» Our Team
JAMES P. GRAHAM serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Palo Petroleum, Inc. ("Palo"). After graduating with honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Petroleum Land Management and Finance, Mr. Graham received a M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University in 1970. While attending school he worked for Hunt Oil Company as a landman.
Following graduation from SMU, Mr. Graham joined Continental Oil Company’s (Conoco) land department. In 1971, he went to Cenard Oil & Gas Co. in Dallas and served as Manager of Land and Contracts and Assistant Secretary of Cenard and its subsidiaries. When Cenard was sold to Gulf Oil Corporation in 1975, Mr. Graham went into private consulting, and supervised the acquisition, drilling and completion of oil and gas exploration ventures for his clients.
In 1976, Mr. Graham and Mr. Lonnie R. Holotik formed Palo for the exploration and development of oil and gas prospects. At that time, Mr. Graham also served as Managing Partner of Graham-Lawrence Petroleum, a joint venture with John Lawrence, former Chairman of the Board of Dresser Industries. As Managing Partner, Mr. Graham supervised participation in 108 wells in seven drilling partnerships. In addition to running Palo, Mr. Graham also currently serves as President of Dallas Natural Gas Company, an oil and gas investment firm. The majority stockholder of Dallas Natural Gas was Louis F. Davis, former Vice-Chairman of Atlantic-Richfield (Arco). In 1982, Mr. Graham, along with First Boston and others, was one of the founding stockholders of Snyder Oil Company Holdings, Inc., a former NYSE-listed company prior to its sale.
Mr. Graham has qualified for Certified Professional Landman status (No. 368) and is a current or past member of the Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen, the American Association of Petroleum Landmen, the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, the Texas Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the West Central Texas Oil & Gas Association, the Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Association, Dallas Chamber of Commerce, North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Advisory Board of Christian Concern Foundation, past President of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Soccer Association, member of the Chancellor’s Council and the Littlefield Society at the University of Texas-Austin, member of Council of Regents-Jesuit College Preparatory School, Member of Charter Society, Football Society and Quadrangle Club-Cornell University, past director and past chairman of the Energy Committee of Union Bank and Trust of Dallas and is a former director of Grand Bank – Woodall Rogers in Dallas (now BBVA Compass Bank, N.A.). In addition, Mr. Graham is a past president of the City of Dallas Park Board, past president of Friends of Fair Park, chairman of the World Cup Dallas 1994 Bid Committee, co-chairman with Lamar Hunt of the World Cup Dallas 1994 Host Committee, current chairman of the Dallas 2018/2022 World Cup Bid Committee, advisory board member of the Dallas Football Classic, Chairman of the Board of Schick Shadel Hospital in Seattle, Washington (www.schickshadel.com), and is a board member and former executive committee member of the Mountain States Legal Foundation (www.mountainstateslegal.org).
PAT SNYDER joined Palo in 1991 and is currently Vice President of Land and Contracts for Palo. Ms. Snyder was born in Midland, Texas and attended the University of Texas, Permian Basin, in Midland, Texas before moving to Denver, Colorado in 1997.
Ms. Snyder worked for Tucker & Snyder (Snyder Oil) and Merchants Petroleum (Damson Oil) before beginning her career in land with May Petroleum in 1979. May Petroleum sold all of its Western States properties (approximately 1.2 million acres) in 1984 to Rosewood Resources, Inc. (Caroline Hunt Trust Estate) and Ms. Snyder joined Rosewood at that time to manage their Western States and West Texas properties. She was responsible for all phases of land work from the inception to the completion of the last well drilled in the prospects. Rosewood sold all of its assets in 1990 and Ms. Snyder assisted in the sale to industry partners.
Ms. Snyder is a current member of the American Association of Petroleum Landmen, the Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen and the Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen. Ms. Snyder was the chairman of the Education Committee from 1996-1998 for the DAPL and on the Planning Committee for the AAPL annual meeting in 2002.
JACE GRAHAM has been with Palo since 2005 and currently serves as Vice President of Acquisitions where he is primarily responsible for Palo’s project implementation and strategic development. Mr. Graham has been involved in many acquisition and divestiture projects in the oil and gas industry including prospect generation, large leasehold purchases and sales, as well as vast mineral and royalty estate acquisitions.
Before joining Palo, Mr. Graham was an independent landman in Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas where he gained a wealth of knowledge in lease acquisitions and title curative. Prior to his career in the oil and gas business, Mr. Graham managed Houston’s Restaurant in Dallas and gained insight into setting up fully functional systems as well as team management.
Mr. Graham holds a Bachelor of Business Marketing from Cornell University and is a Registered Petroleum Landman (RPL). He currently serves on the Board of Friends of Fair Park (www.fairpark.org) and the White Rock Lake Foundation (www.whiterocklakefoundation.org). In his spare time, Mr. Graham enjoys participating in endurance events such as Ironman triathlons and marathons.
WILLIAM M. FREW currently serves as consulting geologist for Palo. Mr. Frew was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Michigan where he married his wife, Madge, in 1951 while on leave from the United States Marine Corps. After completing his tour of duty with the USMC, Mr. Frew received his Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1954 and went on to receive a Masters of Science in Petroleum Geology in 1955, both from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Frew has worked for numerous companies during his many years of providing geological expertise. A few of these positions include serving as Chief Geologist for Transco Exploration Co., Gulf Coast Manager for Southland Royalty Co., Senior Vice President for Cenergy Exploration Co., and Exploration Manager for Maguire Oil Company. Mr. Frew retired from the corporate world in 1993 and has since then been serving as a part-time consultant. Mr. Frew is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists and the East Dallas Rotary Club.
In 2005, Palo contracted with Mr. Frew to begin an extensive review of Palo’s West Texas properties, including a thorough review of the records of Charles F. Dodge, the original geologist for Palo’s Spraberry-Dean trend West Texas field. Mr. Frew has also assisted in the review and evaluation of several projects in which Palo has an interest in West Texas, East Texas and Louisiana and currently reviews potential target areas for Palo’s royalty acqusition program.
JAMIE BERTRAND joined Palo in 2009 and serves as its Royalty Acquisitions Manager. Born in Alice, Texas and raised in Hobbs, NM and Pineville, LA, Ms. Bertrand graduated with honors from the University of Louisiana Monroe with a double degree in Government and English and a minor in History. Ms. Bertrand went on to earn her JD from Texas Wesleyan School of Law in Fort Worth where she concentrated her studies in Real Property Law and Oil and Gas Transactions. Ms. Bertrand’s legal career began in Kentucky while serving as the Agency Services Manager for Stewart Title based in Louisville, KY. Following her move back to Texas, Ms. Bertrand served as the Commercial Land Manager for Carburante Land Management before joining The Caffey Group as a Team Manager. Ms. Bertrand is a licensed attorney is both Texas and Kentucky and is a member of the Oil and Gas Section of the Texas State Bar.
KRISTIN TODORA has worked at Palo since 1988 and currently serves as office manager, lease analyst, corporate secretary and executive assistant to James P. Graham. Born in Wichita, Kansas and raised in Dallas, Kristin attended Stephen F. Austin State University and graduated from the University of Texas – Dallas in 1993. While serving as Mr. Graham’s assistant, Kristin has gained experience and knowledge in many areas beyond the oil and gas industry including accounting, sports management, political campaigning and hospital management.
DEBBIE HOLT joined Palo in 2001 and currently serves as staff accountant for Palo and its subsidiaries. Debbie has more than 30 years of accounting experience in the oil and gas industry. She worked for KPMG Main Hurdman and Horseshoe Operating in Midland, Texas until 1987. At that time Debbie relocated to Dallas and worked for several independent oil and gas companies prior to joining Palo.
DIANE CARRERA is the Senior Division Order Analyst for Palo and has 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry. She began her career in 1985, working for a family of royalty owners where she was responsible for all phases of land, accounting and lease negotiations. From there, she went to work for various oil and gas companies in the Dallas area, concentrating mostly on the southern states and has extensive experience working with Texas properties. She was born in San Angelo, Texas and has both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Texas A&M University. Ms. Carrera is currently a member of the National Association of Division Order Analysts (NADOA), the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter (DALWORTH) and the National Association of Lease and Title Analysts (NALTA).
TYLER GRAHAM has worked at Palo since 2009 and currently serves as a Landman on the Royalty Acquisitions Team. Tyler graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2003, and then attended Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business where he obtained his graduate certificate in Petroleum Land Practices. Prior to joining Palo, Tyler was employed as a landman by Carburante Land Management and The Caffey Group. Tyler was a Location Manager in the Film-Entertainment Industry for nearly a decade before making his transition into the energy business. He is currently a member of the AAPL and is actively pursuing his CPL.