ResFrac Corp., an innovative simulation software provider, said May 5 that the company has closed a preferred share financing with its financial sponsor Altira Group. The funds will be used to support the company’s rapid growth. ResFrac’s revenues grew 250% in 2019 as its customer list doubled. The company has authored scientific papers with customers including Hess Corp., QEP Resources, ConocoPhillips and Shell International Exploration and Production Inc.

ResFrac also revealed that two prominent oil and gas industry leaders, Dr. Mark Zoback and Joe Frantz, have joined the company as senior advisers.

 “Our company offers a product that helps exploration and production companies plan their well completions with much greater confidence and efficiency in today’s challenging price environment,” Mark McClure, ResFrac co-founder and CEO, said. “I want to thank Altira Group for their continued and enthusiastic support. The team at Altira has brought the financial strength and value-added guidance that we need to continue to grow.

 “We recently launched a new user interface that allows for streamlined use and more detailed results. As oil and gas producers cut costs, companies are beginning to rethink their frac designs. The economic advantage of running frac simulation software and consulting with our reservoir engineers avoids the heavy and unpredictable expense of trial and error completions in the field,” he added.

Dr. Mark Zoback is the Benjamin M. Page Professor of Geophysics and the Director of the Stanford Natural Gas Initiative at Stanford University. Dr. Zoback’s research includes in situ stress, fault mechanics and reservoir geomechanics. He has authored or co-authored more than 300 technical papers, holds five patents and has authored two books. Dr. Zoback codirects Stanford Center for Induced and Triggered Seismicity (SCITS) and the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage (SCCS). Dr. Zoback was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and he was awarded honorary membership in the Society of Exploration Geophysics. Dr. Zoback earned a Ph.D. and a master’s of science in geophysics from Stanford University after obtaining his bachelor of science in geophysics from the University of Arizona.

Frantz served as vice president of engineering for Range Resources in the Marcellus division, where he was initially responsible for the completions, production, facilities and reservoir engineering departments. He also managed the field operations for completions, water, production and facilities construction. He also held a position as vice president of engineering technology. Prior to his time at Range, Frantz was president and CEO of Unbridled Energy, a public startup oil and gas company. Frantz also previously worked for Getty Oil, Texaco, and Schlumberger. Frantz has extensive experience in shale evaluations and has performed numerous studies that include reservoir simulation and hydraulic fracture optimization. He earned a bachelor of science in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University.