Michael Christopher

Amid these notable achievements, Michael Christopher, CFO and chief investment officer of ARM, looks back on the commercialization and sale of Kingfisher Midstream LLC this past February as both his most challenging project to date and the one he is most proud of.

Kingfisher Midstream, which provides midstream energy services, including crude oil and gas gathering, processing and marketing to producers in Oklahoma’s Stack play, was sold to Silver Run Acquisition Corp. II for an aggregate consideration of up to $1.55 billion.

Along with acreage dedications of approximately 300,000 gross acres in the Stack, Kingfisher has natural gas processing capacity of 350 million cubic feet per day and more than 400 miles of gas and crude lines. “Saying we faced a few hurdles with this project is an understatement, but our knowledge of the space and our agility as a company helped us persevere and create a quality midstream asset,” Christopher says of the past project.

Kingfisher, formed in 2015, placed ARM strategically “on the front lines in capturing midstream opportunities” in the Stack.

Goals: “My short-term goal is to continue growing the ARM Energy business by developing great assets like Salt Creek Midstream and to generate as much profit as possible for ARM owners, employees and customers, and continue to build strong industry relationships. Salt Creek is particularly exciting as we have a great partnership with Ares Capital Management and have built a sizeable midstream provider very quickly and really feel we are on to something with this company.”

Advice for young professionals: “The energy industry has been through some rough times in recent years, but there are still great career opportunities for young professionals. I’d tell them not to give up and to read and learn as much as possible about what’s going on in our field. Do the research and don’t give up on your ideas when others doubt you. You must persevere in order to get ahead in this industry and make a name for yourself.”