Jeff Ballard | President & Chief Executive Officer

Jeff Ballard founded Sentinel Midstream, the parent company of Texas GulfLink, in May 2018, and has over 12 years of experience in the midstream sector with a successful track record in business development, commercial operations, and contract negotiation. He has led the development and execution of commercial and business development projects for crude oil and natural gas gathering, treating, processing, and storage terminals in various basins across the United States, most recently in the Permian and Rockies Basins. 

Prior to founding Sentinel Midstream, Mr. Ballard served as Director of Business Development at Silver Creek Midstream, assisting in multiple acquisitions and greenfield development projects in the Powder River and Big Horn Basins. Before Silver Creek Midstream, he served as Manager of Business Development at JP Energy Partners and its successor American Midstream Partners where he was responsible for commercial growth and business development in the Permian and Delaware Basins. Previous to JP Energy Partners, Mr. Ballard held the role of Senior Commercial Representative at Pioneer Natural Resources, Midstream Eagle Ford division, and its successor Enterprise Products. He also held various commercial positions at Energy Transfer Partners.

Mr. Ballard honorably served in the United States Army and is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veteran. After exiting the Army, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Management from Dallas Baptist University.

Brad Ramsey | Chief Operating Officer

Brad Ramsey has over 25 years of engineering, construction, and operations experience in the upstream, midstream, and downstream energy sectors with Koch, Valero, NuStar Energy, Easton Energy, and multiple energy infrastructure construction companies. Mr. Ramsey has in-depth midstream experience in the crude, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and refined products business segments where he developed teams to execute several billion in capital projects in the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

As VP of Engineering at NuStar Energy, L.P., Mr. Ramsey:

• Constructed over 100 storage tanks in 6 countries and 12 US states totaling over 16 million barrels.

• Built 2 crude rail facilities at St. James, LA, each capable of offloading 120 car unit trains in 6 hours.

• Designed and built grassroots crude terminals with truck, rail, pipeline, and marine connectivity.

• Constructed and revamped numerous Docks in Corpus Christi, TX; Texas City, TX; Savannah, GA; St. James, LA; Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and other locations.

• Constructed numerous cross-country pipeline projects managing design, engineering, hydraulics, surveying, land acquisition, procurement, construction, and commissioning.

• Helped with construction, operations, and maintenance of the NuStar St. Eustatius Single Point Mooring (SPM) system, capable of crude oil loading rates up to 100,000 barrels per hour.

He has established and managed two grassroots construction companies specializing in midstream pipeline and facility construction. Mr. Ramsey served as Chief Operating Officer of Easton Energy which operates over 400 miles of natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines and has managed multiple groups responsible for safety, permitting and regulatory compliance.

Mr. Ramsey holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Kansas.

Blair Mathews | Chief Financial Officer

Blair Mathews has over 12 years of experience in the upstream and midstream sectors with a focus on financial planning and analysis, transaction and contract negotiation, and acquisitions and divestitures.  Before becoming Chief Financial Officer at Texas GulfLink, he served as Business Development Director at EXCO Resources (“EXCO”) where he was responsible for leading the acquisition and divestiture efforts for EXCO’s upstream and midstream assets across multiple areas.

As Mr. Mathews reported directly to EXCO’s CEO before transitioning to Texas GulfLink, Mr. Mathews was tasked with the strategic planning and execution of key company initiatives. During his 11 years at EXCO, he worked in various positions in the financial planning and analysis group where he focused on financial forecasting for EXCO’s midstream equity investment, TGGT. In addition to leading the divestiture of TGGT for $910 million, he led the financial evaluation and negotiation of multiple successful upstream acquisitions and divestitures on EXCO’s behalf. He led the financial portion of the TGGT credit facility to the bank group in order to establish TGGT’s initial credit facility of $500 million. Among other initiatives, he assisted in a $750 million bond offering for EXCO, two strategic joint ventures with BG Group in excess of $1 billion, and was heavily involved in EXCO’s attempted go-private. 

Before transitioning to the oil and gas industry, Mr. Mathews worked at Ernst & Young in the financial valuation group and in business development efforts in the transaction advisory services practice. He performed business valuation for purposes of transactional analysis, purchase price allocation, goodwill impairment testing, and litigation support.

Mr. Mathews holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Baylor University.  

Daniel (Danny) P. McRea, P.E. | Vice President of Business Development

Danny joins Sentinel Midstream with 20 years of experience in the oil & gas midstream industry.  His primary focus is on developing new and existing business opportunities, cultivating customer relationships, negotiating transactions and contracts, and leading acquisitions and divestitures.

Previously, Danny served as the Commercial Director of Crude Oil & Liquids at Enerfin Resources Company.  Primarily focused on the Midcontinent, South Texas, and Southwest Louisiana regions, he was responsible for leading all commercial and project development efforts for crude oil, refined fuels, and produced water gathering and transmission pipeline ventures.  Prior to joining Enerfin, Danny worked for Summit Midstream where he led crude oil-focused new business development efforts as well as the commercial management of Summit’s Polar-Divide crude oil system and Bison natural gas system in the Bakken.  Prior to his time at Summit, Danny spent the first 13 years of his career in various engineering, construction, and operations roles for Genesis Energy and Air Liquide America.  As Genesis’ Director of Engineering, he led the company’s engineering department which executed all management, engineering, and construction activities for the company’s major capital projects. 

Danny holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Houston-Victoria.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.

Don Gideon | Vice President of Operations

Don has over 40 years of industry experience, production operations, maintenance, construction, and regulatory compliance.  His experience includes projects with Kinder Morgan, Highland Partners, Magellan, Chesapeake, CenterPoint, Wildcat Midstream Partners, Ocelot Energy Management, and Easton Energy.

Previously, Don served as VP of Construction Services at Easton Energy, as well as VP of Operations. He assisted with the transition of 422 miles of NGL pipelines from Williams to Easton in three months, managed the integration and operation of a third-party control center for Ocelot and Easton assets, and developed regulatory programs (HSE, O&M, IMP, OQ, etc.) and submitted filings to all regulatory agencies. Don was the lead contact for all regulatory audits and was also responsible for hiring and managing all operations personnel.

Prior to his time at Easton, Don served as VP of Operations at Ocelot Energy Management.  He led the transition of a refined products pipeline from TransMontaigne to Ocelot and oversaw all US Operations of an international refined products pipeline into Mexico.

Prior to working at Ocelot, Don served as Director of Operations at Wildcat Midstream Partners.  He consulted on 485-mile Kinder Morgan Double H Pipeline, Construction and Regulatory compliance PHMSA PSSR, and review of Operating System Safety and Compliance.

Don’s Course Work and Training include Colorado School of Mines Gas Processing and University of Texas Petroleum Extension. 

Keith W. Pollock | Director of Engineering

Mr. Pollock serves as Texas GulfLink’s Project Manager and Construction Operations Manager with extensive international and domestic experience in areas concerning Pipeline Onshore & Offshore/ Offshore Oil & Gas Construction / Civil Infrastructure. Before joining Texas GulfLink, he served as Operations Manager where he managed daily operations while simultaneously managing multiple large-scale construction projects and developed and implemented processes for the company to facilitate more accurate and efficient accounting, project management, and operations practices.

During his time as a Project Manager at Chevron, he managed all aspects of large-scale capital projects ($50M-$150M+) with a median execution range of 2+ years and managed onshore pipeline and facility installation from concept to pre-commissioning and handover to operations. He has also served as a Senior Project Engineer with Cal Dive International where he managed all areas of shallow water pipeline installation/salvage, platform installation/salvage, topside hook-up, and onshore fabrication.

Mr. Pollock holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Capt. Daniel Harris | Director of Marine Operations

Capt. Harris previously served as a Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) Mooring Master where he personally handled over 2000 VLCC moorings and a half dozen SPM loading operations. Capt. Harris also spent 20 years sailing US flag tankers, mostly on the West coast for BP in the Alaska TAPS trade. Capt. Harris has extensive shipyard experience with tankers and Military Sealift Command (MSC) vessels and was an accredited OCIMF SIRE Vetting Inspector with over 300 inspections. He has spent approximately two years as BP’s Port Captain for the southeast and Gulf Coast region and traveled to South America to attend high-risk tanker operations, mostly in Brazil. He also has extensive shipyard experience including Builders Trials, Dock Trials, and Sea Trials. Career highlights include:

• 18 Years as Mooring Master with service on ULCC and VLCC

• 2000+ mooring/unmooring - SPM

• Accredited OCIMF SIRE Vetting Inspector with 300+ inspections (BP/Exxon/Shell) 1999-2001

• Mooring Masters’ representative LOOP expansion project 2005

• Current U.S. Coast Guard Masters License Unlimited Oceans

• Broad Shipyard experience including; Builders Trials, Dock Trials, Sea Trials, Structural Inspections, Coating Inspections, and Safety Meetings. (Newport News; Portland, OR; and Singapore yards)

• BP Port Captain SE & Gulf Coast (1999-2000), office Alliance Refinery Belle Chase, LA

• 20 Years sailing tankers, including 15 years (TAPS trade) Alaska/West Coast (1.2 million bbl tanker), First Class Pilot Prince William Sound

• Captain of MSC Vessel in Desert Strom Operation with 3 voyages to the Persian Gulf with military cargo, 1990

• VLCC loadings as Mooring Master/PIC, SPM operation at LOOP 2018

He holds a B.S. from New York Maritime Academy in Marine Transportation, 1978.

Travis Grove | Project Manager

Mr. Grove serves as Project Manager for the onshore and offshore pipeline sections and CALM buoy systems scopes of the Texas GulfLink Project.  Responsibilities include management of engineering and design, procedural development, budgeting and forecast, schedule, and installation and commissioning.

Travis Grove has over 14 years of experience in the offshore oil and gas industry from Field Engineer, Project Engineer, to Project and Senior Project Manager.  Travis is a founding partner of ContrEx Energy Services, LLC, a leading provider of Engineering and Project Management Consulting Services throughout the Offshore Construction Industry since 2015.  During his tenure at ContrEx Energy Services, Travis has been the Lead Project Manager for the construction and installation of an offshore Gulf Wing LNG Terminal and was directly involved with the developed a North Sea Recycling Facility capable of offloading and dismantling offshore oil and gas infrastructures and vessels in excess of 50,000 tons.  Additionally, he was the project manager for several international offshore pipeline installation projects and several domestic platform decommission and removal projects.

Prior to starting ContrEx Energy Services, Travis worked in various project management roles on a multitude of offshore projects for Cal Dive International and Horizon Offshore Engineering.  In these roles, he was responsible for the development of project budgets and schedules, installation design and engineering, procurement and subcontractor selection, as well as the development of project-specific procedures and execution plans, and overseeing construction operations.  Working domestically in the United States as well as a substantial amount of international work in West Africa, North Sea, Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and India.

Mr. Grove holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Technologies from Texas State University. 

Collin York | Project Manager

Mr. York serves as project manager of the Texas GulfLink offshore platform scope. Responsibilities include managing the engineering and design of the platform, fabrication of the platform and components, technical procedural development, budgeting, forecasting, and the offshore installation and commissioning. 

Mr. York has over 12 years of experience in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors with a primary focus on offshore heavy lift construction.  Before joining the project team at Texas GulfLink, he served as a field engineer, project engineer, and project manager for Cal-Dive Intl., where he was responsible for a variety of duties ranging from establishing initial budgets, schedules, and execution plans, to the execution of project scopes and management of heavy-lift assets.   Mr. York has executed structural installation and decommissioning projects both domestic and international, including installations in Mexico, Caribbean, Malaysia, Australia, and over 100 structures in the Gulf of Mexico.  In addition to heavy lift, he has managed shallow water pipelay, commissioning, and dive operations.    For several years, he served as Project Manager II for Mammoet, focusing on heavy lift and heavy transport in several major greenfield and brownfield developments along the Gulf Coast, specifically in LNG, Ethane, and Ethylene Glycol units.

Mr. York holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance, and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Construction Management from The University of Texas-San Antonio. 

Tyler M. Abadie, P.E. | Engineering, Operations, Regulatory Compliance

As founder and Chief Executive Officer of Abadie-Williams, Mr. Abadie is directly involved in day-to-day activities, working with functional departments, and assisting client executives. He has been involved as an owner’s rep, strategic consultant, and due diligence advisor for over $450 million dollars’ worth of acquisitions and divestments between major corporations and independent operators.

His experience and expertise has allowed an expanded consulting confidence in his clients, specifically, in areas such as marine terminal front-end engineering and design, deepwater pipeline operations, abandonment and liability planning, Gulf of Mexico asset life extension, engineering assessments, integrity auditing, data management, CAPEX/OPEX planning, purchase sale agreements, facility sharing agreements, tariff generation, and regulatory compliance representation.

Mr. Abadie has directly managed CAPEX intensive projects throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, and Texas; ranging from crude oil terminal and pump stations to large-scale deepwater pipeline diving operations.

Prior to starting Abadie-Williams, Mr. Abadie served as engineering and operations lead for Harvest-Marks Pipeline, a private equity joint venture, which acquired Chevron and British Petroleum Cypress Pipeline assets located within southeast Louisiana. Mr. Abadie worked directly with ownership to achieve revenue benchmarks and managed daily operations. Tyler facilitated the implementation of capital projects, new producer connections, an upgraded SCADA system, compliance management software, and represented the company in PHMSA/LDNR audits. Tyler eventually served as the technical and operational liaison between the divesting and acquisition parties.

Before his tenure in the midstream industry, Mr. Abadie worked as a contractor for companies such as Dow Chemical, OxyChem, Rolls Royce, NASA, Georgia-Pacific, Chevron GOMBU, Monsanto, International Paper, Buckeye, DuPont, and Shell.

Mr. Abadie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University and is a licensed professional engineer in Texas and Louisiana.

Phillip A. Plaisance | Operations, Oil Movements and Crude Quality Specialist

As Chief Operating Officer of Abadie-Williams, Mr. Plaisance is responsible for oversight of the Abadie-Williams project managers within a matrix organization, ensuring continuity between engineering, operations, controls, and subject matter experts. He serves as a critical liaison between Abadie-Williams project managers and client representatives, interfacing this critical component for successful midstream project implementation.

Prior to joining Abadie-Williams, Mr. Plaisance served as the Manager of Oil Movements for The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), managing the operations control center and the scheduling department. The team was responsible for scheduling and offloading tankers calling on LOOP, receipts from the Mars Pipeline and the Endymion Pipeline. The average total volume of receipts was approximately 1.3 million barrels per day. The team also was responsible for scheduling and moving 1.3 million barrels per day on the pipelines departing the Clovelly Hub.

From 2009 to 2010, he served as the Operations and Maintenance Superintendent of all of LOOP and LOCAP’s onshore assets, interfacing with the offshore supervision to ensure safe and reliable operation of LOOP’s 48” pipeline, from the Marine Terminal to the Clovelly Hub.

From 1998 to 2009, Plaisance served as the Instrumentation and Control Systems Supervisor at LOOP. Project Manager on multiple large-scale meter system upgrades at multiple locations. Project Manager for a complete Facility Upgrade Project at LOOP’s Fourchon Booster Station, including the refurbishment of four 6,000 horsepower pump PLC replacement and electrical substation upgrades. He was the Project Manager for multiple legacy PLC upgrades at the offshore and onshore facilities, including the storage caverns and the brine system.

From 1995 to 1997, he served as the District Engineer for Unocal Pipeline’s Louisiana District, supporting new pipeline start-up on multiple offshore pipelines, valve replacement projects, and control system upgrades. In 1998, he became the acting Louisiana District Manager, responsible for the Whitecap Pipeline, which is an 18” pipeline that runs from Ship Shoal Block 208 to Ship Shoal Block 28 and is a main source of Louisiana Light Sweet Crude (LLS). Between 1993 to 1995, he served as a contract engineer, contract PLC design engineer for LOOP, working on the conversion of the 7,000 horsepower electric pump drives to 7,400 horsepower diesel-driven pumps. He designed the PLCs for 3 of the 4 conversions.

He has served as the Incident Command System Planning Section Chief. Led the Planning Section to develop Incident Action Plans (IAP) for actual emergency responses and emergency response drills. Presented IAP to Federal, State, and local officials and achieved Unified Command approval of the IAP every time. Served as Incident Commander on two emergency responses. Developed customer and media communications protocol to be distributed during weather-related events and abnormal situations.

Mr. Plaisance holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana State University. 

Kyle M. Lawson | Finance, Commercial, and Risk Management

As Chief Financial Officer of Abadie-Williams, Kyle Lawson is responsible for the financial, insurance, legal, and contractual oversight of all Abadie-Williams managed projects. He serves as a critical liaison between Abadie-Williams project managers and client’s representatives, ensuring that their risks are minimized and their strategic fiscal objectives are achieved.

Before joining Abadie-Williams, Kyle served in various roles at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), most recently in Business Development, responsible for ensuring shippers’ contracts and commercial objectives were maximized. Kyle also served in Operations, as Process Improvement Analyst, where he utilized Lean and Six Sigma philosophies to achieve strategic organizational cost savings and increased efficiencies amongst the various business units. Also, while in the Operations group, Mr. Lawson gained valuable experience related to the offshore tanker, platform, SPM, pipeline oil movements and scheduling operations at LOOP. Prior to Operations, Kyle served in Accounting where he was responsible for developing the annual enterprise operating budget and corresponding financial reporting to owner companies. At the onset of his career, Kyle worked in Engineering as Cost Tracking Analyst responsible for monitoring, projecting, and reporting maintenance and capital project costs (estimated $1M-50M annually) to LOOP management. Mr. Lawson also served on the LOOP Emergency Response Team which followed the National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) Incident Management System (IMS), as a Type II-trained member to perform Documentation Unit Leader and Deputy Planning Section Chief responsibilities.

Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Louisiana State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Orleans.

Edwin M. Stanton, CAPT, USCG (Ret) | Environmental & Regulatory Compliance

Captain Edwin Stanton is a Maritime & Environmental subject matter expert within the Strategic Consulting Department of Abadie-Williams. Mr. Stanton is a retired Coast Guard Captain who served 36 years of active duty in the Coast Guard. He has served as Executive Officer of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Strike Team and Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team, a specialized oil and hazmat team; Chief of Port Operations and Executive Officer of Marine Safety Office, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Chief of the Response Division of Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans; Chief of the Office of Response at Coast Guard HQ; Vice-Chair of the National Response Team; Co-Chair of Regional Response Teams in Federal Regions IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII; Deputy Commander and Commander, Sector Mobile, Alabama; Commander, Sector New Orleans. He was Incident Commander for the Macondo well blowout in Houma, LA.

Mr. Stanton has responded to the major oil discharge from the Tank Barge MORRIS J BERMANN, in Puerto Rico; the Tanker JESSICA oil discharge in the Galapagos Islands; the crash of the Shuttle COLUMBIA; anthrax contamination of post offices and the AMI building in Boca Raton, Florida; Hurricanes HUGO, KATRINA, GUSTAV; the discharge of oil from the Motor Vessel WESTCHESTER in the Mississippi River; the discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the T/V MEGA BORG; the discharge of oil into Galveston Bay from the Tank Barge APEX; and many others. He was the Coast Guard subject matter expert in environmental response for the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum for three years and has lectured on emergency response and oil spill response in many forums, domestic and international.

Mr. Stanton has authored regulations and policy for the Coast Guard; performed duties as a Marine Casualty Investigator; Marine Inspector; Pollution Investigator; Port Operations and Waterways Management specialist; and Hazardous Cargo specialist. As a Sector Commander, he exercised the duties of Federal On-Scene Coordinator; Federal Maritime Security Coordinator; Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator; Officer-in-Charge, Marine Inspection; and Captain of the Port. His duties included the oversight of many operations in the Gulf of Mexico, including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port.

Following the Coast Guard, Mr. Stanton worked as Vice President, Emergency Management for Witt-O’Brien’s until 2016, where he directed incident operations for owners and operators of vessels, oil exploration and production facilities, pipeline companies, and oil storage facilities. His educational experience includes:

• USCG Recruit Training, Cape May, NJ

• USCG Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, VA

• Port Safety Industry Training, Port of New Orleans, LA

• Associates Degree, University of Phoenix

• Marine Safety Basic Indoctrination Course

• Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Inspection Course

• USCG On-Scene Coordinator Crisis Management Course

• Various Incident Management, Planning, Inspection, Port Ops, Hazmat Courses

• EPA Environmental Response Courses