Ex-BP America chairman and president Dave Lawler has joined South Texas gas producer Kimmeridge Texas Gas (KTG) as its new CEO, aiming to turn the Eagle Ford operator into a firm supplier to LNG developer Commonwealth LNG.

In addition, KTG’s owner, Kimmeridge Energy Management, closed a follow-on investment in Commonwealth with plans to build a 1.27 Bcf/d LNG export facility in Cameron, Louisiana, at the Texas-Louisiana border.

The follow-on brings Kimmeridge’s equity position to more than 90%, the firm reported June 25.

The plant is among those already approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), although not yet under construction, thus not affected by the White House’s current ban on issuing additional LNG permits.

Kimmeridge recently bid to buy Eagle Ford operator SilverBow Resources and merge KTG into it. But it did not re-bid for SilverBow, which agreed to merge with Eagle Ford producer Crescent Energy instead.

Lawler, who left BP in 2023, replaces Mike Wieland, CEO of KTG, which was formed from Laredo Energy Operating in 2022.

Ben Dell, Kimmeridge managing partner, said, "[Lawler] has shaped and led large-scale, best-in-class operations that align with Kimmeridge's commitment to enhancing capital efficiency and reaching net-zero operations.”

KTG has approximately 148,000 net acres in South Texas in Webb, La Salle, McMullen and Karnes counties. Production is some 400 MMcfe/d.

Lawler said he hopes to advance “the company's plans of becoming a fully integrated provider of LNG from wellhead to water, including through our expanded partnership with Commonwealth, with an option for net-zero cargoes.”

Prior to joining BP and its onshore U.S. E&P unit BPX Energy, Lawler was COO for SandRidge Energy; CEO and president of PostRock Energy Corp.; and worked for Shell E&P in engineering and operations. A petroleum engineer, his early career was in production engineering for ConocoPhillips predecessor Conoco and in drilling engineering for Burlington Resources.

Farhad Ahrabi, Commonwealth CEO and president, said, "We are delighted to integrate into the Kimmeridge team as we work towards FID in 2025. Kimmeridge shares our vision of bringing a differentiated offering to the LNG market and we look forward to commencing delivery to our customers in 2028."

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