Northern Oil and Gas Inc. Founder Michael Reger is stepping down as president to pursue opportunities outside the Williston Basin, the Bakken nonop company said Aug. 1.

Reger founded the Minnetonka, Minn.-based company in 2006 as a pioneer of the public, nonoperated business model. He had been ousted from Northern in August 2016, but rejoined the company’s executive team last year.

Northern said Reger’s departure on Aug. 1 is amicable.

Bahram Akradi, chairman of Northern’s board of directors, called Reger a “pioneering visionary” who has been instrumental in the recent recapitalization and turnaround of Northern.

Northern Oil and Gas is an exploration and production company with a core area of focus in the Bakken and Three Forks play within the Williston Basin across North Dakota and Montana. Since the start of 2018, the company has made four large publicly announced transactions totaling more than $850 million.

“As Northern transitions to a primary focus of the return of free cash flow to shareholders, Mr. Reger’s entrepreneurial talents are best suited for a startup organization and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors,” Akradi said in a statement on Aug. 1.

Reger will continue to serve as Northern’s chairman emeritus and also be available to assist the company in the transition under a consulting arrangement through March 2020.

In a statement, Reger commented: “It has been an honor and privilege to help build Northern into a top-tier oil producer in the Williston Basin over the last 13 years. ... Northern's go-forward positioning and return-of-capital strategy is ideally suited for the evolving preferences of public energy investors and I am confident that the management team and board will continue to deliver outstanding results.”

Emily Patsy can be reached at epatsy@hartenergy.com.