Ray M. Sharpe - CEO
P.O. Box 563
Salem, IL 62881
618.740.1075 office
618.918.1670 cell phone
ray@sharpeoilandgas.com
Ray has over 25 years of direct experience in the independent E&P industry in the Illinois Basin. He serves as CEO of Sharpe Energy, LLC, based in Salem, Illinois, and focused exclusively on oil in the Illinois Basin.
He also serves as CEO and President of Prairie Resources, Inc., an Illinois corporation that has operated oil wells in the Illinois Basin since 1992. He has overseen the financing, implementation and management of numerous drilling programs including dozens of wells drilled in the Illinois Basin and Oklahoma.
Ray founded and served as President and CEO of R.M.S., Ltd., an Illinois Basin oil E&P firm based in Centralia, Illinois. He was Vice-President of C.E. Rex Petroleum based in Collinsville, Illinois and Exploration and Development Finance Manager for Freedom Oil & Gas an oil development company in NE Oklahoma.
Ray served as the China Director for University Language Services, placing teachers in Colleges, Universities and Research Institutes throughout Mainland China. He had primary responsibility for all China-side operations, leading multiple teams with up to 85 personnel in 15 cities across China. In this role, Ray was involved in frequent high-level meetings and contract negotiations with the Chinese State Bureau of Foreign Experts, provincial Education Bureaus and Foreign Affairs Departments, as well as university presidents.
Ray acted as a Consultant to the U.S. Consular General’s Business Division in Shenyang China evaluating opportunities for US/Sino commercial exchange in the Daqing Oilfield in NE China. He is an expert in cross-cultural communication and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
In the oil industry and in cross-cultural exchange, Ray has successfully managed large operations with minimal staff utilizing his ability to coordinate personnel working together through outsourced contract arrangements, keeping overhead low, while maintaining high quality achievement standards. Having previously landed oil and gas investments from Chinese entrepreneurs, Ray is uniquely positioned to attract and negotiate funding from Chinese private equity firms & IOC’s.
Ray’s experience managing diverse teams in challenging environments uniquely qualifies him to lead Sharpe Energy, LLC forward, in this rapidly evolving and highly competitive industry environment.
A.M. Hunt, PhD - Geologic & Exploration Leader
6738 Loveland-Miamiville Road
Loveland, OH 45140
513.673.8712
A. M. (Mandy) Hunt, PhD, Geologic & Exploration Leader, has over 40 years of experience in exploration, development and research for varied oil and gas projects. This noted geologist has achieved a successful and
rewarding career researching and developing projects that set significant milestones in geologic discovery and industry applications. Dr. Hunt’s work has ranged from the eastern U.S. to California, Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America with a specific focus on the Illinois Basin.
Mandy holds a B.A. in Geology from University of Cincinnati, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Geology and Paleontology from Tulane University. She is the recipient of many fellowships, grants and awards from the National Science Foundation, The World Health Organization, and NASA, among others.
Following five years as a Shell Oil Company Onshore Exploration Geologist for the Southern Region, Mandy established A.M. Hunt Associates, independent consultants in the Illinois Basin. Over 3 decades, her clients ranged from small independents to major oil companies. During this period of exhaustive investigation of subsurface samples, cores, outcrops and geophysical logs, she developed unique insights into the deposition, basin structure, tectonics, and fluid migration history of the Illinois Basin.
Her discovery of new drilling methods in coal beds, led to groundbreaking improvements in recovery of methane gas from coal mines (research performed at Gas Research Institute, Chicago).
Mandy has held teaching positions at the University of Cincinnati, Eastern Illinois University and Tulane University. Many of her former students are lead contributors to oil discovery in companies throughout the industry. Several are successful players in the Illinois Basin. She holds professional memberships in the Association of Petroleum Geologists, Geological Society of America, Society of Sigma Xi, and American Association of University Professors.
Dr. Hunt’s broad training and extensive experience evaluating the subsurface rocks of the basin, coupled with her passion for hands-on analysis, have led to a redefinition of the Illinois Basin’s ultimate productive potential.