Will Todd

Will Todd entered the oil and gas industry because he wanted to live in Houston after college. He fell in love with the city growing up and was passionate about returning. 

“I love Houston. I wanted to work there, and I wanted to do investment banking. The energy industry was a great for fit for that,” Todd said. “I wish I could I say I loved oil and gas from the start, but I can say that it didn’t take long. Houston got my foot in the door, but it was the people and the challenges of the industry that have kept me here. My favorite thing about oil and gas has been the complexity and the diverse skill sets required for a company to excel.”

Will lives in Houston with his wife, Rachel, and his two children, Ember and Liam, as he serves as CEO of Bedrock Energy Partners.

Beginning Bedrock

“The idea of starting a small E&P company always felt daunting because it involved gathering multiple talented people who could leave existing companies at the same time. It’s hard for things to line up. I met great people over the years and built a network, but many of those great people were already in great situations when the opportunity for Bedrock came up. So here I was with a vision and an opportunity, but not all the people. Thankfully, Spencer Cox did come join me.

Spencer Cox and I built the infrastructure and team from scratch within 6 months. We targeted employees that believed in embracing analytics and abandoning type curves. We were drawn to people who were very driven but not necessarily proven, just like us. Assembling the talented team of people at Bedrock is easily my favorite accomplishment so far in my career.

We’re not perfect at Bedrock, but I’m very proud of the way we embraced both PDP optimization and drilling with the same staff. I’ve usually been a part of one or the other. It’s difficult to be a small operator with a large well count, but we overcame it by creating a fun culture where data and the accessibility to that data matters. Transparency and trust throughout the organization facilitates better discussion and ultimately, better decision making. Every well matters and every person matters. If you set things up correctly, you give yourself a chance to make the right decision for both.”

Influential role models 

“I’ve been extremely fortunate with mentorship within the industry. Growing up and to this day, Jim Trimble has been a steadying influence on my life, helping me be patient and focus on the long-term impact of decisions I make and who I work with. It’s hard to pick a single influence out of all the wonderful people at Lime Rock Resources where I had such immense growth in my career. It was during that time Townes Pressler II started to pour into me and develop my evaluation of risk and the importance of transparency. My closest mentor is Brett Rodgers with Young Life, who doesn’t understand anything about oil and gas. He pushes me to live a relational life and never waste a moment being insincere with those I love and those I lead.  He instilled in me a passion for speaking the goodness I see in people.”

Pros of the energy industry

“We’re dealing with the production of a vital component to satisfy the global energy need and there are still ways for us to improve. The people in this industry have always been pushing to get better. This latest transition is different but feeds off that same passion. There is a greater drive for transparency, emissions mitigation, and ultimately better reliance on some of the data we’ve neglected to take advantage of in the past.

Now, more than ever, E&P teams need to become the most efficient version of themselves. Thankfully, there are many new tools and technologies available to help. Sorting through it all and implementing the right solutions requires creative and open-minded people. Further optimization might not come ‘pre-packaged’ from a vendor, but the tools are out there. You need the right people to exploit them.”