Our Team

Leadership

Our Team

Basin’s team has over 100 years of combined technical and investment experience and has acquired, developed, managed, and sold energy assets across multiple states throughout our careers. Partners have closed over $1 billion in energy transactions since 2009.

Stephen Howard
Basin Funds

Stephen Howard

President/CEO

Stephen Howard is the Founder of Basin Oil and Gas, LLC, Basin Acquisition Fund, I, II, & III. Prior to Basin, Mr. Howard was a founding member of Bluestem Energy Partners, LP, an energy-focused private equity-backed partnership, that was sold in 2014 to multiple parties.

Mr. Howard created Basin Oil and Gas, LLC in 2009, which purchased oil and gas assets across multiple basins and advised various companies on acquisition and divestiture transactions. Mr. Howard has continuously managed Basin Oil and Gas, LLC since its formation.

Mr. Howard graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He currently serves on the Board of Ciera Bank, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, and the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation. He is a member of the Fort Worth Wildcatters and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Mason Manulik
Basin Funds

Mason Manulik

Chief Financial Officer

Mason Manulik is a co-founder of Basin Acquisition Funds I, II, and III. Prior to Basin, Mr. Manulik was a co-founder of Bluestem Energy Partners, LP, an energy-focused private equity-backed partnership, that was sold in 2014 to multiple parties.

At Bluestem Energy Partners, LP, Mr. Manulik served as Vice President of Finance. As an officer of the company, he directed all of the company’s financial efforts including transaction analysis, financial modeling, debt structuring, financial reporting, budgeting, banking, cash management, investor relations, human resources, accounting oversight, audit, and commodity derivative transactions. Simultaneously with the creation efforts of Bluestem Energy Partners, LP, Mr. Manulik founded Bluestem Energy, LP, an energy-focused partnership with assets in the Permian Basin.

Prior to Bluestem, Mr. Manulik joined the management team to create Celero Energy Partners, LP in 2006. At Celero, Mr. Manulik assisted in the document preparation and roadshow for Celero’s $1.0 billion fundraise and subsequently served as Vice President of Finance. Prior to Celero, Mr. Manulik was an analyst with Petrie Parkman & Co., one of the world’s leading energy investment banks. While at Petrie Parkman, he performed various investment banking activities for public and private companies and completed over 15 transactions worth nearly $10 billion.

Mr. Manulik earned his B.A. in Economics with a Government Minor from The University of Virginia. He is currently a member of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Michael Marek
Basin Funds

Michael Marek, PE

VP ENGINEERING

Mr. Marek joined Basin in June 2014 and oversees the company’s engineering efforts. As VP of Engineering, Mr. Marek manages the reserve analysis functions of the company including A&D reserve evaluations and current asset engineering reserve reports as well as maintaining close working relationships with our asset partners in order to properly elect on AFEs and to monitor ongoing activities.

Mr. Marek began his post-graduate career with Exco Resources where he served in various roles within the company. Before leaving Exco, Mr. Marek was a part of the business development team where he worked on the company’s transaction valuations. In addition to his work with business development, Mr. Marek served in various capacities within the company where he supervised the execution of drilling programs for horizontal wells, negotiated with service companies to lower costs, designed and executed workovers and recompletions, and monitored property cash flows to increase company efficiencies to effectively report and value company assets.

Mr. Marek began working in oil and gas in 2003 while working for William M. Cobb and Associates. There he learned the foundations of reservoir engineering while assisting engineers, geologists, and geophysicists with data consolidation, and construction of company presentations.

Mr. Marek attended Texas A&M where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering while also a four-year member of the Varsity Track and Field Team and a Texas A&M Scholar Athlete. He completed his Master’s degree in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering.

Byron Davis
Basin Funds

Byron Davis

VP Geology

Mr. Davis joined Basin in 2015 and oversees the Company’s geologic efforts. As VP of Geology, Mr. Davis manages the geologic functions of the company, including reservoir assessments, geophysical interpretations, field studies of current and prospective projects, and the interpretation of drilling strategies. Mr. Davis maintains a close working relationship with Basin’s partners to provide insights and oversight to the development of company assets.

Prior to Basin, Mr. Davis’ career has included work for multiple public, and private companies including domestic and international entities. Most recently, Mr. Davis worked for Merit Energy where he focused on the company’s domestic assets in the Michigan Basin. While at Merit, Mr. Davis delineated the prospective activities within the company’s assets, proposed successful drilling investments, and managed the geologic functions within the development of multiple company assets.

In addition to his efforts with Merit Energy, Mr. Davis’ career includes work at Anadarko Petroleum and Toreador Resources, where he explored and developed in multiple domestic and international basins, modeled mature fields in multiple basins in conventional and nonconventional plays, proposed and drilled domestic and international wells, and guided the companies on acreage positions around the globe.

Mr. Davis graduated with his B.S. in Geology from The University of the South at Sewanee TN and an M.S. in Geology from the University of Texas at El Paso.

John Durham
Basin Funds

John Durham

VP FiNANCE

John Durham serves as Vice President – Finance and assists in the company’s financial efforts. As VP of Finance, Mr. Durham’s responsibilities include financial modeling, transaction analysis, financial reporting, budgeting, banking, cash management, hedging, debt structuring, and investor relations. Prior to joining Basin, Mr. Durham was the Lead Investor Relations Research & Financial Analyst for Range Resources. In this role, Mr. Durham assisted with financial forecasting, planning, transaction analysis, hedging, investor relations and various other responsibilities. Prior to Range Resources, Mr. Durham was a Research Associate for the Exploration and Production Equity Research practice at Stephens Inc. In this role, Mr. Durham performed detailed financial modeling, published research reports for over 40 publicly traded E&Ps, and met regularly with investors and management teams. Mr. Durham graduated with a B.S.B.A from the Williams School of Commerce at Washington and Lee University. He also graduated with a B.A. in Geology from Washington and Lee University. Mr. Durham is a CFA charterholder and a member of Fort Worth Wildcatters.
Loren Soetanga
Basin Funds

Loren Soetenga

VP Fund Development

Loren Soetenga currently serves as Basin’s Vice President – Fund Development leading fund and partnership origination efforts. Mr. Soetenga has over thirty years of investment partnership, origination, capital markets and private equity experience in energy sector investments that include upstream oil and gas, midstream, downstream, logistics, power, renewables and industrial / manufacturing companies. In 2013, Mr. Soetenga helped launch and served as a Managing Director at BP Energy Partners, an energy private equity firm (Sponsored by Boone Pickens) where he was responsible for fund operations, partnership origination, capital markets, transaction sourcing and portfolio company oversight. BP Energy Partners had over $600 million in commitments as of February 2022, from institutional, family office and high net worth partners. Prior to helping launch BP Energy Partners, Mr. Soetenga spent eleven years at Quintana Capital Group, a large energy focused family office and $1.6B private equity firm where he was a Managing Director and COO. Prior to Quintana Mr. Soetenga was Managing Director of Ranger Capital Group and Partner / MD of John McStay Investment Counsel (AIG) both alternative investment firms in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Soetenga graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics.
Jason Zook
Basin Funds

Jason Zook

VP Operations

Mr. Zook leads the Company’s Field Operations efforts. As VP of Operations, Mr. Zook’s responsibilities include managing daily production, drilling, and completion operations as well as other operational improvement and development projects.

Prior to joining Basin, Mr. Zook held various positions with ExxonMobil and XTO over a 14+ year tenure which included drilling, completion, production, and corporate roles around the world. Most recently, he was Drilling Manager for their subsidiary XTO Energy for the Eastern Business Unit running as many as 16 rigs across South Texas, Ark-La-Tex, and Appalachia. Prior to this position, Mr. Zook was the Drilling Manager for the XTO Central Division overseeing $300M/yr of drilling operations in the Rockies, Barnett, and Bakken where Mr. Zook worked with Basin who was a working interest partner. Mr. Zook began his career with Eaton Corporation as a Manufacturing Engineer leading process improvement initiatives in their Hydraulics Division.

Mr. Zook graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University and later completed the ExxonMobil Leadership Development Program at the Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill, NC. He is a published author for the Society of Petroleum Engineers and an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Carl Stroud
Basin Funds

Carl Stroud

Land Director

Carl Stroud has 20 years of experience in all facets of the land industry and currently leads Basin’s Land Department as Land Director. Mr. Stroud not only coordinates with every department within Basin, but his responsibilities also include daily contact with working interest partners, lease and contract negotiations, and overseeing asset acquisitions, Owner Relations, Land Administration, and field personnel. Prior to joining Basin, Mr. Stroud worked in the Acquisition and Divestiture Department with ExxonMobil and XTO Energy Inc., which over a 10+ year period included the acquisition of over five billion dollars in assets across the United States. Mr. Stroud began his career as a Field Landman leading acquisition due diligence teams for different clients across multiple basins. He also managed a lease and drilling program which was later sold to XTO. Mr. Stroud graduated with a B.S. in Communications from Texas Christian University. As a member of the American Association of Professional Landmen he completed his Certification of Professional Landman in 2014. Mr. Stroud is also a member of Fort Worth Association of Professional Landmen, ADAM Energy Fort Worth, and Fort Worth Wildcatters.
Rachael Quisenberry
Basin Funds

Rachael Quisenberry

Investor Relations

Mrs. Quisenberry joined Basin in 2015. Mrs. Quisenberry oversees investor relations and serves as the Administrative Manager for Basin. She has extensive experience in finance and human resources.

Previously, Mrs. Quisenberry acted as head of Human Resources and Office Manager for Bluestem Energy Partners, LP alongside the Partners. Mrs. Quisenberry handled all personnel-related benefits including payroll, insurance, and retirement plan. She also assisted in the operations of commercial insurance; treasury-side bank relations; and Board document drafting and execution.

Mrs. Quisenberry began her career at Wells Fargo Bank first as an analyst in the Wealth Management Group assisting in the underwriting of high and ultra-high net worth clients’ banking needs and later in the Commercial Banking Group where, as an analyst and later relationship manager, she was responsible for the underwriting of a portfolio of one hundred industry-diverse, mid-to-large sized businesses’ term loans, lines of credit, specialty financing, treasury management, and other profit-generating opportunities.

Mrs. Quisenberry earned her B.B.A. in both Finance and Marketing from Texas Christian University. She is actively involved in the Fort Worth community currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Center for Transforming Lives (formerly the YWCA) and as an event committee chair for the Junior League of Fort Worth among other community groups.

Matthew Mason
Basin Funds

Matthew Mason, CPA

Controller

Mr. Mason joined Basin in 2015. Mr. Mason manages the Basin’s accounting efforts. As Basin’s Controller, Mr. Mason, a certified public accountant, manages all of Basin’s accounting activities, including all activities related to oil and gas property accounting, financial statement preparation, audit and tax return oversight, and other financial reports for management.

Prior to joining Basin, Mr. Mason worked with the Partners at Bluestem Energy Partners, LP. While at Bluestem, Mr. Mason managed all of Bluestem’s accounting activities, including all activities related to oil and gas property accounting, financial statement preparation, audit and tax return oversight, cash management, and other financial reports for management.

Prior to joining Bluestem, Mr. Mason was the Financial Reporting Manager at XTO Energy Inc. During his five-year tenure at XTO, Mr. Mason was responsible for the filings of SEC documents for three public entities, including two royalty trusts. Mr. Mason performed corporate accounting functions such as stock compensation, derivatives, asset retirement obligation, supplemental oil, and gas reporting, cash flow statement, and review of press releases.

Prior to XTO, Mr. Mason was the SEC Reporting Manager for Crescent Real Estate where he was responsible for coordinating, reviewing, and producing all filings with the SEC as well as drafting disclosures for significant transactions or newly required disclosures. Prior to Crescent, Mr. Mason was an Audit Manager at KPMG, LLP. During his tenure at KPMG, Mr. Mason was the manager on Alcon, Inc.’s audit with responsibilities for critical audit areas and review of SEC filings and was the senior in charge of Alcon’s initial public offering.

Mr. Mason earned his B.S. in Accounting as well as his M.S. in Accounting at the University of North Texas.