David A. Freshwater
Mr. Freshwater currently serves as President of Reserve Oil & Gas Inc.; Chief Executive Officer of Contractor Services Inc.(CSi) of West Virginia; Managing Member of United Gas Pipeline (UGP) LLC; and Managing Member of Petro Services, LLC. Although his oil and gas career started in 1966, he founded his first company in 1970 which eventually evolved into Petro Services Inc. (an Appalachian Basin oil and gas contracting company). In 1981, Petro Services and Allegheny & Western (A&W) Energy merged and had an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange to create Allegheny & Western Energy Corporation. During his tenure with A&W, he served as Vice President of Field Operations and supervised the drilling and completion of over 350 wells throughout the Appalachian Basin. Mr. Freshwater resigned from A&W in 1985 and immediately founded D.A Freshwater Company (whose name has since changed to CSi) to re-enter the oil and gas contracting business and form new drilling partnerships.
Mr. Freshwater is a Vietnam veteran and member of the Daniel Boone Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). He served twenty-one years on the Board of Directors of the First National Bank (now First Neighborhood Bank) of Spencer and was a Governor-appointee to the WV Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority. Mr. Freshwater is a Guardian member of the Boy Scouts of America and was selected as the 2008 Roane County Citizen of the Year. He enjoys reading, motorcycling, piloting his plane and studying history.
J. Scott Freshwater
Mr. Freshwater currently serves as Vice President of Reserve Oil & Gas Inc.; President of Contractor Services Inc. (CSi) Of West Virginia; Member of United Gas Pipeline (UGP) LLC; and Member of Petro Services LLC. Following in the footsteps of his father, both his grandfathers, and two great grandfathers, he began his oil and gas career in 1987 working in the field using his back and his hands on CSi well servicing, pipeline construction, and well cementing projects. From 1989 to 1995, he attended West Virginia University and received both a BS and MS in Civil & Environmental Engineering while working summers at CSi and completing an internship with Columbia Gas/Columbia Gulf Transmission Corporation. Freshwater returned to CSi on a full time basis in 1996, directed the diversification of CSi into the environmental contracting services arena, and increased CSi’s area of operations to encompass the eastern US. When oil and gas market conditions began improving in the early 2000’s, his focus shifted to developing and growing Reserve Today, he continues to foster the growth of the newest affiliate companies (UGP & Petro) while managing the operations of Reserve & CSi. Mr. Freshwater’s technical expertise coupled with his extensive field and business experience in all facets of the oil and gas industry has prepared him to lead the long-term growth of Reserve Oil & Gas, Inc and its affiliates.
Mr. Freshwater currently serves as Executive Vice President for the Allohak Council of the Boy Scouts of America which encompasses eastern Ohio and central West Virginia. He was nominated and selected for “Generation Next: 40 under 40” by The State Journal which recognizes the young business leaders of West Virginia in 2008 and became a member of the Mountain State Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) in 2009. Mr. Freshwater is also a member of the Daniel Boone Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). He enjoys traveling, motorcycling, and reading.
Tom Ragsdale
Mr. Ragsdale joined Reserve Oil & Gas, Inc. in 2001 as its Consulting Geologist.. Ragsdale began his career in oil and gas in 1960 working as a Well Logging Engineer for McCullough Tool Company. From 1966 to 1973, he served as Development Geologist for Consolidated Gas Supply Corporation (now Dominion Resources). From 1973 to 1981, he held the positions of Geologist and Vice President – Exploration, Eastern US for Ray Resources, a division of Bow Valley Exploration, Inc. where he was responsible for supervising the completion of all company drilling and related field activities (259 wells). In 1981, he joined Sterling Drilling and Production as Vice President and General Manager of Field Operations. During his tenure, Sterling drilled a total of 370 oil and gas wells in the Appalachian Basin. From 1987 to present, he has served as a consulting geologist to various public and private entities. Ragsdale graduated from South Illinois University with a BS in Geology in 1959.
Advisory Board Members
David L. Dickirson.
Mr. Dickirson is the President and Owner of The Dickirson Group (www.dickirson.com), a manufacturer of oil & gas machinery headquartered in Ripley, West Virginia. He led an effort to increase their presence in the export marketplace which earned him numerous awards including the “U.S. Small Business Administration – West Virginia Exporter of the Year” and the “John D. Rockefeller IV Governor’s Award- West Virginia Outstanding Export Business”. Dickirson has served or serves as an appointee to the U.S. Export Advisory Council, West Virginia Development Office, and the West Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority. He helped lead the effort of the Authority to construct the Tamarack (www.tamarackwv.com), a world class, one of a kind facility which promotes products produced by West Virginia artists and craft persons which later gained him “The Distinguished West Virginian Award”
Robert A. Arnott, Ph.D
Dr. Arnott currently owns Strategic Environmental Analysis (SEA), LLC, an environmental and technical consulting firm headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Prior to SEA, Arnott held the positions of Principal, President, and Chief Executive Officer within ERM Group, an international environmental consulting firm headquartered in London, U.K. from 1986 to 2003. Prior to 1986, he was employed by various private sector companies, academic institutions, and governmental agencies. Arnott received his B.S. Chemistry from West Virginia University in 1963 and his Ph.D. Physical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1968. Dr. Arnott has been involved in Reserve’s oil and gas exploration activities since 1998 and currently resides in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Dennis L. Mann.
Mr. Mann began his career in the oil and gas industry in 1977 with his father, Richard L. Mann and eventually rose to the position of Vice President of Operations of Allegheny and Western Energy Corporation (A&W), a pioneer in the development of Devonian shale formations in central West Virginia. During his tenure with A&W, he was responsible for overseeing leasing, drilling, completion, pipeline construction and production activities for over 700 wells throughout the Appalachian Basin. Mann attended Alderson Broadus College where he earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Education. He currently resides in Delray Beach, Florida.
Jack Nida
Mr. Nida has served as a member of Reserve’s Advisory Board since 2001. Nida was continuously employed in the Distribution and Sales Departments of Union Carbide Corporation from 1949 to 1972 except during a four year period he served in the US Air Force during the Korean War. From 1972 to 1974, he served as a General Manager of the Aeropak Division of Demert and Daugherty (a manufacturer of automotive, health, and beauty products headquartered in Chicago, IL). In 1974, Nida developed a line of patented automotive chemical products for franchised car dealerships and formed Advance Chemical Products (ACP) Company, an Illinois corporation. In 1976, he formed Neoprene International Corporation (NICO), a sales and marketing organization that distributed the products of ACP, where he served as CEO until his retirement in 1997. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia and Amma, West Virginia.
Ed Van Deuren
Mr. Van Deuren has been a private investor in oil and gas drilling programs throughout the Appalachian Basin for over 50 years and with Reserve since 2001. He retired from Union Carbide Corporation with over 40 years of service. He was involved in Union Carbides worldwide facility construction and maintenance projects and in the development of specialty plastics for the aerospace industry. Mr. Van Deuren served in the U.S. Navy Seabees during World War II and was attached to the “Petroleum Division” which constructed fueling and ammunition facilities for the U.S. Naval Fleet in the Pacific and Mediterranean theatres. Mr. Van Deuren currently resides in Saint Albans, West Virginia.
Admiral T. Joseph Lopez (Ret.)
Admiral Lopez is one of two flag officers in the history of the U.S. Navy who have achieved four-star rank after direct commission from enlisted service. His principal assignments during his naval career included tours as both Commander in Chief of U.S Naval Forces, Europe and Commander in Chief Allied Forces, Southern Europe from 1996 to 1998. In 1996, he commanded all U.S. and Allied Bosnia Peace Forces. He served in 1993 – 1996 as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments and in 1992- 1993 commanded the U.S. Sixth Fleet. During his career, Admiral Lopez won numerous medals and honors, including two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Navy Distinguished Service Medals, three Legion of Merits, the Bronze Star (Combat V), three Navy Commendation Medals (Combat V), and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Admiral Lopez is the former President of Information Manufacturing Corporation (IMC), an information technology service integrator with more than 400 employees and corporate offices in Rocket Center, West Virginia and Oakton, Virginia. In addition to serving as a Trustee for two corporations, he is a member of the Boards of the National Defense University, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, National Youth Science Foundation, and the Armed Forces Benefit Asociation. He is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of West Virginia University. Admiral Lopez has received numerous honors from the state of West Virginia, including selection as the West Virginian of the Year in 1998, designation by the Governor in 1984 as a “Distinguished West Virginian”, and in 1997, the State Legislature named the Interstate 64 Bridge spanning the Kanawha River at Chelyan in his honor.
James E. Shafer
Mr. Shafer is the President of ST Pipeline, Inc. which he founded in 1984 and today is one of the largest natural gas pipeline construction companies in the Appalachia region. Over the years, ST Pipeline developed a wide range of experience in every conceivable aspect of pipeline transmission, gathering, storage, and compression and a reputation for being a true ‘mountain’ pipeline contractor. The tougher and steeper the project, the more likely the gas companies turn to ST Pipeline to build their system. Prior to ST Pipeline, Mr. Shafer was employed by various pipeline construction contractors throughout the continental U.S. as well as the Alaskan arctic (Trans Alaskan pipeline from 1974 to 1977). He currently resides in Clendenin, West Virginia.
