About Cheval
Our Founding
Cheval Oil and Gas LLC was founded in 2024 by a team of respected oil and gas industry veterans, each one an experienced leader in his area of expertise. Headquartered in Midland, TX with a secondary office in Dallas, the Cheval team is primarily focused on Permian Basin assets, but our collective experience in multiple basins throughout Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and North Dakota allows us to explore most, if not all, transactional opportunities that may be presented. Small, nimble, and well-capitalized, we are a rapidly growing exploration and production company eager to capitalize on decades of experience and create a company that will last many more decades.
Our Approach
With the majority of our focus on the Permian Basin, our strategy is to optimize return on investment through a disciplined approach to acquisitions. At Cheval, we are currently focusing on cash-flowing, low-risk assets with upside achieved through cost reductions and production enhancements. Throughout our decades-long combined experience, our team has established relationships with numerous operators and working interest owners throughout the Permian Basin, and we seek to capitalize on those relationships and our "on-the-ground" operational experience. Because of our history of successful high-value asset transactions, our Cheval team is well-versed in both operated and non-operated asset sales, and we are eager and ready to evaluate and pursue any asset, including off-market assets, currently available.
Meet Our Team
Mike McWilliams - Chief Executive Officer
Mike has spent the last 50 years working in the oil and gas industry in multiple basins, international, offshore Gulf of Mexico, onshore Texas and Louisiana gulf coast, and the Permian Basin of West Texas. Most recently, Mike served as President and CEO of Dallas-based Browning Oil Company, Inc., retiring from Browning in March of 2024. While at Browning, the company was very active and successful in the early development of the Delaware Basin horizontal Wolfcamp play, exiting the basin with an interest in a series of transactions that exceeded $2 billion. Browning currently has multiple successful projects on the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin that were identified and developed under his guidance. Mike graduated in 1974 from Texas Tech University with a BS degree in geology.
Judson Bennett - President
In addition to serving as Managing Partner and President of Cheval, Judson oversees business development and investor relations. Additionally, Judson assists with operations of assets under management. Judson has over 20 years' experience in different executive leadership roles across multiple services businesses, including a role as owner and president of a drilling company based in the Permian Basin. Under his guidance, Judson's business development and operations teams have generated millions in revenue in the oil and gas industry. Judson was born and raised in Odessa, Texas, the heart of oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin. Judson's decades-long relationships in this industry gives Cheval Oil and Gas a unique opportunity for off-market transactions as well as being one of the first to know when an asset is going to market.
Eugene Kayser - Chief Operations Officer
Eugene has four decades of experience in drilling, completions, and workovers spanning multiple plays in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Throughout his career, Eugene has led multiple operations teams, including a mud engineering staff of 15 people, responsible for the design and implementation of drilling and kill fluids programs for operators such as Mobil, Exxon, XTO and other operators in the Permian Basin. For the last 24 years, Eugene has served as President of Kayser Consulting Services of Texas, leading a team of over thirty oilfield operations consultants.
Eric Link - Chief Investment Officer
Eric oversees the firm’s fund raising, financial management, investment, and investor relations. He additionally assists with asset management and operations. With over 25 years of investment banking experience at JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays Capital, he has successfully originated, underwritten, and securitized over $1.5 billion in commercial asset transactions. He has held various senior positions in their fixed income, capital markets debt/equity origination, underwriting, and securitization divisions. From 2007-2016 Eric served as Director and CEO of a privately held petrochemical company in Dubai, U.A.E. He was responsible for five petrochemical manufacturing facilities with 50-150 employees in each facility, importing from and distributing to over 20 countries located throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia. He successfully consolidated two of the operating facilities into one company in Dubai, while leading the divestment of subsidiaries in Pakistan and Egypt. Eric holds a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University.
Joseph Edgar - Chief Legal Officer
Joseph has significant experience working in the Permian Basin across a range of deal types, including asset acquisitions, acreage plays, chemical and OFS technologies, turnarounds, and capital raises. An entrepreneur, he is a co-founder of several natural resource-focused technology companies operating throughout North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Previously, Joseph served as Managing Director and General Counsel to the Pataki-Cahill Group, a strategic consultancy and investment firm led by former New York State Governor George E. Pataki. From 2003-2008, he served as Vice President of a specialized marine construction and dredging firm operating throughout North America and the Caribbean. Joseph holds degrees from Northeastern University, the Elizabeth Haub School of Law, and Yale University.
Kristin Bennett - Chief Financial Officer
Kristin is an accountant with 15 years in executive leadership as Controller, VP Finance, and CFO for privately held and publicly traded oil and gas service companies. She earned a BBA in accounting from UTPB located near her hometown of Odessa, TX. Kristin has a thorough understanding of business processes related to all levels of an organization and has been instrumental in accounting, administrative, and review of processes for the integration of multiple M&A transactions. Knowledgeable in Accounting, HR, IT, and Safety.
Steven McWilliams - Chief Geologist
Steven has over 17 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and has been a Pioneer in the analysis, targeting, and development of the core of the Haynesville and Wolfcamp Shale. Over the course of his career, Steven has led the evaluation and development of both conventional and shale reservoirs with hundreds of vertical and horizontal wells drilled throughout Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana. Steven is well versed in reservoir stimulation, petrophysical characterization, and micro-seismic analysis with experience in identifying overlooked opportunities and sub-optimal development. In previous roles, Steven cored over 2,000’ of Haynesville, Wolfcamp, and Spraberry Shale, while managing up to 5 horizontal drilling rigs at one time. Steven has geo-steered over 200 horizontal wells including wells in the complicated Strawn Sandstone of the Permian Basin. He has managed e-logging and mudlogging operations for a multi-rig program in the Permian Basin and Haynesville and identified multiple re-completions through petrophysical analysis of existing well data. Steven holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geosciences from Southern Methodist University.
Daniel McWilliams - Chief of Land
- Daniel is a skilled oil and gas landman with over 14 years of experience managing land, legal, and business development efforts for a privately held E&P company. During his tenure at Browning Oil Company, Inc., Daniel evaluated, negotiated, and coordinated several large acquisitions and associated due diligence across Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana. At Browning, Daniel was a key contributor to the land team that successfully divested several large assets, most notably Delaware Basin assets totaling over $2 billion and led the land team in divesting large, complicated legacy assets in the Austin Chalk. As an independent field-level landman, Daniel successfully negotiated and leased over 25,000 acres in the Permian Basin. Daniel's educational background includes a Communications degree from the University of North Texas and a Petroleum Land Management certificate from Texas Christian University.