Meet the team
Having led successful careers in the oil and gas industry, the Meriden Carbon team was formed to leverage that expertise and to make an impact on the Energy Transition through developing Carbon Storage Hubs in collaboration with landowners.
The team has a deep, working knowledge in:
Geology of the Rocky Mountain region
Land Leasing and Surface Use Agreements
Well Drilling and Completions
Subsurface Injection Operations
Pipeline Infrastructure
Permitting, Regulatory Framework, and Policy
MANAGEMENT TEAM
JEFF KUMMER
Chief Executive Officer
Jeff is a proven leader in the energy space with nearly 20 years of experience leading entrepreneurial business ventures. Growing up in rural America, he was the first in his family to attend college in pursuit of a career in the energy industry. He has been blessed to grow and lead the buildout of businesses in the upstream, midstream, technology, non-op, and oilfield services spaces of the oil & gas industry - leading divestments worth a combined value of over $1 Billion. Jeff has a knack for startups, with a particular ability to identify talent, build a strong team and recruit investment through a genuine approach to building trust and creating value in new ventures. His roots in western North Dakota have instilled in him a passion for doing what is right by the landowner and the lands they steward.
In his career, Jeff has been honored to serve as Chairman of the University of North Dakota Petroleum Engineering Advisory Committee and as Vice Chairman of the North Dakota Oil and Gas Research Council. In 2013, he was inducted into the inaugural class of recipients of the Oil and Gas Investor’s “20 under 40” campaign.
Over the past two years, Jeff has loved leading the startup of an independent, classical high school in south Denver, feeding a passion to properly educate the next generation of leaders for our country through a classical focus on growing in virtue and understanding history through providence. He currently serves as the President of St. John Paul the Great Catholic High School.
Jeff graduated (cum laude) from the Colorado School of Mines, with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. He and his wife are raising their five children in Denver, CO.
STEVE HAPP, P.E.
Vice President, Engineering and Operations
Steve began his career in the field, tranforming engineering principles into operations. He has a passion for being a hands-on leader and thrives when he is active and involved in all phases of a project, from permitting to production. His entrepreneurial mindset has led him from Project Engineer to Project Developer, starting up an oil and gas company with a vision and like-minded individuals and turning it into a thriving company. He was able to convey his vision to private equity companies which resulted in Apollo financially backing the company. He has used his knowledge of rock mechanics to bridge into solution mining, building a potash production model that was used as the backbone of the financial model for a $1 Billion capital raise. Steve is now leveraging his operational and subsurface expertise to oversee the full scale development of Carbon Sequestration Hubs in his role with Meriden Carbon.
Steve graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. In 2014, he graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a masters degree in Global Energy Management.
MELANIE PETERSON, P.G.
Melanie Peterson has been practicing geology in the oil and gas industry since 2006. She began her career at Noble Energy, where she worked in multiple basins across the US, both in conventional and unconventional plays. Her experience includes stratigraphic, structural and seismic interpretation; reservoir characterization; thermal maturation modeling and mapping. In the fall of 2014, Melanie moved back to her hometown of Casper, Wyoming to work as a Professional Geologist for Goolsby, Finley and Associates, where she provided prospect evaluation and risk analysis, petrophysical analysis, WOGCC hearing testimony and drilling support.
Melanie initiated her own geoloic consulting firm in 2019, which provided the flexibility to engage in multiple project across Wyoming. She has testified in front of the Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, the Wyoming Geological Association where she previously served on the Board, and has also volunteered and spoken at several AAPG meetings.
Melanie received her undergraduate degree in Geology from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Science in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines.
Vice President, Geology and Geophysics
ADviSORY BOARD
KEVIN SHERMAN
CEO, Tractor Beverage
BRENT SANfORD
Fmr. Lt. Governor, North Dakota
John Martin
Martin Family Foundation
Marcella Burke
Managing Partner, Burke Law Group
Fmr. EPA Deputy General Counsel