Management Team

RICHARD H. MILLS, JR.
Manager, Chief Executive Officer
Richard Mills, CEO, is Manager of Tenrgys and each of its Affiliated Companies. Mr. Mills is also the President of Reveille and Manager of TOG.

Mr. Mills began his career as a petroleum engineer with Cities Service Oil and Gas Company in its Jackson, MS, Southeast Region office focusing primarily on reservoir engineering. Occidental Petroleum Corporation acquired Cities Service in 1984, and Mr. Mills became an employee of OXY USA. During his employment with OXY USA, Mr. Mills completed the requirements for an MBA degree from Millsaps College. OXY closed the Jackson Southeast Region office in 1989 and consolidated operations to Houston, Texas. Mr. Mills elected to remain in Mississippi working initially as an independent consulting engineer and energy investment advisor.

In 1991, Mr. Mills formed the predecessor company to Tenrgys and began acquiring select producing oil and gas fields in Louisiana and Oklahoma with private investors, using joint venture structures. In 1995, he formed TOG’s predecessor and expanded into Mississippi with a series of successful acquisitions using an LLC structure. Most of these early acquisitions are still producing and have paid back the initial investment multiple times.

Mr. Mills received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering from Mississippi State University in 1980. Mr. Mills is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Mississippi, serves as a Trustee to the Millsaps College Board of Directors, is a member of the U.S. Oil and Gas Association executive committee, and is a member of the Mississippi State University Foundation Board.

JOHN GEARY
General Counsel
 

THOMAS E. WOFFORD
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Wofford joined TOG in September 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Wofford had varied public accounting experience, including over 10 years of experience at Arthur Andersen & Co, in which he focused on providing valuation, tax and advisory services to clients. He has assisted attorneys with family law tax issues and other litigation support services. He has also provided estate and gift tax planning services and worked extensively in merger/acquisition situations.

Mr. Wofford is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Mississippi. He is also a Certified Valuation Analyst and has successfully passed the examination to be classified as Accredited in Business Valuation by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a member of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (“NACVA”) and past Vice-President of the Mississippi Chapter of NACVA, the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants having served on the Taxation and Business Valuation Committees and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (including the Tax Division).

JAMES “BOBO” CLARKE
Manager of Land
Chief Operating Officer of Telpico, LLC
Mr. Clarke began his oil and gas career as a Petroleum Landman for Placid Oil Company. His primary areas of responsibility while at Placid were Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. In 1989, Placid closed its district office in Jackson, MS and Mr. Clarke transferred to Dallas, TX to work for Petro-Hunt, LLC (“Petro-Hunt”). While at Petro-Hunt, Mr. Clarke became Vice President of Land. In that capacity, he managed Petro-Hunt’s U.S. and International land operations. He managed a staff of 30 company employees and as many as 60 contract land professionals. Mr. Clarke left Petro-Hunt in August 2006 to become TOG’s Manager of Land.

Mr. Clarke earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Mississippi in 1984. Mr. Clarke is a member of the Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen (“DAPL”) where he served as President from 1995-1996. Mr. Clarke is also a member of the Mississippi Association of Petroleum Landmen (“MAPL”) where he served as President during 2008-2009, and of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (“AIPN”). He has also represented DAPL from 1997-1999 and MAPL from 2009-2011 as Regional Director to the American Association of Petroleum Landmen (“AAPL”). Mr. Clarke is also a member of several other industry related associations.

CHRISTOPHER W. JONES
Exploitation Engineering Manager
Mr. Jones joined TOG in 2004 and is responsible for acquisition and divestiture analysis, production and performance enhancement proposals for existing fields, and reserve and economic evaluations. He also serves as liaison with the company’s lenders.

Mr. Jones began his oil and gas career with ARCO Oil & Gas Company in Lafayette, Louisiana and Bakersfield, California. As an operations engineer and later, reservoir engineer, Mr. Jones’ responsibilities included development of proposals for well work, drilling new wells, oversight of service contractors, steam flood projects, analysis of an enriched gas miscible project, evaluation of Gulf of Mexico tracts, development of offshore leases, onshore property acquisitions, capital expenditure budgets and reserve reports.

Mr. Jones joined Deposit Guaranty National Bank (now Regions Bank) in Jackson, MS in 1981. Mr. Jones was the bank’s primary reservoir engineer responsible for independent evaluation of customer reserves. Among his many other responsibilities at the bank, he evaluated proposed purchases of assets by customers and audited consultants’ evaluations.

Mr. Jones received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University in 1977. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Mississippi and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

DON CRUISE
Drilling and Production Manager

Mr. Cruise joined TOG in March of 2023.

Mr. Cruise began his career as a field engineer with Chevron in Rangely, CO, in 1980.  During his tenure at Chevron, Mr. Cruise had a wide range of domestic and international experience including multiple Asst. Production Foreman assignments, Reservoir Engineer, Safety Engineer, on-site Drilling/Workover Supervisor, and Drilling Engineer. 

In June 1992, Mr. Cruise joined Callon Petroleum Company in Natchez, MS as a Sr. Operations Engineer.  Mr. Cruise was primarily responsible for planning and supervising drilling, completions, workovers, wireline plugbacks and P&A operations in OCS waters, inland waters, and on land while at Callon.  Callon drilled and operated wells in OCS leases (including deepwater) across the entire Gulf Of Mexico, as well as Alabama, Louisiana and Texas coastal waters, the Haynesville Shale and both the Midland and Delaware Basins of the Permian Basin.  After 28 years of service, Mr. Cruise retired from Callon Petroleum with the closing of the Natchez office in June 2020.     

Mr. Cruise received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Mississippi State University in December 1980. 

BRIAN SIMS
Exploitation Geological Manager
Mr. Sims joined TOG in 2005 and is responsible for geological evaluations that facilitate production increases and reserve growth for existing fields.

Mr. Sims’ initial career began with Clayton W. Williams, Jr., currently Clayton Williams Energy, Inc., from 1982 until 1990 in their Jackson, MS and Houston, TX offices. As a geologist Mr. Sims’ responsibilities included exploration and development work where he worked various geologic trends in Alabama, Mississippi, North and South Louisiana, East Texas and Texas Gulf Coast, and southeastern Oklahoma.

From 1991 through August 2005, Mr. Sims worked as a consulting geologist based in Madison, MS. During this time, he focused on geological and geophysical interpretations primarily in Mississippi and Alabama.

Mr. Sims is a Registered Professional Geologist in Mississippi. He is a member and two times past President of the Mississippi Geological Society. He served as a Regional Chairman and as Vice Chairman and National Chairman for the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC). Mr. Sims received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Millsaps College in 1982.

GEORGE W. RHODES
Human Resources Manager
Mr. Rhodes has over twenty years of supervisory and management experience encompassing accounting, contracts, purchasing and financial management. His previous experience in the oil and gas industry was with Cities Service Oil and Gas Company, later called OXY USA. Immediately before coming to TOG, Mr. Rhodes worked with a manufacturing concern as their General Manager and Chief Financial Officer. While there, he secured optimum financing of existing debt obligations and helped the company to realize significant efficiencies through realignment of the company’s accounting, procurement and transportation functions.

Mr. Rhodes joined TOG in 2000. Mr. Rhodes’ responsibilities have included human resource management, payroll and benefit administration, and business manager for several Tenrgys Affiliated Companies. He has also served as office manager, computer network administrator and gas marketing manager for TOG. He coordinates the company’s Authority for Expenditure process, monitors all inventory and material transactions, oversees contract management and facilitates the company’s insurance and risk management programs.

Mr. Rhodes graduated from Belhaven College in 1981 where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He subsequently earned his MBA degree at Mississippi College. He is a long-standing member of the Council of Petroleum Accountants Society and has affiliations with the National Association of Purchasing Management and the Petroleum Buyer’s Group.

CLARKE THOMAS
Health, Safety & Environmental Compliance Manager
Prior to joining Tellus in 2011, Mr. Thomas was a Senior Geologist / Principal with Earth Consulting Group, Inc. In this role, Mr. Thomas was primarily responsible for the overall management of the firm’s technical and field activities, quality assurance/quality control of deliverables, business development, loss control and client/regulatory interface.

Mr. Thomas has more than 23 years of experience in the Environmental Assessment, Compliance, Due Diligence, Health and Safety, Industrial Hygiene and Remediation Sectors primarily for Exploration & Production and Midstream companies. Mr. Thomas is a Registered Professional Geologist in the State of Mississippi and the State of Tennessee. Mr. Thomas graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1984 with a B.S. in Geology.