KEY PERSONNEL

Thomas K. Hohn, P.E.
Sr. Registered Petroleum Engineer
Manager/Owner

Specialties: Reservoir engineering, property evaluation, property acquisitions, field operations, drilling and well completions, project management

Mr. Hohn is a registered professional engineer who has been active in Northern Rocky Mountain region since the late 80’s. He graduated from Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology in Butte, Montana with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1974. His career includes 4 years with Unocal in Southern California offshore and onshore operations, 6 years with Petro Lewis Corp in all phases of engineering and operations management throughout the domestic industry. He has been an independent consulting petroleum engineer since 1984. He has extensive experience in property operation and management, property evaluation, reservoir engineering, project management and field operations. Over the last 15 years he has worked extensively in the shallow gas plays of the Northern Rockies. He has personally drilled and/or completed in excess of 600 shallow gas wells, as well as planned and managed several programs for a wide variety of clients. His extensive and unique combination of experience in all phases of petroleum engineering, corporate management, and hands-on field operations make him one of the leading experts in Northern Rockies gas exploration and development. In 1999, he founded Hohn Engineering, PLLC, a full service Petroleum Engineering firm in Billings, Montana. Mr. Hohn is a Registered Professional Petroleum Engineer in the States of Montana and Oklahoma.

Monte R. Besler
Sr. Associate Petroleum Engineer

Specialties: Well completions, stimulation design, fluid and reservoir chemistry.

Mr. Besler has 22 years of experience in the industry with extensive Williston Basin and Montana knowledge and experience. He spent over 18 years in the oilfield service business, primarily with Halliburton, and 4 years with Amerada Hess as a production engineer in the Williston Basin. His focus has been to maximize economic production of oil and natural gas wells by creatively utilizing available and emerging technology. He has substantial experience in the drilling, completion, production evaluation, and stimulation of horizontal wellbores. He has been instrumental in developing new solutions to old problems throughout the Northern Rockies. Examples include an acid stimulation program for horizontal open-hole laterals and vertical saltwater disposal wells, now considered a standard practice in the Williston Basin; a new acid system for use in sour wells; a hydraulic fracturing fluid system and process that has become the accepted standard for shallow natural gas reservoirs throughout much of Williston Basin and Montana. Monte is an industry recognized expert in hydraulic fracturing and acidizing. He has authored ten published technical articles, and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. Mr. Besler graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with a BS degree in Geological Engineering.

Joy Stevens, P.E.
Registered Professional Engineer

Specialties: Facilities and pipeline design and construction, permitting and regulatory compliance, project management.

Ms. Stevens has fourteen years of oil field and refinery experience. She graduated with honors from Montana State University with a degree in Engineering Science. She spent several years with Schlumberger as a field engineer followed by several years in a British Petroleum refinery. While with BP, she held various positions including Safety Engineer, Shops Supervisor, Maintenance Supervisor, Contract Coordinator, and Turnaround Planner. She was also responsible for a $10MM budget. Since 1993, when she began contracting with Schlumberger to perform logging services, she has planned and supervised several turnarounds in West Coast refineries, and supervised completion activities of 75 shallow gas wells. Most recently, she has been working with Hohn Engineering providing field supervision of pipeline and production facilities construction, completion activities, regulatory compliance issues, and general petroleum engineering duties. Ms. Stevens also graduated with honors from the University of Wyoming School of Law and is a licensed attorney in the state of Montana. She authored a paper entitled, “Hey, That’s My Dirt! Subsurface Trespass in Horizontal Wells” which was published in Landman followed by reprints in Mineral Law of the Illinois State Bar Association and Public Land and Resources Law Digest of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.

Justin Hohn
Associate Engineer

Biography Coming Soon

Bill Froman
Field Supervisor

Specialties: Project management and planning, drilling, well completions, workovers, well operations.

Bill has nearly 50 years of experience in the oilfield – from roughneck, to owner of his own drilling and production companies, to oilfield consultant. Early in his career, Bill worked for several different drilling contractors throughout the United States, beginning as a roughneck and progressing to tool pusher. He founded Froman Drilling Company in 1977. Under his ownership and management the company drilled thousands of shallow gas wells throughout the Northern Rocky Mountain region. The company started with one rig and had grown to five rigs when he sold the company in 1977. He then founded Blue Diamond Petroleum. This company drilled and operated oil and gas wells in the Northern Rocky Mountain region until 1989. In that year, Bill began consulting as a wellsite field supervisor. Bill has worked for numerous operators on all types of projects throughout the Rockies. Montana projects include several multi-well and multi-rig shallow gas drilling programs, well completions, pipelining, and production supervision and management. He has supervised deep well drilling, completions, and workovers in Northern Colorado and Northwestern Wyoming. He has successfully managed and supervised several exploratory wells along the Northern Rocky Mountain front, areas known for tough drilling and difficult logistics. Bill has extensive experience with coil tubing and its applications for completions, workovers, and production on shallow gas wells. Bill’s wealth of experience, his energy, and his ability to plan and execute a project are tremendous assets to any project.

Bill Keel
Field Supervisor

Biography Coming Soon