CHAD STEVEN PEARSON
Allen,Texas
Summary
Dynamic leader with over 18 years of progressive experience in upstream oil and gas, successfully driving operations at industry giants including ExxonMobil, Denbury, Encana, and Anadarko. Expertise in managing multi-disciplinary teams of over 100 personnel, ensuring safe and reliable production across diverse asset portfolios while overseeing annual capital programs exceeding $250 million. Proven ability to enhance safety performance, optimize production, and control costs through strategic planning and disciplined execution. Recognized for fostering a culture of accountability and excellence, emphasizing collaboration and achieving measurable outcomes in fast-paced environments.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work History
Wells Manager – Americas
ExxonMobil
Plano, Texas
05.2024 - Current
- Lead a multi-disciplinary organization with 100+ engineers, field personnel, and frontline supervisors executing well work across six U.S. basins, with accountability for safety, production delivery, and management of a $250MM+ annual portfolio (capital, operating, and abandonment) supporting asset performance.
- Oversee execution of a ~30-rig well work program, spanning intervention, integrity, abandonment, and capital drillout activities, ensuring disciplined execution to company standards and strong contractor performance to deliver safe, reliable operations while meeting production targets, cost objectives, and annual budgets.
- Lead integration of legacy Denbury and ExxonMobil workflows, establishing a unified operating model across the Americas.
- Support business unit planning, budgeting, and long-range asset strategy, contributing to capital prioritization and operational decision-making.
- Develop and mentor engineering and field leaders, strengthening organizational capability and building next-level leadership.
- Prioritize and structure well work programs within approved plans, focusing on high-impact interventions and efficient job design to maximize value delivery.
- Drive production performance by aligning well work with artificial lift, reservoir behavior, and system constraints to reduce downtime and improve system reliability.
- Integrate well work with compression, facilities, and gathering constraints to ensure system-wide optimization and uptime.
- Leverage enterprise learnings to standardize best practices and drive continuous improvement across well work execution.
- Own enterprise Well Integrity Management Plans across all operated assets, ensuring regulatory compliance, risk prioritization, and long-term integrity.
- Analyzed performance metrics to identify areas for process improvements, driving efficiency within operations framework.
Director of Wells
Denbury Resources (subsidiary of ExxonMobil)
Plano, Texas
01.2020 - 05.2024
- Led drilling, completions, and well work operations across a multi-state asset base supporting production and carbon capture programs.
- Oversaw engineering and field leadership teams (60+ personnel) and owned enterprise well integrity and well control strategy across 10,000+ wellbores, reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer.
- Reduced OSHA recordable events by 75%, driving step-change improvement in field safety performance across 35+ active workover rigs.
- Drove cost and operational efficiency improvements through standardized workover practices, including cementing and artificial lift optimization.
- Executed drilling and completion programs across conventional, unconventional, and CO₂ flood assets, including pilot and exploratory wells to de-risk development.
- Led design and execution of company’s first CCUS wells, supporting carbon capture development and multi-state Class VI permitting efforts.
- Collaborated with state regulators to develop cost-efficient, compliant temporary abandonment processes.
- Improved asset integrity and reduced operational risk, achieving record-low uncontrolled release rates through risk-based surveillance and enhanced well design standards.
- Identified and deployed technologies to improve recovery efficiency, including AICV installations in horizontal wells.
- Established performance metrics to assess departmental effectiveness and drive continuous improvement.
Exploitation Manager
Denbury Resources
Plano, Texas
08.2017 - 12.2019
- Led cross-functional team of engineers and geoscientists in evaluation and execution of exploration and exploitation opportunities across multi-basin assets. Managed a $100MM capital program, delivering ~$550MM in incremental value through disciplined capital allocation, production forecasting, and development planning. Reported to Senior Vice President of Business Development and supported executive decision-making on asset strategy and portfolio optimization.
- Led technical and economic evaluation of development opportunities, generating value through behind-pipe recompletions, drilling, waterflood, and CO₂ flood projects.
- Applied probabilistic risk analysis to guide capital allocation, optimizing investment decisions across a broad opportunity portfolio.
- Aligned development plans with production and operations teams to ensure executable field delivery and maximize asset performance.
- Executed horizontal and vertical drilling programs across Texas, Mississippi, Montana, and Wyoming.
- Evaluated acquisition and divestiture opportunities in the Powder River Basin, supporting strategic portfolio decisions.
Lead Production Engineer
Denbury Resources
Plano, Texas
07.2012 - 08.2017
- Owned production performance across multi-state assets (Montana, North Dakota, Texas) producing 10,000+ BOPD. Led cross-functional teams to optimize field operations, reduce costs, and increase reliability across production, artificial lift, and surface systems. Managed LOE, capital programs, and production forecasting while developing junior engineering talent.
- Led $100MM field expansion program, executing 10-15 multi-lateral wells and associated facilities (water systems, tank batteries, SWD), increasing production capacity and field infrastructure.
- Reduced LOE through surface and downhole optimization initiatives, including electrical system upgrades that increased ESP runtime by 25% and chemical program changes that reduced costs by 30%.
- Reduced artificial lift failure rates by 25%, implementing a structured root cause failure analysis program across ESP, rod lift, gas lift, and Rotaflex systems.
- Applied nodal analysis (PROSPER) and system modeling (GAP) to optimize well and facility performance, including identification of water handling and disposal system constraints.
- Established standardized failure reporting and cross-functional review processes, improving reliability and sustaining long-term performance improvements.
Reservoir Engineer
Encana Oil & Gas
Dallas, Texas
10.2011 - 07.2012
- Managed acreage and lease positions, recommending future well locations based on production/lease requirements.
- Conducted economic evaluations for property acquisitions, lease participation, and workovers, incorporating decline curve analysis and risk analysis.
- Oversaw operations to ensure costs and production volumes were in line with budgets and forecasts.
- Analyzed formation properties of potential field acquisition candidates to assess suitability, including source rock maturity, kerogen type, fluid properties, and log interpretations.
Drilling Engineer
Encana Oil & Gas
Dallas, Texas
02.2010 - 10.2011
- Designed drilling programs for vertical and directional wells in deep HPHT environments in Deep Bossier sands and Cotton Valley Pinnacle reefs in East Texas, ensuring strict financial discipline.
- Oversaw day-to-day drilling operations from spud to rig release, providing updates to management on costs, operations, and potential issues.
- Established critical well control best practices and well control principles for higher pressure wells (18.8# MWs at TD).
Completion Engineer
Encana Oil & Gas
Dallas, Texas
07.2008 - 02.2010
- Designed completion procedures for deep, HPHT gas wells in East Texas (IP rates > 40 MMCF/day).
- Conducted field operations and engineering from rig release to post-frac well flowback, including wireline, frac designs, coil tubing, and flowback; maintained communications with field staff.
- Managed coil tubing operations by drafting vendor contracts and best practices document.
Drilling Engineering Intern
Encana Oil & Gas
Dallas, Texas
05.2007 - 08.2007
- Evaluated drill bit, mud, casing, equipment, and procedures to ensure cost-effective and safe drilling.
- Implemented mechanical specific energy (MSE) into drilling programs field-wide.
Reservoir Engineering Intern
Anadarko Petroleum
The Woodlands, Texas
05.2006 - 08.2006
- Conducted reservoir drainage study of coal bed methane field in Power River Basin using Fekete Software.
Operations Engineering Intern
Anadarko Petroleum
Carthage, Texas
05.2005 - 08.2005
- Worked on drilling, completion, and production operations on large onshore tight gas field.
- Observed field operations and assisted engineers and foremen with reporting and project consulting.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Petroleum Engineering
University of Texas
01-2008
Skills
- Operational & Production Leadership
- Multi-Asset Portfolio Management
- Capital Allocation & Economic Evaluation
- Production Optimization & Artificial Lift
- Well Work & Intervention Strategy
- Safety, Regulatory & Environmental Performance
- Cross-Functional Leadership (Reservoir, Production, Operations)
- Organizational Development & Leadership Coaching
Timeline
Wells Manager – Americas
ExxonMobil
05.2024 - Current
Director of Wells
Denbury Resources (subsidiary of ExxonMobil)
01.2020 - 05.2024
Exploitation Manager
Denbury Resources
08.2017 - 12.2019
Lead Production Engineer
Denbury Resources
07.2012 - 08.2017
Reservoir Engineer
Encana Oil & Gas
10.2011 - 07.2012
Drilling Engineer
Encana Oil & Gas
02.2010 - 10.2011
Completion Engineer
Encana Oil & Gas
07.2008 - 02.2010
Drilling Engineering Intern
Encana Oil & Gas
05.2007 - 08.2007
Reservoir Engineering Intern
Anadarko Petroleum
05.2006 - 08.2006
Operations Engineering Intern
Anadarko Petroleum
05.2005 - 08.2005
Bachelor of Science - Petroleum Engineering
University of Texas