Aethon Energy Hires C-Suite Execs from Caerus, ConocoPhillips

Haynesville Shale-focused Aethon Energy Operating LLC is filling out its executive suite with new hires.

Dallas-based Aethon—one of the nation’s largest privately held natural gas producers—tapped Andrea Wescott Passman as COO, the company announced Aug. 24.

Passman was COO at Denver-based Caerus Oil & Gas, which operates in the Piceance and Uinta basins. Before Caerus, she worked in engineering and operational roles at Pennsylvania-based natural gas company CNX Resources Corp. Passman also held planning and project management roles at Halliburton and Greenshale Energy.

Aethon announced tapping Kang Chen as chief information officer. Chen was manager of digital and IT for ConocoPhillips Lower 48. He joined ConocoPhillips through its acquisition of Concho Resources, where he was vice president and CIO. He previously held roles at LyondellBasell and Deloitte.

Kat Lyles joined Aethon as general counsel, bringing 15 years of corporate, tax and legal experience. Lyles was assistant general counsel and regulatory manager at Merit Energy Co.

In addition to outside hires, Aethon promoted Preston Phillips to chief commercial officer. Phillips joined Aethon in 2002 and was senior vice president of A&D and commercial. He previously worked in marketing and sales for Texas Instruments.

“We are thrilled to welcome Andrea, Kang and Kat to our team, and to elevate Preston in recognition of his significant contributions to Aethon over more than 20 years,” said Albert Huddleston, Aethon partner and CEO, in a news release.

“Aethon is well-positioned to play a more significant role in accelerating the energy transition, and I am excited to partner with our growing leadership team in delivering our goal of net-zero natural gas from wellhead to electron,” added Gordon Huddleston, partner and president.

Aethon has about 350,000 net acres under lease; the company’s gross operated production was approximately 2.7 Bcfe/d as of March.