Executive Leadership

Prior to joining the Battalion Oil team, Mr. Little was the CEO of Ajax Resources, LLC (Ajax). Ajax was a private equity backed company that most recently sold its assets in the Northern Midland Basin to Diamondback Energy, Inc. for a total consideration of $1.24B. The sale consisted of 25,500 acres in the Northern Midland Basin and closed on October 31st, 2018. The valuation represented a 12.2x LQA EBITDA and ~$33,500 / net adjusted acre generating a rate of return of ~37% for its investors.

Prior to joining the Ajax team, Mr. Little was the Vice President over the Southern Division at EP Energy Company. In this capacity, he was responsible for the regions including the Permian Basin, South Texas, Gulf of Mexico, and the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. Over time, EP Energy concentrated its asset base down to three main operating areas. Mr. Little’s primary area of focus was in the Permian basin.

Mr. Little joined El Paso Exploration and Production in October 2007 as Reservoir Engineering Manager over the South Texas and the Gulf Coast regions. He joined the El Paso team as a result of the acquisition of People’s Energy Production. He was later promoted to Director over the assets in the Southern region including the Gulf of Mexico. In 2012, Mr. Little was promoted to Vice President over the Southern US Division for EP Energy LLC. Prior to joining El Paso Exploration and Production, he was a Senior Staff Asset Engineer with People’s Energy Production.

In prior roles, Mr. Little worked as a petroleum engineering consultant with Holditch and Associates, Inc. where he worked both domestically and internationally in reservoir, production, and completions as well as acquisitions & divestitures. Prior to that he worked for Halliburton where he was primarily focused on well stimulation design and execution.

In total, Mr. Little has over 23 years of industry experience.

Mr. Little received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1995 and later received his professional engineer’s license in 2002.

He is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Daniel P. Rohling serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Rohling joined Battalion Oil in July 2019. He has approximately 15 years of oil and gas operations experience. Prior to joining Battalion Oil, he served as the Asset Vice President at Ajax Resources, LLC (“Ajax”), until it sold substantially all of its assets to Diamondback Energy, Inc. in October 2018 for $1.2 billion. Mr. Rohling began his career at EP Energy Corporation (El Paso Corporation) as an engineer and held various roles in operations, reservoir engineering, business development and management. Mr. Rohling holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Kristen McWatters serves as Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer. Ms. McWatters has approximately 14 years of progressive leadership experience in accounting, finance and financial reporting. Mr. McWatters joined Battalion Oil in January 2023.  She most recently served as Interim Chief Accounting Officer for a publicly traded investment banking firm where she was responsible for all of the Company’s accounting and reporting functions. She previously served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer for Goodrich Petroleum. Prior to joining Goodrich Petroleum, Ms. McWatters was the Controller for a publicly traded independent retail energy services company and a manager of financial reporting for Southwestern Energy Co. Ms. McWatters began her career at KPMG LLP after earning a Masters in Finance and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Texas A&M University in May 2008. Ms. McWatters is a certified public accountant.

Leah R. Kasparek serves as Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Kasparek has 23 years of Human Resources leadership experience across multiple industries including oil and gas, public utilities and manufacturing. Prior to joining Battalion Oil in February 2012, Ms. Kasparek served as Director of Human Resources and the Change lead for an Enterprise Risk Management project at Southwestern Energy from 2009 to 2012. Prior to this role, she served as Vice President of Human Resources for CenterPoint Energy over the Electric Company Division from 2004 to 2005 and assumed the role of Vice President Human Resources, Regulated Operations Division for the combined electric and gas companies from 2005 until 2008. Ms. Kasparek started her Human Resources career at Anheuser-Busch Companies in 1996 and held progressive roles through 2004. She worked across five of the breweries from 1996 through 2001. She then served as Vice President of Human Resources for the Anheuser-Busch Packaging Group from 2001 until 2004. Ms. Kasparek holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisiana and earned a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

Walter Mayer serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel.  Mr. Mayer joined Battalion Oil in March 2013.  He has over eighteen years of legal experience focusing on the oil and gas industry.  Previously, he served as Associate General Counsel at Petrohawk Energy Corporation starting in 2010 and stayed on after its acquisition by BHP Billiton until joining Battalion Oil.  Before Petrohawk, Walter worked in the Litigation Group of Vinson & Elkins focusing on commercial energy litigation.  Walter served as Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Energy Litigation Committee and also served as Editor-In-Chief for the Energy Litigation Journal (a publication of the ABA’s Section of Litigation).  Walter graduated from The University of Virginia School of Law and has been recognized for his accomplishments in Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star.”  He is board certified in oil, gas and mineral law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Grant R. Evans serves as Vice President, Exploration and Geoscience.   Mr. Evans has an extensive background with approximately over 40 years of industry experience.  Prior to joining Battalion Oil in 2019, Mr. Evans served as Vice President, Geology and Geophysics for Ajax I and II, successfully working to increase production and lowering costs.  Mr. Evans served as Director, Permian Basin for EP Energy from 2010 to 2017.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Kansas.