Operations chief to lead Quest

By Jack Money

Published: August 26, 2008

Quest Resources Corp. has turned to its chief operating officer to lead its companies after the abrupt resignation of its Chairman and Chief Executive Jerry Cash after an inquiry by regulators.

David Lawler, who has worked for the company just more than a year, also has been appointed as a director of Quest Resource Corp.

Cash resigned his posts as chairman and chief executive of Quest Resource Corp., Quest Energy Partners and Quest Midstream Partners after state officials' questions about transfers of $10 million in company funds to another entity Cash controlled.

Lawler, who was not available Monday for an interview, has more than 17 years of oil and gas industry experience in senior management and engineering positions.

"I appreciate the board members' confidence in my ability to lead the Quest entities. In my prior role of COO, I learned the strength of our organization comes from our dedicated employees and our assets. I will work with our employees and board members to continue to execute our business plans as I conduct a strategic review of each organization,” Lawler was quoted in Monday's news release.

Lawler was hired as chief operating officer of Quest Resource Corp. in May, 2007. Lawler also had been a director and chief operating officer of Quest Energy Partners, a subsidiary of Quest, since its initial public offering in November 2007.

Before joining Quest, Lawler served in roles of increasing responsibility for Shell Exploration & Production, most recently as engineering and operations manager for multiple assets along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Before that, Lawler worked for ConocoPhillips and Burlington Resources in various domestic engineering and operations positions. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1990 with a bachelor's of science in petroleum engineering and earned his Master's in Business Administration from Tulane University in 2003.

The Oklahoma Department of Securities inquiry into Quest Resource Corp. led to Cash's abrupt resignation, the company announced Monday.

Also, David Grose, Quest's chief financial officer, was placed on a paid, administrative leave.

Monday, Irving Faught, administrator of the state securities department, said he could provide few other additional details beyond what the company announced.

He did add, though, that the investigation was looking at another private company Cash was involved with, Rockport Energy LLC.

Quest said Monday its boards of directors for Quest Resource Corp., Quest Energy Partners and Quest Midstream Partners met during the weekend and formed a joint special committee with representatives from all three, including the chairs of the audit committees for the boards of Quest Resource and Quest Energy.

The joint committee also hired Spencer C. Barasch of Andrews Kurth to lead an investigation into the situation.

Also, Quest retained Kroll Zolfo Cooper to assist in the accounting and finance functions during Grose's absence.

Kevin Golmont will lead Kroll Zolfo Cooper's efforts, company officials said.

Quest Resource Corp.'s stock started trending lower Friday, closing off 68 cents, at about $6.90 a share.

But, Monday, it lost nearly 30 percent of its remaining value, closing down $2.05, at $4.88 a share.

Quest Energy Partner's stock on Monday dropped nearly 19 percent in value, closing down $2.68, at $11.49 a share.

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