Chris Kalnin
Editor's note: This profile is part of Hart Energy's 50th anniversary Hall of Fame series honoring industry pioneers of the past 50 years and the Agents of Change (ACEs) who are leading the energy sector into the future.
BKV Corp. Founder and CEO Chris Kalnin believes God may have given him a sixth sense: making deals.
“Not every deal I’ve made has been good, but we’ve done 21 transactions, and they have all been accretive for us,” Kalnin told Hart Energy.
Acquisitions made by the natural gas producer and electricity provider have included the purchase of power plants in Texas, assets in the Marcellus shale and natural gas upstream with associated midstream infrastructure in the Barnett shale area, as well as sealing deals in the carbon capture and sequestration space. One of the most memorable moments of his career came during the height on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were facing a major turning point for the company during negotiations with Devon over the acquisition of their assets in the Barnett shale. We had to decide whether to proceed with the deal or not, and the future was uncertain,” Kalnin recalled. “It took extensive discussions, analysis, stakeholder alignment and everything I had learned about leadership throughout my life. I tapped into and utilized every bit of knowledge and experience, from my childhood to that moment.”
He called the deal “a remarkable achievement,” considering it came during the COVID crisis, adding it was a pivotal point for the company. The purchase , valued at up to $830 million, of Devon Energy’s Barnett assets in 2020 also elevated the company to top producer in the Fort Worth Basin.
In the years since, BKV has given new life to the old play, using refracs to boost output—all while working toward an ambitious mission to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Deal-making was among Kalnin’s biggest accomplishments. Starting up BKV in 2015, despite “direct and indirect haters,” was also on the list. However, his 14-year marriage to his wife Rebecca topped the list.
“I don’t want to just be the best CEO; I want to be the best CEO, best husband and father at the same time,” he said. “The balance of those takes a lot of time but it’s intentional, and it’s part of who I am.”
Kalnin got his start in the energy industry as a consultant for McKinsey with his first project involving work for the Sultan of Brunei on long-term energy plans.
“Although I had no background in the industry, there was something about the combination of science, business, economics and geopolitics of energy that sparked a deep interest and curiosity in me,” said Kalnin, who later served as vice president of strategic business operations and planning at Level 3 Communications (now Lumen) and a strategic adviser to the CEO at Thailand’s PTTEP.
“I fell in love with the industry and kept pursuing energy projects, which ultimately led me to pursuing the energy industry as an entrepreneur and founding the company that has grown to become BKV Corporation.”
BKV aims to “create sustainable, yet profitable energy,” something that Kalnin said sounds contradictory but can be accomplished with natural gas and carbon capture.
“We see the energy industry moving from a commodity-based to consumer-based market, because people care increasingly about where and how their energy is sourced,” he said. “BKV is setting itself up to be a company that delivers that energy safely and profitably to end-consumers in a way that negates and offsets its carbon footprint so we’re not creating more CO2 for the environment.”
Climate change is the most important issue or challenge facing the energy business, he said.
Kalnin encourages other energy leaders to step up.
“Instead of denying or even pointing fingers, let’s just be the group of leaders that gets the job done. That’s what BKV is going to do.”
—Velda Addison, Senior Editor, Energy Transition