Executive Team

Gary Conway is one of the three founding partners of Vaquero and is the firm’s CEO/President. He has more than 24 years of experience in the oil and natural gas industry and a track record of success. Prior to co-founding Vaquero, Gary served as Vice President of Engineering and Operations at TEAK Midstream LLC, and was a key participant in the board’s analysis and decision making. His role involved all aspects of the engineering and operations of more than 300 miles of high and low pressure gathering systems, a grassroots 262-mile high pressure gathering pipeline, and a 200 MMSCFD processing facility with an additional 400 MMSCFD planned on the complex.

Prior to his tenure with TEAK, Gary served as Vice President of Treating and Construction for Petrohawk/Hawk Field Services, completing the midstream assets in the Fayetteville Shale, establishing a major footprint of midstream assets in the Haynesville Shale and the initial assets for the Eagle Ford Shale.

Prior to Petrohawk/Hawk Field Services, Gary was Director of Processing for Energy Transfer. In this role he was instrumental in guiding Energy Transfer into the Barnett Shale, leading the construction and operations of the 500 MMSCFD Godley Cryogenic Complex.

Previously, Gary was Manager of Engineering at Crosstex Energy Services in the Treating Division, where under his execution management Crosstex grew to more than 120 operating amine plants. Prior to joining Crosstex, he was employed by consulting firms as a chemical engineer working for major and independent natural gas and petrochemical companies in the United States and abroad.

Gary received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Bill Davis is a principal and co-founder of Vaquero, where he is currently helping the team to build a 200 MMSCFD gas processing complex with more than 100 miles of high-pressure gathering pipeline in the southern Delaware Basin.

Bill co-founded Vaquero after retiring from a 13-year career with Crosstex Energy, serving 10 years as Chief Financial Officer and then three years as Chief Operating Officer. He joined Crosstex as its CFO in order to assist in leading the IPO of Crosstex Energy L.P., one of the early Master Limited Partnerships (MLP). Shortly after that IPO, he helped lead the IPO of the general partner of the MLP, Crosstex Energy, Inc., in what was the first IPO of a general partner of an MLP. Subsequently, in his role as COO, Bill coordinated the commercial, engineering, operations, and EH&S teams in the execution and subsequent operation of the Company’s assets. A principal focus was the execution of the Cajun Sibon expansion, a $700 million project that significantly expanded the company’s fractionation capacity in South Louisiana and connected that capacity to the liquids hub at Mont Bellevue.

Prior to joining Crosstex, Bill worked for Sunshine Mining Company for 18 years as Chief Accounting Officer and then as President/Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer. Before Sunshine Mining Company, he worked for Arthur Young and Company in Houston and San Antonio.

Bill graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting degree from Texas A&M University.

Bryant Patton is a principal and founding partner of Vaquero. He has nearly 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, including 20 years as a principal in two oil and gas exploration and production companies, eight years as an institutional portfolio manager investing approximately $350 million, and 10 years providing value-added management extension and capital formation strategy to upstream and midstream energy companies. Bryant has participated in hundreds of transactions and has established relationships with industry players, capital providers, investment bankers, lawyers, and third-party support professionals.

In addition to his role at Vaquero, Bryant is founder and president of Brycap Investments, Inc., which helps energy companies develop strategic plans, secure capital to fund company growth, execute the strategic plan, and source and monetize assets to maximize return on investment. Companies that Brycap has assisted include TEAK Midstream, Crosstex Energy, Oakspring Energy, LLC, Vendera Resources, Abraxas Petroleum, Camden Resources, Cinco Resources, and Primexx Energy Partners.

Previously, Bryant was Senior Vice President of Associated Energy Managers (AEM), managing two funds for The Common Fund and Energy Income Fund, L.P., which closed in 1996 with capital commitments of $100 million. AEM provided premium rate non-recourse financing on deals from $1 million to $41 million. His role involved loan and deal origination, deal term negotiation, legal documentation supervision, reservoir engineering review, financial analysis and relationship management of borrowers.

Bryant has been deeply involved in the industry, serving in board and leadership positions for the Dallas Petroleum Club, the Dallas Wildcat Committee, Energy Partners, LTD, the Independent Petroleum Association of American, and Abraxas General Partner, LLC. He is also a member of the Dallas Producers Club and the Acquisitions and Divestitures Group of Dallas.

Brian Best serves as Vaquero’s Executive Vice President of Business Development. He is responsible for the acquisition of new business and development of relationships for Vaquero’s strategic growth initiatives.

Prior to joining Vaquero Midstream, Brian most recently served as Vice President of Commercial for J-W Energy Company where he was responsible for all commercial activity for the company’s midstream assets. During his tenure at J-W, he led several aspects of the midstream functions, including third-party business development, pipeline commercial operations, acquisition and divestitures, new project expansions, capital planning, and banking and finance management. Brian brings a blend of engineering and finance with a focus on value to producers.

Prior to his time at J-W Energy Company, he spent nine years in the defense industry at Lockheed Martin in both technical and project management roles in the development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Brian has an MBA with a Finance Concentration from Southern Methodist University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Christian University.

Sandra Fendley joined Vaquero Midstream in June 2015 as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, with over 20 years of experience in the midstream, oil and gas and utilities industries. She previously served as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Matador Resources and also as Controller of J-W Midstream, a subsidiary of J-W Energy Company.

Prior to joining J-W Midstream, Sandra held a number of financial roles with Crosstex Energy, including serving as Corporate Controller, Director of Financial Accounting and Director of Financial Reporting from 2006 until her departure in 2013. She also held numerous and varied accounting roles with TXU (currently Energy Future Holdings) from 1991 to 2006.

In her many roles, Sandra has had responsibility for leading a financial accounting group, SEC reporting group for a publicly traded Master Limited Partnership, crude oil operational accounting group, financial planning and analysis group, fixed asset accounting, inventory, and accounts payable. She has also provided leadership on multiple process improvement projects resulting in significant cost and time savings and improved controls.

Sandra is a licensed certified public accountant. She received an MBA from Tarleton State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Gary Wauson is the Vice President of Operations for Vaquero Midstream. With more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Gary has been an essential driver in helping the company grow, putting operational strategies in place that have taken Vaquero far beyond a traditional midstream company approach. He currently oversees construction and engineering on a 200 MMSCFD gas processing complex with more than 100 miles of high-pressure gathering pipeline in the Southern Delaware Basin. Once the plant is completed in spring of 2016, Gary will manage the development and implementation of general operations policies and safety procedures.

Before Vaquero, Gary worked as an area manager for TEAK Midstream, where he was instrumental in the building of a cryogenic gas processing plant and high-pressure gas gathering systems in South Texas. Previous to his work at TEAK Midstream, he worked as a systems superintendent for more than 10 years with Western Gas Resources (later acquired by Anadarko Petroleum) where he made decisions regarding large gathering and compression systems.

Prior to Western Gas Resources, Gary worked for Tipperary Corporation where he was the operations superintendent. He also worked for LoVaca Gathering, where he was the plant operator and started one of the earliest cryogenic plants. Gary began his career as an operator for Exxon.

Besides his extensive experience in oil and gas, he worked for more than 10 years as a general manager of fabrication facilities, building compressors, plants and production equipment.