Service and leadership are northern stars guiding the life of Patrick George, co-founder of Accelerate Resources LLC, Dallas. Inspired by his grandfather and father, who are veterans and have energy roots in Midland, Texas, George joined the Marine Corps following 9/11.

“I don’t need a sales pitch,” he told the recruiting officer, “I just need the paperwork.”

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in government and economics, he completed two combat deployments in Iraq, the first as a platoon commander, the second advising the commanding officer and 750 border policemen patrolling Iraq’s western border. After four years he transitioned to civilian life, entering the MBA program at Cornell University’s Johnson Business School on a full scholarship as a Roy Park Leadership Fellow and Nolan Scholar.

A summer internship at Morgan Stanley helped him forge connections to relocate to Dallas, near friends and family. A call to friend Ben Davis at Energy Spectrum Capital led to an offer to join what is today E-Spectrum Advisors Inc. During those years he worked with Lindsay Sherrer, B.J. Brandenberger and others who would go on to start TenOaks Energy Advisors LLC.

In 2015, Brennan Potts approached him about forming a nonop working interests company. Potts had created a model in the Eagle Ford while at Titanium Exploration Partners and wanted to develop a multi-basin iteration. They and three partners—Mickey Friedrich and Tom Deen from Pioneer Natural Resources Co., and Kenny Worrell from RSP Permian LLC—landed funding from Pine Brook in just nine days, this past March.

In a recent interview, George discussed the company’s growth and his continuing commitment to the Marines.

Patrick George

Investor You were in the middle of a very busy week when Accelerate was funded.

George Yes—I had been promoted to company command for a recon unit as a Marine reservist and was sent to airborne school in Georgia right as we formed. I had to review legal documents at night and learn how to jump out of planes during the day. I graduated the same week we were funded, came back to Dallas and went to the office right away.

Investor What’s your main role at Accelerate?

George As vice president of corporate development, it’s to lead and drive operations.

Investor What is Accelerate’s strategy?

George Our business plan is to buy nonop working interests, first in the Midland Basin and Eagle Ford, and quickly expand to the Midcontinent. We’re aggregating small working interests in core areas in order to achieve economic rates of return. The downturn means there are lots of companies that are asset-rich but cash-poor that need a financial partner. We’re also finding small mom-and-pops whose royalty checks have dwindled and are ready to sell. We have a very strong ground game. We don’t have a deal minimum; we’re about to pick up four acres, but we’ve done everything up to 4,000-acre packages. Our goal is to buy PUD-heavy assets where there isn’t a lot of production, with good operators. We want to see imminent drilling because we want to participate.

Investor What are your eventual exit options?

George They range from a larger, nonop working interest fund to a financial institution that wants cash flow. It’s essentially a financial vehicle, and financial firms want to buy yield in an environment where yield is hard to come by. There hasn’t been a large, nonop Midland Basin package sold previously— mainly they’ve been on the fringe, not in the core. We think the only comparable package sold to date is Dale Operating Co.’s package in the Scoop/ Stack. Investor What are the exit timelines generally? George It really depends on the basin. In the Midland, which doesn’t require as much development, the timeline is sooner, maybe one or two years. In the Eagle Ford, especially if you want full value for different benches like the Austin Chalk, it might take longer—three to five years. It also depends on commodity prices, of course.

Investor How’s it going so far?

George Fantastic. We started with five people around my dining table but now we’re nearly 20. We’ve outgrown our office space, and we’re putting capital to work faster than expected because deal flow has been so strong. I’ve had to institute an assembly-line process to keep everything on track.

Investor What keeps you busy outside of work?

George After graduate school, I applied to the reserves, and an advanced infantry unit called 4th Reconnaissance Battalion out of San Antonio made me company commander—one of only four in the U.S. My job is to ensure my Marines are administratively ready to deploy and brilliant in the basics.

Investor What’s a lesson you’ve taken to heart?

George My father, the main mentor in my life, always told me the biggest mistake leaders make is to not be able to make a decision. You never have 100% of the information. I learned in an austere environment how to adapt and make decisions, and I can apply that to business.

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