Our Team

PGH’s staff of professional engineers, technicians, and support personnel are dedicated to providing the highest quality engineering services available in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Click on a name to read a team member’s bio.

Wayman T. Gore, Jr., P.E.

(vCard)

Wayman is the President of PGH Petroleum & Environmental Engineers, LLC. His focus is on petroleum engineering consulting services for oil and gas producers and interest owners, natural gas pipeline companies, lending institutions, and state and federal regulatory agencies. His expertise includes oil and gas reserve evaluations and economics, fair market value analyses, lease and contract compliance audits, reservoir and geologic field studies, secondary recovery and unitization projects, and administrative and regulatory filings. In addition, he is a highly respected expert witness and has testified before the Railroad Commission of Texas, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division, the United States District Court, and various state courts in numerous litigation matters and hearings.

Before forming PGH Engineers in 1995, Wayman worked with another Austin, TX consulting firm providing petroleum engineering consulting services that included reservoir engineering, regulatory compliance and administration, contract compliance audits, and expert witness testimony.

Prior to his work as a consultant, Wayman worked with Sanchez-O’Brien Gas Corporation and Tenneco Oil Exploration & Production, both of Houston, Texas. During his tenure with Sanchez-O’Brien, he was responsible for supervising company engineering operations in a nine-state area and the Gulf of Mexico (state waters). He worked closely with state and federal regulatory agencies to ensure regulatory compliance and was responsible for all well activity from well completion, facility construction, and hookup through production, depletion, and abandonment. While with Tenneco, his responsibilities focused on completion and re-completion operations in South Texas, Upper Texas Gulf Coast, East Texas, and Louisiana and the supervision of production operations for Upper Texas Gulf Coast assets. Other duties included monitoring well production and operating costs, design and supervision of well completions, re-completions, workovers, and production facility installations.

Wayman attended The University of Texas at Austin and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1980. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and is an active member in numerous oil and gas related organizations, including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE), the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA), and the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists (SPIES). He is also an associate member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL).

Email Wayman at wayman.gore@pghengineers.com

Thomas H. “Buddy” Richter, P.E.

(vCard)

Buddy joined PGH Engineers in 2008. He focuses on his expertise of Railroad Commission hearings to interpret Commission rules and policies involving drilling, production, plugging, and matters pertaining to the prevention of waste of oil and gas, prevention of pollution of water resources, and the protection of correlative rights. He oversees the evaluation of technical testimony and reports by geologists, engineers, and other expert witnesses. Buddy’s consulting practice consists of assisting clients with complex regulatory issues, technical hearings, and litigation matters.

Buddy began his career with the Railroad Commission of Texas in the District 5 & 6 and East Texas (District 6E) Office in Kilgore. He served in various engineering positions in the District Office prior to being appointed Assistant District Director in 1978. His responsibilities included drilling, completion and plugging activities, oil and gas well testing (GOR, MER, MIT), minimum production testing, fluid sampling, gas measurement techniques, BHP surveys, inclination survey, fluid level measurement, step rate testing (injection/disposal wells), completion information review and analysis (W-2, G-1, G-5, W-12, W-15, W-1, P-4, P-15, etc.). Buddy remained with the Commission District office until August 1981. He left the Commission to work with a community bank in Longview, Texas as Senior Vice President in the Energy Department. His responsibilities were to evaluate oil & gas properties, determine cash flows, structure loans, and prepare and file collateral documentation.

In February 1985, Buddy formed T.H. Richter and Associates becoming President and Chief Engineer. His firm was a bank consulting company that specialized in oil & gas mineral interest appraisals and evaluations. A year later he was recruited to become a Department Head of the Major Commercial Assets Division for the FDIC Liquidation Division. His role was overseeing the liquidation of approximately $200M in failed bank assets.

In April 1988, the Railroad Commission of Texas offered Buddy an opportunity to return to the Commission as a Technical Hearings Examiner in Austin, Texas. For the next 20 years, he conducted formal hearings in contested and uncontested cases in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act and Court Proceedings. He presided over pre-hearing conferences concerning discovery issues, set deadline dates for same, confidentiality statements, and protective orders. The majority of his cases focused on areas concerning oil & gas matters pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the Commission and State Statues involving prevention of waste, conservation, protection of correlative rights, prevention of pollution of surface and subsurface water, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. He applied engineering principals to determine reservoir mechanics, reservoir hydraulics, production, and drainage of wells. Buddy presided over 4,000 docketed applications.

Buddy joined PGH Engineers upon retiring from the Railroad Commission of Texas in 2008.

Buddy graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 with Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME), and the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE).

Email Buddy at buddy.richter@pghengineers.com

Frank J. Muser, P.E.

(vCard)

Frank joined PGH Engineers in 2012. He provides petroleum and environmental engineering consulting services for oil and gas producers and interest owners, natural gas pipeline companies, lending institutions, and state and federal agencies. Frank’s consulting practice includes oil and gas reserve evaluations and economics, fair market value analyses, lease and contract compliance audits, reservoir and geologic field studies, secondary recovery and unitization, administrative and regulatory filings, and expert witness support.

Frank attended the University of Texas at Austin and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 1993. Upon graduation he started his engineering career with an Austin firm where he was responsible for emissions testing at oil and gas facilities, refineries and chemical plants, determining compliance with state and federal air emission standards, and preparing emission reports for private clients and air regulatory agencies in several states. He advanced to a position of Staff Engineer with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality where his duties included enforcement of violations of hazardous waste and storage tank environmental rules, processing air quality operating permits for petrochemical facilities, and reviewing compliance monitoring plans and testifying on behalf of the agency at permit hearings.

Frank expanded his career in 2008 taking on the role of Petroleum & Regulatory Engineer with an Austin consulting firm where he provided petroleum engineering, regulatory and environmental engineering consulting services to oil and gas, transmission and natural gas and liquids storage companies. He also was responsible for reserves evaluations and reports, providing support for expert witness litigation and regulatory hearings as well as regulatory applications and filings with the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the State Comptroller of Texas. He supervised well site safety and field supervision of mechanical integrity tests for underground salt storage caverns. Frank joined PGH Engineers as a Staff Engineer in 2012.

Frank is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Texas and Kansas, and an active member of the Society of Professional Engineers (SPE).

Email Frank at frank.muser@pghengineers.com

David Dennard, P.E.

(vCard)

David is a Senior Petroleum Engineer who joined PGH Engineers in 2009. His focus is on reservoir engineering including oil and gas reserve studies for producers, interest owners, and financial institutions. David also has considerable experience testifying as an expert in petroleum engineering in regulatory and litigation matters.

Prior to joining PGH, David held positions of Reservoir Engineering Consultant with Apollo Engineering and Senior Reservoir Engineer with Dominion E&P/Louis Dreyfus/American Exploration, both of Houston. He worked hand-in-hand with multidiscipline groups providing reservoir engineering support for exploration and development programs, reserves evaluation and, development recommendations and support for onshore Texas acquisition opportunities. He has extensive knowledge of the Texas Gulf Coast – Wilcox, Frio, Vicksburg, and deep Woodbine trends, the East Texas, South Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi areas, and the Mid-continent, Rocky Mountains, Val Verde Basin, San Juan Basin, and Permian Basin areas.

David attended the University of Texas at Austin and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 1981. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and is an active member in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

Email David at david.dennard@pghengineers.com

Mitchell R. Whatley, J.D.

(vCard)

Mitch is a Senior Petroleum Engineer who joined PGH Engineers in 2017. His focus is on all facets of well construction, design and supervision including drilling vertical, horizontal, and highly deviated wells in both onshore and offshore environments.

Prior to his association with PGH, Mitch held various supervisory drilling engineering positions with Marathon Oil Company, EnCana Oil & Gas Inc., Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc., and TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. Mitch’s drilling experience while at Marathon included drilling, completion, and workover operations in the western Gulf of Mexico (Deepwater, HTHP, and conventional wells). While at EnCana, Mitch led a team that designed and executed the drilling of severe HTHP horizontal wells in the Haynesville Shale of East Texas and North Louisiana. At Pioneer, Mitch built a drilling team to develop Pioneer’s vast acreage position in the Eagle Ford Shale. Mitch had the responsibility of supervising the drilling of hundreds of horizontal wells that included location design and the negotiation of drilling contracts. Mitch presented periodic progress reports to Pioneer’s Board of Directors and Joint Venture Partners. Mitch also provided drilling and completion expertise to all Pioneer’s asset teams with a focus on Alaska North Slope exploration and development. After leaving Pioneer Mitch became Vice President of Drilling for TransAtlantic Petroleum, Ltd., where he managed the planning and execution of TransAtlantic’s worldwide drilling and completion operations.

In addition to being a petroleum engineer, Mitch has a law degree and is licensed to practice in California. Mitch is also an accomplished pilot, having flown F-15s and F-4s for the United States Air Force, Louisiana National Guard, and domestic and international cargo jets for American Airlines.

Mitch attended the Colorado School of Mines and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1977. Mitch received a Juris Doctor with Highest Honors from Concord Law School in Los Angeles, California in 2006. He is an active member in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AAPG).

Email Mitch at mitch.whatley@pghengineers.com

Doug Hess

(vCard)

Doug is a Senior Petroleum Engineer who joined PGH Engineers in 2014. His focus is on reservoir engineering including oil and gas reserve studies for producers, interest owners, and financial institutions. Doug also has considerable experience acquisitions, equity determinations, and thermal projects.

Prior to joining PGH, Doug held positions of Petroleum Engineering Consultant at Chevron, Orion California, and Insight Energy Consultants in California where he supported heavy oil development and shale exploration and development, as well as acquisition analysis, SEC reserve preparation, and equity redetermination efforts. Earlier he worked for Bechtel Elk Hills, and Mobil Oil in California, Denver, & Houston as an asset team leader, reservoir engineering supervisor, and project engineer on Elk Hills Monterey shales and conventional reservoirs, California and Texas heavy oil development, and Texas Gulf Coast oil & gas fields. He led and worked closely with multidiscipline groups providing reservoir engineering support for exploration and development programs, reserves evaluation and development recommendations, and support for onshore US acquisition opportunities. His first assignments after university were at Exxon and The Superior Oil Company, where he designed waterflood sweep projects to solution mine Uranium and supported offshore GOM lease sale bids as well as performing as a reservoir engineer, production engineer, and completion engineer. He has extensive knowledge of California shales and conventional reservoirs as well as the Texas Gulf Coast – Wilcox, Frio, Vicksburg, Austin Chalk, and Eagle Ford trends, Louisiana and San Juan Basin areas.

Doug attended Texas A&M University at College Station and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1975. He is an active member in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

Email Doug at doug.hess@pghengineers.com

Randy Maxwell, P.E.

(vCard)

Randy is a Senior Petroleum Engineer and joined PGH Engineers in 2019. His focus is on reservoir engineering including numerical reservoir simulation, rate transient and pressure transient analysis, and hybrid reservoir modeling. He has substantial experience utilizing these technologies both for optimizing development and in regulatory and litigation matters.

Randy managed the Reservoir Studies Team at Continental Resources where his team utilized reservoir simulation, RTA, PTA, geomechanical simulation, and data science to evaluate various completion and EOR technologies and recommend future applications. Prior to this, Randy was the Manager of Regulatory and Reservoir Engineering at Samson Resources, where he was responsible for multiple innovative field rule changes and tight gas sand qualifications for many of Samson’s operated fields. He secured the first 640 acre spacing for a Haynesville field, widely expanded the implementation of dual lease line spacing for horizontal wells and helped develop stacked lateral field rules.

Randy has extensive experience in the SCOOP, STACK, Williston basin, Powder River basin, East Texas, Texas Panhandle, and Gulf Coast. He has worked conventional, semi-conventional, tight gas, and unconventional resources.

Randy graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics and a specialization in Petroleum Engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Oklahoma and is active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Email Randy at randy.maxwell@pghengineers.com

Brandy Holland, P.E.

(vCard)

Brandy is a Senior Petroleum Engineer and joined PGH Engineers in 2020. Her focus is on reservoir engineering including oil and gas reserve studies for producers, interest owners and financial institutions.

Before joining PGH, Brandy held positions with Occidental Oil & Gas Corporation in Reservoir Management. She managed the Central Team (Wilmington Field) which consisted of 12 engineers, geologists, and technicians. In addition, she led the reserves process, replacing 100% of reserves through reservoir management and set annual reserves targets for development base production and drilling costs. After leaving OXY, Brandy worked as Senior Reservoir Engineer with E & B Natural Resources where she managed 12 fields in the LA Basin and Powder River Basin. Brandy prepared and developed budgets and capital programs for the LA Basin and Powder River Basin assets.

Prior to joining PGH, Brandy worked for InterAct as an independent consultant. While at InterAct, she assessed well decommissioning costs of offshore California fields and evaluated oil and gas development prospects in Texas and Louisiana.

Brandy obtained her Bachelor of Science, Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 and her Master of Science, Petroleum Engineering at the University of Technology at Delft in 2000. She received her certification for Project Management Professional in 2018 and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). Brandy is also a registered professional engineer in Texas.

Email Brandy at brandy.holland@pghengineers.com

Robert E. Dreyling

(vCard)

Bob joined PGH Engineers in 2000 as a Senior Consultant. His area of expertise is advising numerous companies on the Railroad Commission of Texas regulatory issues such as drilling/recompletion permitting, new field discovery applications, Statewide Rule 10 exceptions, surface commingling, field rule hearings, EOR applications, injection well applications, reporting requirements and general field operation regulatory issues. In addition, he represents companies as an expert petroleum engineer in hearings before the RRC and civil litigation proceedings.

Bob graduated from Purdue University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. Immediately upon graduation, he was employed by Humble Oil and Refining Company and continued working for Humble and its successors Exxon and ExxonMobil until his retirement at the end of 1999.

During his 32 years with Exxon, Bob worked as a petroleum engineer in areas including surface facility engineering, reservoir engineering, and natural gas. Additionally, he has more than 28 years of experience as a regulatory engineer. His responsibilities during his career with Exxon and ExxonMobil included coordinating regulatory activities, primarily with the Railroad Commission of Texas, for the East Texas, Gulf Coast, and Panhandle areas. In this capacity, he handled many of Exxon’s applications before the Railroad Commission of Texas including hearings and testifying as an expert petroleum engineer. Bob attended numerous internal company schools and seminars including Reservoir Engineering, Advanced Reservoir Engineering, and Geology for Engineers. In addition, he attended an intensive reservoir engineering school at Texas A&M University. Bob is an industry-recognized expert on the Railroad Commission of Texas and has prepared and presented numerous internal Exxon seminars on RRC conservation rules, regulations and policies.

Bob became associated with PGH Engineers in 2000 as a Senior Consultant. He is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Email Bob at bob.dreyling@pghengineers.com

Geoff L. Hawkins, P.G.

(vCard)

Geoff joined PGH Engineers in 2005 as a Geological Engineer specializing in consulting services for oil and gas producers, interest owners, and private landowners. His area of expertise focuses on geologic analysis, injection/disposal well applications, well log analysis, technical review of directional surveys, review of historical well data, administrative and regulatory filings, and onsite well oversight and supervision.

Geoff graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering. Upon graduation he went to work for Gearhart Industries, Inc. in Wichita Falls, Texas as a Senior Field Engineer. His responsibilities included open hole logging, well log analysis and interpretation.

Geoff went to work in the environmental/geotechnical drilling industry in 1989. He managed several drilling companies and was a representative for several drilling rig manufacturers. Geoff has extensive experience working in and around oil and gas facilities.

Geoff is a licensed Professional Geoscientists in the State of Texas and an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Email Geoff at geoff.hawkins@pghengineers.com

Jack Carter, P.G.

(vCard)

Jack joined PGH Engineers in 2014 as a Senior Staff Geologist. He provides geologic expertise and expert witness support to oil and gas producers, interest owners, and financial institutions.

Jack is a Professional Geologist in California and Texas and has a B.S. in Geology from the University of Houston (1982) and an M.S. in Applied Earth Sciences from Stanford (1982). Prior to joining PGH in 2014, Jack was Chief Geologist for Orion California LP and a Senior Exploitation Geologist with Exxon USA.

With Exxon’s Alaskan exploration group, Jack developed prospects, conducted regional geologic studies, participated in two summer field seasons, and played a significant role in the Point McIntyre discovery, a 400 million barrel field north of Prudhoe Bay. In the Santa Barbara Channel (offshore California) Jack was the outpost geologist for Exxon’s three-platform Santa Ynez Unit, where he identified numerous prospects and drilled several wells. As a production geologist in East Texas, Jack conducted multiple field studies, and developed and drilled numerous development and outpost prospects. Jack led a team to develop heavy oil reserves in the Hawkins field and supervised the delineation and blow-down of a significant shallow (charged) problem gas zone. He also served as a technical liaison to the Texas RRC and Exxon’s legal staff.

As Chief Geologist for Orion in California’s San Joaquin Basin, Jack supervised and participated in prospect development and drilling, developing numerous prospects in both conventional and unconventional targets. These included four unconventional play concepts, at least three of which could mature into significant development programs. Working with the engineering staff, Jack developed numerous well test and completion plans and supervised extensive core and log analysis studies in multiple reservoirs.

Stewart V. Newton

(vCard)

Stewart has been with PGH Engineers since 1995 providing Senior Engineering Assistant support to our staff. His focus is on performing regulatory consulting services for oil & gas operators as well as assisting with the Railroad Commission of Texas functions including drilling permit (RRC Form W-1) filings, Statewide Rule 37/38 exhibit preparation, drilling permit plats, new field discovery applications, Statewide Rule 10 Exceptions (Downhole Commingling), preparation and filing of Salt Water Disposal and Injection Well applications, surface discharge permits, land farming permit applications, pipeline permits, and reviewing operator-prepared data to be filed at the RRC.

Stewart also provides assistance with various petroleum engineering functions including oil & gas reserves and economics evaluations, GIS mapping, and geologic mapping. In addition, he provides support in complex oil and gas litigation matters.

Prior to joining the firm Stewart worked with another Austin, TX consulting firm providing assistance in regulatory and litigation related matters.

Stewart attended the University of Texas at Austin with a focus on Petroleum Engineering studies.

Email Stewart at stewart.newton@pghengineers.com

Matthew W. Arthur

(vCard)

Matt is a Senior Engineering Assistant who joined PGH in 1997. With more than 20 years of oil and gas experience, Matt works hand-in-hand with our engineers providing support in the areas of oil & gas reserves and economics evaluations, GIS mapping, geologic mapping, Railroad Commission research and administrative applications, and complex oil and gas litigation support.

Prior to joining PGH, Matt worked with another Austin, TX consulting firm providing technical assistance in oil and gas matters.

Matt attended the University of Texas at Austin and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government in 1989.

Email Matt at matt.arthur@pghengineers.com

Dorsey V. Twidwell

(vCard)

Dorsey joined PGH Engineers in 2011 as a Senior Regulatory Specialist, bringing a vast knowledge and wealth of experience with him from his 29 years of service with the Railroad Commission of Texas. His area of expertise with PGH Engineers focuses on advising in-house staff and clients on RRC processes and requirements, the preparation of documents for RRC filings such as applications, hearings, and Statewide Rule exception requests and researching compliance issues. Dorsey is recognized as one on the pre-eminent experts in RRC procedures.

Dorsey retired from the Railroad Commission of Texas in 2009 as the Assistant Director of the Oil and Gas Division's Administrative Compliance sector. He was responsible for ensuring that administrative filings were processed in a timely manner in accordance with Texas oil and gas statues, Commission Statewide Rules and Commission policy. He directed activities for the P-5/Financial Assurance Unit, the Production Unit and the Proration Unit. Prior to his role as Assistant Director, he was the Proration Unit Manager with the Administrative Compliance Section where his responsibilities focused on ensuring all monthly oil and gas schedules and allowables for all districts in the state of Texas were properly maintained. He guaranteed regulatory compliance with Texas oil and gas statutes and RRC rules for well filings, such as completions, well plugging, severance tax credits, and authority approvals to transport. During his tenure at the RRC he also held the roles of Oil Unit Manager with the Production Services Section and was an Oil and Gas Proration Analyst with the Production Allocation Department.

Dorsey graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and was part of the Plan II Honors Program.

Email Dorsey at dorsey.twidwell@pghengineers.com

Tedi Gil

(vCard)

Tedi joined PGH Engineers in 2007 as an Engineering Assistant. She performs technical review of directional surveys, High Cost Tight Sands filings and notices, drilling Permit applications, Statewide Rule 10 Exception (Downhole Commingling) filings, prepares and files Salt Water Disposal and Injection Well applications, H-15 applications, new field designation applications, flared/vented Gas applications, Notice of Intent to Plug and Abandon wells, Applications for Plugging Extensions and Plugging Reports, Production Report filings, Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) Sour Gas applications, and historical well research.

Tedi began her career with the Railroad Commission of Texas as an Administrative Technician. During her tenure of more than 10 years with the Commission she worked in the District 09 office as well as the Austin headquarters where she focused on researching historical oil and gas records, administrative review of Injection/Disposal Wells, H-15 applications (test on inactive wells 25 years or older), process Annual Disposal/Injection well reports, Process Hydrogen Sulfide Sour Gas applications, Process Crude Oil Associated Product loss reports (H-8 Spills), and Process Oil and Gas-related complaints.

Email Tedi at tedi.gil@pghengineers.com