our team

Steven H. Pruett is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Elevation Resources LLC, a Permian Basin focused exploration and production company which he co-founded in 2013. Mr. Pruett was previously Senior Vice President of Corporate Development of Concho Resources over 2012-13. He co-founded and served as President and CFO of Legacy Reserves LP, a public MLP from 2006-2012. Mr. Pruett has over 37 years of oil and gas operating, financial and management experience, most of which has been in the Permian Basin. Prior to forming Legacy Reserves, Mr. Pruett was a Venture Partner with Quantum Energy Partners, was President of Petroleum Place and P2 Energy Solutions, and was a vice president at Enron managing oil and gas direct investments. He previously served as President and CEO of First Permian, founded and was president and CEO of First Reserve Oil & Gas Co, and served as a Vice President for First Reserve Corporation originating upstream equity investments. He was an energy investment banker with CS First Boston. Mr. Pruett worked in planning and business development for Amoco Production Company. He began his career as a petroleum engineer for ARCO Oil & Gas where he earned his registered professional engineer certificate. Mr. Pruett received his B.S in Petroleum Engineering, High Honors, from the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with an MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar. 

Steve is the Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a Washington, D.C. based oil & natural gas advocacy firm, and past chairman of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. He serves on the Board of Governors of Midland Memorial Hospital Foundation where he chairs the Investment Committee and is a former trustee and elder of First Presbyterian Church of Midland. He serves on the advisory board of the College of Business at The University of Texas Permian Basin and is a Director of the Trinity School Endowment Corporation. Mr. Pruett serves on the boards of The Henry Foundation and the Springboard Center of Midland.

Blake Case joined Elevation Resources shortly after its founding and serves as a Senior Vice President and its CFO. Mr. Case has over 17 years of accounting and finance experience focusing primarily on the energy sector. Prior to joining Elevation, he served as Controller of Parallel Petroleum. At Parallel, in addition to normal responsibilities, he led the implementation of the international financial reporting standards subsequent to Samsung’s acquisition of Parallel. Before Parallel, Blake worked as an auditor at BDO USA, LLP where he focused on both private and public companies in the oil and gas industry, leaving as a senior manager. He has significant experience in SEC audit requirements and reporting rules as well as public and private placement offerings.

Mr. Case holds a BBA degree in Accounting and Masters of Science degree in Finance, both from Texas A&M University and is a Certified Public Accountant. He and his wife Angie, and their 3 children reside in Midland, Texas.

Brian Zachry is the Vice President-Engineering for Elevation Resources where he is responsible for managing reservoir, completions and production engineering activities across the company. Prior to joining Elevation at its inception, Mr. Zachry was a District Engineer for Samson Resources – Permian Division, overseeing the profitability of capital investments and management of certain existing assets in the Midland Basin. His other responsibilities included reserve estimations, design/execution of completions, and artificial lift installations associated with ongoing Wolfberry drilling programs. Before joining Samson in 2010, his career began as an Operations Engineer with XTO Energy in the Permian Basin where he was assigned to daily operations of Clearfork and San Andres waterfloods on the Central Basin Platform. Brian’s duties entailed flood monitoring, completions, workover identification, and artificial lift optimization. Mr. Zachry holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University. 

Richard Loftin joined Elevation in July 2017 as Production Manager. Mr. Loftin has over 40 years of experience in the oil & gas industry, with primary emphasis on production. Prior to joining Elevation, he was Production Superintendent for Laredo Petroleum, Concho Resources, and Chesapeake Energy, he also served as Production Foreman for Devon Energy and Hanley Petroleum. Mr. Loftin spent 7 years with Halliburton on the service side.

 He attended Angelo State University for 2 years studying Business Management. Mr. Loftin in the past, has served on the Upton County Water District Committee, Rankin VFD Board and Upton County Livestock Association.  He and his wife Cynthia have four children and 13 grandchildren and reside in Upton County.

 Drew Bergman joined Elevation in 2018 as a Senior Geologist. Mr. Bergman has over seven years of experience as a geologist focused in the Permian Basin with an extensive background in unconventional resources operations and development. Prior to joining Elevation Resources, Mr. Bergman served as Vice President of Geology at MCM Energy Partners and assisted in the evaluation and acquisition of prospects throughout the Permian Basin. Mr. Bergman also previously worked for Concho Resources with the Exploration Team focusing on the Midland Basin and with the New Mexico Basin Asset Team focusing on the Delaware Basin. Mr. Bergman began his career as a geologist for Murchison Oil & Gas focusing on the Delaware Basin.

Mr. Bergman holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology with a Business Minor from Texas Christian University, a Master of Science in Geology from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and a Master of Energy Business from the University of Tulsa. Mr. Bergman lives in Midland with his wife Mary Katherine.