Executive Officers

James J. Volker
Chief Executive Officer

James J. Volker joined us in August 1983 as Vice President of Corporate Development and served in that position through April 1993. In March 1993, he became a contract consultant to us and served in that capacity until August 2000, at which time he became Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Volker was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and a director in January 2002 and Chairman of the Board in January 2004. Mr. Volker retained his position of Chief Executive Officer when Mr. James T. Brown was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer effective January 1, 2011. Mr. Volker was co-founder, Vice President and later President of Energy Management Corporation from 1971 through 1982. He has over 39 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Mr. Volker has a degree in Finance from the University of Denver, an MBA from the University of Colorado and has completed H. K. VanPoolen and Associates course of study in Reservoir Engineering.

James T. Brown
President and COO

James T. Brown joined us in May 1993 as a consulting engineer. In March 1999, he became Operations Manager, in January 2000, he became Vice President of Operations, and in May 2007, he became Senior Vice President of Operations. Effective January 2011, Mr. Brown was elected as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Brown has over 30 years of oil and gas experience in the Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, California and Alaska. Mr. Brown is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering, and the University of Denver, with an MBA.

Michael J. Stevens
Vice President, and CFO

Michael J. Stevens joined us in May 2001 as Controller, became Treasurer in January 2002 and was appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in March 2005. From 1993 until May 2001, he served in various positions including Chief Financial Officer, Controller, Secretary and Treasurer at Inland Resources Inc., a company engaged in oil and gas exploration and development. He spent seven years in public accounting with Coopers & Lybrand in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Mankato State University of Minnesota and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mark R. Williams
Senior Vice President, Exploration and Development

Mark R. Williams joined us in December 1983 as Exploration Geologist, was promoted to Vice President, Exploration and Development in December 1999 and became Senior Vice President, Exploration and Development in January 2011. He has 24 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and his areas of primary technical expertise are in sequence stratigraphy, seismic interpretation and petroleum economics. Mr. Williams is a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines with a Master’s Degree in Geology and holds a Bachelors Degree in Geology from the University of Utah.

Rick A. Ross
Vice President, Operations

Rick A. Ross joined us in March 1999 as a Senior Petroleum Engineer and became an Operations Manager in January 2000. In May 2007, he became Vice President of Operations. Mr. Ross has over 27 years of oil and gas experience, including 18 years of staff and management positions with Amoco. He has served as an officer of industry organizations such as the Western Energy Alliance and the North Dakota Petroleum Council. Mr. Ross holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Colorado.

David M. Seery
Vice President, Land

David M. Seery joined us as our Manager of Land in July 2004 as a result of our acquisition of Equity Oil Company, where he was Manager of Land and Manager of Equity’s Exploration Department, positions he had held for more than five years. He became our Vice President of Land in January 2005. Mr. Seery has 25 years of land experience including staff and managerial positions with Marathon Oil Company. Mr. Seery holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from the University of Montana. He is a Registered Land Professional and held various duties with the Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen.

J. Douglas Lang
Vice President, Reservoir Engineering/Acquisitions

J. Douglas Lang joined us in December 1999 as Senior Acquisition Engineer and became Manager of Acquisitions and Reservoir Engineering in January 2004 and Vice President of Reservoir Engineering/Acquisitions in October 2004. His over 30 years of acquisition and reservoir engineering experience has included staff and managerial positions with Amoco, Petro-Lewis, General Atlantic Resources, UMC Petroleum and Ocean Energy. Mr. Lang holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Denver. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has served on the national Board of Directors of the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers.

Bruce R. DeBoer
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Bruce R. DeBoer joined us as our Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in January 2005. Mr. DeBoer previously served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Tom Brown, Inc., an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Mr. DeBoer has over 25 years of experience in managing the legal departments of several independent oil and gas companies. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from South Dakota State University and received his J.D. and MBA degrees from the University of South Dakota.

Heather M. Duncan
Vice President, Human Resources

Heather M. Duncan joined us in February 2002 as Assistant Director of Human Resources and in January 2003 became Director of Human Resources. In January 2008, she was appointed Vice President of Human Resources.
Ms. Duncan has 15 years of human resources experience in the oil and gas industry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and an MBA from the University of Colorado. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources.

Brent P. Jensen
Controller & Treasurer, Chief Accounting Officer

Brent P. Jensen joined us in August 2005 as Controller, and he became Controller and Treasurer in January 2006. He was previously with PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. in Houston, Texas, where he held various positions in their oil and gas audit practice since 1994, which included assignments of four years in Moscow, Russia and three years in Milan, Italy. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jack R. Ekstrom
Vice President, Corporate and Government Relations

Jack R. Ekstrom joined us in October 2008 as Executive Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, and became Vice President, Corporate and Government Relations in January 2010. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Ekstrom served as the Director of Government Affairs for Pioneer Natural Resources, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Prior to this he served as the Director of Government Affairs for Evergreen Resources and Forest Oil. He has 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Mr. Ekstrom is a Director of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association and the Western Energy Alliance, and is a past chairman of the Western Business Roundtable and past president of the Denver Petroleum Club. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Eric K. Hagen
Vice President, Investor Relations

Prior to joining Whiting, Eric was a Director and senior analyst covering exploration and production companies in the oil and gas sector at Lazard Capital Markets. Previously, he covered the exploration and production sector as a senior analyst at Merrill Lynch and First Albany Capital and as an associate at Bank of Montreal. During his career, Eric was twice selected by Forbes as one of the top ten sell side analysts for all sectors based on his three-year performance in stock picking and earnings estimation. He also ranked in the top tier of the Greenwich Associates survey in the exploration and production category. He began his career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Eric received his BA from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Colorado.