Stronghold Energy divested all assets to Ring Energy on August 31st, 2022 effective June 1st, 2022. Stronghold has closed the Midland office. If you need to contact Ring Energy you can call (432) 682-7464 or Ring Energy’s 24-hour emergency hotline at 855-214-5188.

Stronghold Energy

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Our Team

  • Steven Weatherl

    Chief Executive Officer Read Bio

    Steven Weatherl Chief Executive Officer Steve previously served as the Vice President and General Manager as well as Exploration Manager of EOG Resources' West Texas Division located in the Permian Basin. There he directed a staff of over 170 employees and contractors, and employed up to 10 drilling rigs at any one time. He was responsible for over $513 million in investments from 2004 to 2007. He has been directly involved in identification and exploitation of "resource plays" in the Permian Basin, assembling for the companies at which he was employed over a quarter of a million net acres in various plays.

    Steve also served as Exploration Vice President, USA and Division Vice President for the Gulf Coast Division of Pioneer National Resources as well as Vice President of Exploration of Mayne & Mertz, Inc. While at Mayne & Mertz, Steve mapped and initiated a Wolfcamp Horizontal play in the southern Midland Basin. Roughly 50,000 acres were assembled in Irion, Crockett and Reagan Counties and sold to EOG Resources and Devon Energy. Over 200 producing horizontal oil wells in two pay zones had been drilled as of 2016. These were among the first economically successful Horizontal Wolfcamp wells in the Midland Basin. The play has expanded to encompass well over 100,000 acres and the original core acreage position has produced over 30 Million barrels of oil and 300 BCF of gas. Immediately before joining Stronghold Energy II, Steve served as the president and founder of Weatherl Energy Investments, L.P as well as the President of Stronghold Energy Partners, L.P., a private equity backed non-op working interest investment vehicle he cofounded with his son Caleb. He started his career with Exxon Company U.S.A. in 1980.

    Steve received a BS degree in Geology from Texas Tech University. He is active in the local community, serving as an elder at Stonegate Fellowship Church and on the board of MarketPlace Midland. He and his wife Debra have four adult children, two daughters-in-law, one grandson, and one granddaughter.

  • Caleb Weatherl

    President and Chief Financial Officer Read Bio

    Caleb Weatherl President and Chief Financial Officer Caleb began his career at McKinsey & Company. He also worked in private equity as part of the energy vertical at Bain Capital. Additionally, he also previously served as the Vice President of Weatherl Energy Investments, L.P., as well as Stronghold Energy Partners, L.P., a private equity backed non-op working interest investment vehicle he cofounded with his father Steve. Immediately before joining Stronghold Energy II as its President and Chief Financial Officer, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Desert Royalty Company.

    Caleb received an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He graduated cum laude with an AB in economics and a secondary field in government from Harvard College. Caleb and his wife Lindsey have one son and one daughter.

  • Drew Hendricks

    Vice President of Land Read Bio

    Drew Hendricks Vice President of Land Before joining Stronghold Energy II, Drew served as Senior Landman at Diamondback Energy. During his tenure at Diamondback, the company expanded its leasehold position from roughly 72,000 net acres to over 206,000 net acres. He was engaged with every major acquisition. Further, Drew was responsible for multiple prospects within the Midland Basin covering roughly 35,000 acres from cradle to grave. His responsibilities included identifying accretive bolt on acquisitions, leading and facilitating multiple acreage purchases and divestures, both large and small, identifying and negotiating acreage trades, running multiple land brokers, drafting and negotiating JOAs, drafting and filing pooling and production sharing agreements, ensuring ROW and SWD needs were met for operations, and establishing that title was clear. all while keeping in front of 2-3 horizontal rigs. Previously, Drew worked as a Landman at University Lands managing minerals for 2.1 million acres of the Permanent University Fund (PUF).

    Drew received a dual BBA in Management Information Systems and Marketing from Texas Tech University. Drew and his wife Kyla have three children.

  • Matt Holland

    Vice President of Reservoir Engineering Read Bio

    Matt Holland Vice President of Reservoir Engineering Before joining Stronghold Energy II, Matt held the position of Reservoir Engineer at Concho Resources, where he was responsible for development optimization and reserves management for the southern Lea County asset area. Matt attended Texas A&M University where he received a BS in Petroleum Engineering, graduating cum laude. Matt is married to Mary Elizabeth.

  • Josh Russo

    Vice President of Exploration Read Bio

    Josh Russo Vice President of Exploration Prior to joining Stronghold Energy II, Josh served as Senior Geologist for Elevation Resources, a private equity backed company, focusing his efforts on the technical mapping and horizontal development of their core asset on the Central Basin Platform.

    Previously, Josh served as Senior Geologist at Tall City Exploration II, also a private equity backed company, where he aided the team in assembling acreage positions throughout the core of the Delaware Basin. Prior to his time at Tall City Exploration II, Josh was Senior Geologist at Weatherl Energy Investments, L.P., where he focused on the identification of oil and gas drilling prospects throughout the Midland Basin and Central Basin Platform. Josh began his career at Concho Resources.

    Josh is a graduate of The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, where he obtained his BS and MS degrees in Geology. Josh and his wife Kendal have four children.

  • Josh Sperry

    Vice President of Production & Drilling Read Bio

    Josh Sperry Vice President of Production & Drilling Before joining Stronghold Energy II, Josh designed and managed all drilling operations for Atlantic Resources. He began his petroleum engineering career with Concho Resources, where he was a member of a multi-dimensional drilling team. Prior to becoming a petroleum engineer, Josh worked as a MWD engineer, mud engineer and also as a drilling consultant for ConocoPhillips and Sierra Engineering.

    Josh is a Texas Tech University graduate having received a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering and a BS degree in Agricultural & Applied Economics. Josh is very active in the industry and currently serves as 1st VP of the Midland Chapter of the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE), as a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), and as a previous board member for the Permian Basin Association of Directional Drilling. Josh and his wife, Lacy, have three children.

  • Lee Martin

    Vice President of Completions Read Bio

    Lee Martin Vice President of Completions Bio coming soon...

  • Misty Andrews

    Controller Read Bio

    Misty Andrews Controller Misty came to Stronghold Energy II from Reliance Energy, Inc. where she was an Assistant Controller for 8 years. At Reliance, she obtained experience in multiple areas of accounting while working in the exploration & production, gathering, and service companies. Additionally, Misty worked for 3 years at Johnson Miller and Company preparing partnership, corporate, individual, and State tax returns, and as a staff accountant.

    Misty obtained her MBA and BBA from Angelo State University, and is a Certified Public Accountant. She and her husband, Jared, have two sons.

Our Partners

Stronghold was capitalized in 2017 with a $150 million commitment led by Warburg Pincus with flexibility to add additional capital as required.

Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $44 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 150 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 17 private equity funds, which have invested more than $60 billion in over 800 companies in more than 40 countries. For more information, visit www.warburgpincus.com. Warburg Pincus' commitment to superior performance extends to the firm's expectations of accountability, equal opportunity, the highest standards of ethical conduct and a sense of responsibility for the local communities in which it operates. The firm's social commitment is evidenced by its charitable giving program, community outreach and volunteer services and the Warburg Pincus Foundation.

Please feel free to reach out to us by calling our office at

(432) 253-9150

Landowners

We strive to build exceptional relationships with the landowners, communities, and local businesses with which we partner. We think this starts with doing what we say we will do and treating others how we would want to be treated. We take our environmental and stewardship obligations very seriously.

Please feel free to reach out to us by calling our office at

(432) 253-9150

Owner Relations

Monthly Revenue Statements and Joint Interest Billings are now sent to www.energylink.com. This fully integrated website can be used to print your invoices or code and upload your invoice directly into your accounting system. By using this system you will be able to record your invoices in a timely manner.

Please feel free to reach out to us by calling our office at

(432) 253-9150

Contact Us

Stronghold Energy II

508 W. Wall St
Suite 550
Midland, TX 79701

Phone: (432) 253-9150