Martin Thalken - President

Mr. Thalken serves as President of Protégé.  Prior to founding the company, he was employed as Acquisitions and Planning Team Leader at Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent, Inc.  From 1992 to 2003, he was employed by Vintage Petroleum, Inc., as Vice President – Acquisitions, Acquisitions Technical Manager, and an Acquisitions Engineer.  From 1990 to 1991, he was employed by Enron Oil and Gas Company as Senior Production Engineer.  From 1983 to 1990, he was employed by Exxon Company USA, in various engineering and supervisory capacities. He has a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas.

Matt Griffin - Vice President - Acquisitions

Mr. Griffin serves as Vice President – Acquisitions and Divestitures of Protégé.  Prior to co-founding the company, he was employed as a Reservoir Engineer at Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent, Inc.  From 1994 to 2003, he was employed by Vintage Petroleum, Inc. in various reservoir and production engineering capacities.  He has also served as Chairman of the Mid-Continent section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) as well as several other leadership positions at SPE.  He has a B.S. Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa.

Kevin Coffman - Vice President - Exploitation

Mr. Coffman serves as Vice President – Exploitation of Protégé.  Prior to co-founding the company, he was employed as an Acquisitions Specialist/Consultant as President of Doulos Petroleum Co.  From 1981 to 1994, he was employed by Exxon Company USA in various geologic, reservoir engineering and operational capacities.  He has a B.S. Degree in Geology from Eastern Michigan University and has logged well over 1000 hours of related continuing education.

George Jonas - Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Jonas, a certified public accountant, serves as Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Protégé.  Prior to joining the company in February 2005, he was self employed as a Tax and Business consultant.  From 2002 to 2004, he was a Partner at Tullius, Taylor, Sartain, & Sartain, an independent public accounting firm, where he was employed as a Tax and Business consultant.  From 1984 to 2002, he was employed by Arthur Andersen, an independent public accounting firm, as a Tax and Business consultant and was promoted to Principal in 1998.  He has M.S. and B.S. Degrees in Accounting from Oklahoma State University.  

William Holder - Vice President Land

Mr. Holder serves as Vice President – Land of Protégé. Prior to joining the company in November 2005, he was employed as a Senior Staff Landman at Vintage Petroleum, Inc. From 1988 to 1994 he served as Landman and Lease Contract Analyst for Amerada Hess Corporation. From 1981 to 1988 he was employed by Cayman Resources Corparation where he served as Landman and, later, Regional Land Manager. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration from Westminster College.

Jack Mahaffey, Jr. - Vice President

Mr. Mahaffey serves as Vice President of Protégé.  Prior to joining the company in October 2006, he was employed as District Landman for Questar Exploration and Production Company, from 1989 to 1998 as Landman for Vintage Petroleum Inc., from 1981 to 1989 as Land Manager for Alexander Production Company and from 1979 to 1981 as Landman for Dyco Petroleum, Inc. He has a B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.