David A. Clarke, Founder / President / CEO of the Managing General Partner
David A. Clarke. A Virginia Polytechnic & State University graduate with a degree in Engineering Science & Mechanics and minor in Business, Mr. Clarke has had a long history of entrepreneurship and corporate executive experience including management, sales, marketing, engineering, and manufacturing operations.
Mr. Clarke is President and CEO of Clarke Energy Fund Management, LLC the Managing General Partner that establishes and administers multi-well investment partnerships. He has nearly 2 decades of partnership oversight know-how.
Specifically, Mr. Clarke brings to the plate prerequisite knowledge of the oil and gas industry earned through a quarter century of investing in oil and natural gas wells throughout the United States and in successfully forging relationships and gaining trust working with other Oil and Gas Companies. Mr. Clarke has conducted forensic well operations audit investigations and field analyses as an Engineering Consultant for several affiliated Texas-based oil and gas companies. In addition, he has developed numerous Strategic Business Plans for industry players.
Overall, Mr. Clarke’s goal-oriented tenacity, engineering acumen and analytical ability, and penchant to see the big picture in conjunction with his extensive familiarity with the oil and gas industry are advantageous assets to both superintend partnership operations and to direct the evaluation of numerous oil and natural gas exploration and development opportunities.
As a born-again Evangelical Christian with a Judeo-Christian worldview, Mr. Clarke is committed to applying without compromise and through God’s grace the mores and principles as presented in the Holy Scriptures to all aspects of his life and business conduct. The “Golden Rule” perhaps best characterizes his management philosophy:
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you…” Matthew 7:12 (NASB)
Mack Crowder, Director of Business Development & Communications
Mack Crowder is a University of Tennessee Knoxville graduate with a degree in Business Marketing and minor in Entrepreneurship. While attending the University Mack played 5 years as on offensive lineman for the VOLS and was nominated as a team captain at the start of his third season.
As a starter and leader of the team, Mack developed strong leadership skills and a deep embedded “no quit” mentality. Since his college years, Mack has accumulated a history of corporate experience including management, data analytics, sales, marketing, and communication campaigns. Mack is a people person and is known for his determination to see others around him be successful.
Mr. Crowder has a history of being around the energy industry. His father owned and operated several coal mines in Virginia and West Virginia. During these operations, Mack assisted in marketing campaigns, investor communications, and investor relations.
Mack brings to the table a client first approach. In his most recent role, Mack formulated unique solutions for business leaders to solve challenging problems in the travel industry during a rapidly changing economy. His tenacity to serve others while being transparent, honest, and setting realistic expectations will be advantageous to both investors and operators.
As a born-again Christian, Mack models his approach to business after Philippians 2:3-4:
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own
personal interests, but also for the interest of others…” (NASB 1995)
Dennis R. Kittler, Operations Consultant
Dennis R. Kittler earned his BA degree in Finance at Coe College in Iowa and received his MBA with honors in Marketing Management at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Following active duty with the US Army and National Guard, Kittler held various sales, management, and executive positions with several nationally recognized firms before transitioning into the Oil and Gas Industry.
Mr. Kittler has been in the upstream side of the energy industry for over forty years. He has been involved in the generation of hundreds of high quality exploratory, in-field development, and lower risk offset drilling prospects.
His passion for the Industry led him to focus on crude oil and natural gas producing operations where he ran his own Operating Company first in Colorado and for most of his career out of the ‘Petroleum Capital of the World’, Houston, TX.
Kittler has superintended the drilling and operations of dozens of wells along the mid- and upper-Texas Gulf Coast region as well as in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. In addition, Mr. Kittler has sponsored over thirty joint venture drilling programs with global reach. Over the years, Kittler has been an active member in nearly a dozen major oil and gas associations and societies including the Houston Petroleum Club.
More recently he has been working in the broader mid-stream fuel trading business dealing with oil producers, refineries/fuel suppliers, fuel trading and logistics companies, re-sellers, buyers and/or end-users domestically and internationally.
Mr. Kittler not only brings his years of sales and marketing experience to CEFM’s successful operations, but he also brings an abundance of knowledge in the evaluation and analysis process of selecting drilling prospects and drilling site locations and overseeing well drilling and production operations.
Mr. Kittler lives in Houston, Texas and enjoys most weekends with his family at his beach home in the historical section of Galveston Island.
Richard A. Kirchmeyer, Prospect Consultant
Mr. Kirchmeyer started his professional career in the Oil & Gas industry in 1977. He began working on land-based drilling rigs from the southern tip of Texas to the upper Gulf Coast. Here he was involved in drilling numerous high pressure wells attaining depths of more than 15,000 ft. As a driller Mr. Kirchmeyer has been trained in all aspects of drilling abnormally pressured wells, blow-out prevention and well control. A majority of wells he has worked on were located in South Texas. He was also involved in some of the first horizontal wells drilled in the Giddings field in the early 1980’s.
In 1986 he broadened his experience in the industry by joining a Dallas based oil and gas exploration company. Here he advanced into a management position and became involved in evaluating, structuring and funding numerous drilling projects across Texas. In the early 1990’s Mr. Kirchmeyer was deeply involved in the second phase of horizontal drilling that swept across the Austin Chalk Pearsall field in South Texas.
In 1994 Mr. Kirchmeyer founded North Petroleum, Inc., with a focus on exploration, prospect evaluation, acquisition, financing and business development. As an active exploration company, North Petroleum Inc. continues to seek low risk drilling prospects, utilizing the newest technology, for its personal account and for its client companies.
In March 2016 Mr. Kirchmeyer co-founded Pursuit Petroleum and began studying new developments in the Austin Chalk trend. Based on thorough analysis supported by previous Austin Chalk work experience Pursuit Petroleum identified several sweet spots within the Austin Chalk trend that had not yet been exploited with new technology. By January of 2017 Pursuit Petroleum partnered with Blackbrush Oil & Gas of San Antonio Texas to acquire and develop acreage within this new Austin Chalk play.
Since 1977 Mr. Kirchmeyer has been involved in many different positions in the oil and gas industry and has been instrumental in locating, evaluating, structuring and funding numerous successful oil and gas projects. His 45 years of experience, business insight and determination has proven to be a valuable asset to many companies.
Mr. Kirchmeyer is a native Texan, born in Corpus Christi. He and wife Kim, of 38 years, reside in Plano Texas where they’ve raised three sons.