owner relations. Prior to joining Avant, Jet served as a Landman at North Star Energy Company, LLC, a land services firm where he worked on several different projects for major operators across the Powder River and DJ Basins. Jet earned a bachelor’s degree in Energy Management from the University of Oklahoma.
Jerry Strawn
Jerry Strawn brings over 7 years of completions and operations experience from his years working at Halliburton and as a consultant at Ely & Associates. Jerry has worked with numerous operators to develop fields across North and South America utilizing various completion techniques while highlighting opportunities to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Jerry earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University.
Shailey Oglesby
Shailey Oglesby brings a decade of experience providing operational support to engineers and field staff. Most recently, she was a Senior Engineering Technician at Advance Energy Partners where she managed multiple projects for the operations team. Shailey specializes in directional well design, data management, data analysis, and project management with experience spanning multiple basins across the U.S. Shailey earned an associate degree from Central Wyoming College.
Liam Kaltenback
Mason Wecks
Mason Wecks is an experienced business manager dedicated to enhancing the efficiency and success of the Avant team. By leveraging her exceptional organizational, communication, and leadership skills, she is able to innovate and improve business processes while providing support across all levels of the organization. Mason received her bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University.