PropTester®, Inc. Team Profile

Don A. Anschutz
President & CEO
BS Geological Engineering
South Dakota School of Mines - 1982

Mr. Anschutz has 26 years experience in the oilfield service and supply sector. His knowledge of the industry and how quality affects proppant performance coupled with his drive to see quality driven through to the well site led him to start PropTester^®, Inc., Inc. in June of 2004.

Prior to starting PropTester^®, Inc., Inc he spent 13 years in various domestic and international sales, marketing, operations and management positions with the Oilfield Products Division (OFP) of Borden Chemical, Inc., a major global manufacturer of resin coated proppants and phenol formaldehyde resin systems.

Prior to Borden Chemical he worked for Service Fracturing Company (SERFCO), a high pressure pumping Stimulation Company. At SERFCO he held positions of District Engineer, Sales Manager, Region Sales Manager and District Manager in Midland/Odessa, TX. As District Manager he was instrumental in the start up operation of the Odessa, TX facility. Mr. Anschutz began his career with The Western Company of North America in Odessa, TX in 1982. He designed fracture stimulation and cementing jobs and was the technical support for the Midland sales office. He also spent a year in Hobbs, NM as the District Laboratory Manager for both stimulation fluids and cementing systems.

Mr. Anschutz is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Jason J. Renkes
Executive Vice President
BS Chemistry and Biology, Valparaiso University - 1979
MS Marketing, Webster University - 1983
Six Sigma Black Belt, BMG - 2003

Mr. Renkes has more than 27 years experience in the chemical industry involving assignments in senior management, marketing and sales management, technical sales and operations, quality control, strategic planning, research and development, and international marketing. Prior to joining PropTester^®, Inc., Mr. Renkes was Marketing Manager for Borden Chemical, Inc. Oilfield Products Group (OFP). In 2002, Mr. Renkes was selected as a candidate for Borden Chemical’s Six Sigma quality improvement program. Six Sigma is an industry wide recognized program that optimizes quality and drives cost out of the operating process by using data combined with rigid statistical methodologies. He is recognized as a Black Belt in the Six Sigma hierarchy.

Previously, Mr. Renkes worked for Petrolite Corporation for eleven years starting out as a Development/Technical Service Chemist and rising to North American Sales Manager. In 1992 he was hired by Fairmount Minerals, LTD. to manage, direct and coordinate the sales/marketing/research efforts of one of their divisions called Santrol, a resin coated proppant supplier. As Vice President/General Manager, he managed Santrol’s resin coated proppant and Wedron Silica’s uncoated frac sand business initiatives. Mr. Renkes also worked for Norton-Alcoa Proppants, a man-made ceramic proppant producer, as Marketing Manager, where he directed their worldwide sales and marketing efforts.

Mr. Renkes is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Earl R. Freeman
Executive Vice President
BS (Major: Biology, Minor: Chemistry)
University of Texas at Arlington – 1974

Mr. Freeman has 30 years of experience in the oilfield service & supply sector in the areas of research, product development, engineering, operations, sales, and management.

Prior to joining PropTester^®, Inc., Mr. Freeman was Sales & Marketing Manager, Oilfield Technology Group, Borden Chemical, Inc (BCI). Mr. Freeman became a Borden associate in 1995 and was responsible for sales in North America and International markets during his tenure. Mr. Freeman began his career with the Western Company of North America (WCNA) in the late 1970s, spent 15 years with BJ Services (BJS), and a total of 9 years with BCI. Notably, while at the WCNA, Mr. Freeman assembled a proppant testing laboratory, which contributed to the eventual development of API recommended practices (e.g. API RP 56).

Mr. Freeman earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Texas at Arlington. He is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the American Chemical Society (ACS), the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association (NMOGA), and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA). Mr. Freeman was elected to SPE distinguished membership in 2004 after nearly three decades of service to the petroleum industry, the SPE organization, and its governing body, the SPE International board of directors.

Mr. Freeman is an author of several SPE papers on fracturing & cementing and two United States patents on well stimulation methods. He also serves on the Technical Advisory Board of the Energy Literacy Project based in Golden, Colorado.

Allan R. Rickards
Director of Technology
Bachelors in Chemistry with a minor in Biology and Psychology
University of Texas at Arlington – 1981

Mr. Rickards has 28 years experience in oilfield fracturing fluid research and development that include 10+ years in fracture proppant conductivity and regain conductivity testing, test design and machine construction. Allan is a member of the ISO/TC 67/SC 3 WG3 (TC technical committee; SC subcommittee; WG work group); 13503-2 Procedures for measuring properties of proppants used in hydraulic fracturing and gravel packing; and 13305-5 Procedures for measuring the long-term conductivity of proppants. He is the author and co-author on 19 SPE papers.

Mr. Rickards began as a Laboratory Technician with BJ Services in Arlington, Texas. When he graduated from UTA he was promoted to Chemist, then Field Engineer, then District Engineer of South Texas. In 1987 he transferred to Perryton as District Engineer for BJ in the Texas Panhandle where he spent the next 3 years. In 1990 Mr. Rickards returned to BJ’s research center at Tomball, Texas as a Sr. Research Engineer and later as a Research Scientist. He was awarded United States patent 6,059,034 and 6,330,916 B1 for “Formation Treatment Method Using Deformable Particles”. Mr. Rickards is also co-inventor on 13 other patents which include US patent 5,247,995 “Enzyme Complex used for Dissolving Organic Filtercake Obtained from Polysaccharide Based Fluids in Production Operations and Completions of Oil and Gas Wells”, US patent 6,364,018 “Lightweight Methods and Compositions for Well Treating”, US patent 6,772,838 “Lightweight Particulate Materials and Uses Therefore”. Mr. Rickards joined PropTester®, Inc. in October 2006 and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Petroleum Institute.