Management

Mr. Smith has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since December 2019 and as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer since January 2017. Prior to this position, Mr. Smith served as Emerald Oil Inc.’s Chief Financial Officer from September 2014 to January 2017 and Vice President of Capital Markets and Strategy from July 2013 to September 2014. Prior to joining Emerald, Mr. Smith was a Vice President in Canaccord Genuity’s Investment Banking Group focused solely on the energy sector. Mr. Smith joined Canaccord Genuity in 2008 and was responsible for the execution of public and private financing engagements along with mergers and acquisitions advisory services. Prior to joining Canaccord Genuity, Mr. Smith was an Analyst in the Wells Fargo Energy Group, working solely with upstream and midstream oil and gas companies. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Texas A&M University.

Mr. Kessel has served as U.S. Energy’s Vice President of Operations (non-executive) since April 2021 after consulting for the Company since March 2020. Mr. Kessel has also provided consulting services to various entities in the exploration and production industry since 2016. Mr. Kessel previously served as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Timber Creek Energy LLC, an oil and gas exploration and production company from March 2018 to January 2019. Mr. Kessel is responsible for improving efficiency and implementing operational changes on U.S. Energy’s assets. Mr. Kessel co-founded Murex Petroleum Corporation in 1999 and grew the company into an industry leader in the Williston Basin, before leaving in 2016. Mr. Kessel’s began his oil and gas career at Hess Corporation in various engineering roles.  Mr. Kessel spent 18 years on the Board of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.  Mr. Kessel obtained a B.S. in petroleum engineering from North Dakota State University.

Mr. Bundgard served as the Company’s Controller from October 2018 until his promotion to Chief Accounting Officer in April 2021. Prior joining U.S. Energy, Mr. Bundgard served from January 2015 to August 2018 as Controller of Tellurian, a Houston Texas based LNG Company, and Tellurian’s predecessor company, Magellan Petroleum Corporation, a Denver Colorado based exploration and production company with operations in Montana and exploration projects in the United Kingdom and Australia. Prior to joining Magellan, Mr. Bundgard held various accounting and finance positions including Financial Reporting Manager, Treasury and Risk Manager and Controller from 2001 to 2014 with Venoco, Inc., an independent energy company engaged in acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas primarily in offshore and onshore California and Texas’ Gulf Coast. Mr. Bundgard received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California and holds an active certified public accountant license in the State of California.

Mr. Ferguson has served as Exploration and Business Development team lead since January 2022. He brings over thirty-five years of executive management experience in public and private corporations encompassing energy evaluation, drilling & completion operations, acquisitions & divestitures and project management for both fossil fuels and green sustainability programs. Mr. Ferguson served as EVP of Magnum Hunter Corp. and President of the Eagle Ford division building it into a $1 billion asset and property using successful development strategies with technical evaluations, optimization and efficiencies.  Mr. Ferguson has managed large oil and gas reserve evaluations that follow Securities Exchange Commission guidelines for public company disclosures. Mr. Ferguson has served on several Board of Directors in the United States, Canada and Australia and has co-authored industry technical papers, as well as, served on many executive teams and professional panels. Mr. Ferguson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Petrossi has served as the Company’s Controller since January of 2022. Prior to joining U.S. Energy, he served as the finance manager of Perennial Power Holdings and assistant controller of Summit Discovery Resources, these are both subsidiaries of Sumitomo Corporation. While at Summit Discovery Resources, his primary focus was to manage the company’s accounting function. Prior to joining Summit Discovery Resources, he held various roles in the both the upstream and midstream accounting departments at both Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Noble Energy. Mr. Petrossi earned his B.A. in Accounting from Texas A&M University.

Mr. McGuire has served as our Director of Corporate Development since April of 2022 and is largely responsible for our acquisition and divestiture diligence and corporate finance related functions. Prior to joining U.S. Energy, he served as a Consultant at Opportune LLP in their Restructuring and Complex Financial Reporting group. While at Opportune, his efforts were focused on transactional due diligence and in- and out-of-court restructuring advisory services to a variety of public and private clients primarily within the upstream and oilfield service space. Mr. McGuire earned his B.A. in Finance and Energy Management from the University of Oklahoma.