Author Archives: Andrew Jowett

About Andrew Jowett

Andrew Jowett is a Chartered Accountant who qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK. He has worked for 20 years in the US, primarily in the Oilfield Services sector for companies large and small, public and private-equity backed. One thing most of them had in common was a lack of controls and procedures. Andrew is currently the CFO of a PE-backed manufacturing company in Houston. He is also the chair of the Houston chapter of the Financial Executives Network Group (FENG) which is a voluntary networking organization for CFO’s, Controllers, Treasurers and other senior finance executives. The FENG has over 50,000 members with chapters in every major US city and some internationally too.

Houston physician indicted in $30 million COVID-19 fraud scheme

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A west Houston physician has been indicted in a $30 million COVID-19 fraud scheme.

Dr. Joseph A. Montes, aged 66, owned two Houston clinics, Joseph A. Montes MD & Associates, P.A. and Montes Medical PLLC in the Spring Branch area of Houston.

The indictment says that from 2020 to 2022 he let an employee (not named in the indictment) run pop-up COVID-19 testing sites under his name. Patients, who were uninsured, got nasal swabs, but the sites billed the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for office visits that never happened. On about 29 dates, the clinics filed more than 3,000 claims for office visits. On December 1, 2021, they filed more than 9,000, which works out to roughly one patient visit every nine seconds for 24 hours.

About $30 million was billed, and about $20 million was paid.  Montes and the co-conspirator agreed that Montes would receive 20% of the revenue from HRSA.

Interestingly a Google reviewer from 2021 for one of the clinics stated

‘This is a ponzi scheme , the doctor is not even a doctor, the COVID test is a scheme, they don’t use proper protection to not infect you with other COVID patients , the numbers they have listed don’t work. I think we should ALL call and report him to the medical board. (For the record, there are no complaints filed at the medical board and the doctor the reviewer was referring to was probably the employee)

Dr. Montes allegedly spent $112,000 on an Audi and bought $610,000 of jewelry from Tiffany & Co.

He faces up to 5 years in prison for conspiracy, 20 years for each of the five wire fraud counts and 10 years for each of the six money laundering counts, plus a possible $250,000 fine.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/local-physician-indicted-30-million-covid-19-fraud-scheme

 

Chevron appoints new CFO as part of CEO succession plan

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Jeff Gustavson has been appointed CFO of Chevron Corporation, effective January 1, 2027. He replaces Eimear Bonner, who becomes President, Oil, Products & Gas. Vice Chairman Mark Nelson gives up that role and takes on strategy and business development.

The company has revenues of $184.4 billion in 2025 and a market cap of around $400 billion, second only to ExxonMobil for those companies based in the Houston-area.

Mr. Gustavson, 54, joined Chevron in 1999 and has been President, New Energies since August 2021. From 2018 to 2021 he was vice president of Chevron North America Exploration and Production’s Mid-Continent Business Unit. Before that he was President of Chevron Canada. He has also worked in finance, M&A, strategic planning, supply and trading, and investor relations, with postings in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Venezuela.

Mr. Gustavson will receive a base salary of $1,000,000.

Ms. Bonner, 52, has been CFO since March 2024. She is a petroleum engineer who started offshore in the UK in 1998 and was previously Chevron’s chief technology officer. She has also had postings to Kazakhstan and Thailand.

It is widely believed that the reshuffle is part of planning for the CEO succession. Current CEO Mike Wirth, 65, has been in the role since 2018. Last year, he said he was in discussions with the board about the timing of his departure and didn’t expect to serve more than 10 years as CEO.  Both Mr.Gustavson and Ms. Bonner are seen as potential candidates to replace Mr. Wirth.

SEC filing 8-K – Chevron CFO appointment

AI Infrastructure company appoints new CFO

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Exascale Labs has appointed Jake Carney as its new CFO, effective September 25, 2026. He replaces Gildas Bonnier, who had been serving as interim CFO for the past month while the company searched for a permanent appointment.

Exascale gives its head office as west Houston (on Gessner Road), although until last month its press releases were datelined San Francisco and its phone number has a Bay Area area code. The company provides GPU computing infrastructure for AI customers.

The company went public at the end of August through a merger with a SPAC, D. Boral ARC Acquisition I Corp.  The SPAC deal valued the business at $500 million, based on $10 a share. The stock price has plunged since the deal closed and the current price is $1.85.

At the time of the going public, the company did not have a CFO. The CFO of the SPAC that took Exascale public was John Darwin, who previously worked at ARC Group Limited, an investment bank and management consultancy firm.

For the year to June 2026, Exascale had revenues of $14.8 million (up 111%) and a net loss of $12.2 million. Its market capitalization is $189 million.

Mr. Carney, 38, has a degree in Accounting and Finance from the Dublin Institute of Technology. He spent nearly five years at Beehive Fintech in Dubai as Investment Director, investing in small and medium-sized businesses across the Gulf. He then worked for two and a half years as Managing Director at ARC Group, where he set up its office in the UAE. More recently, he was CFO of Deal Flow Capital, a capital advisory firm, for six months to August 2026.

He is also the CFO of ARC Group Securities Acquisition I, another Nasdaq-listed SPAC, that went public in August 2026.

Mr. Carney will receive a base salary of $6,000 a month, or $72,000 a year.

I have added Exascale to the list of Houston-area public companies. You can see the complete list here.

SEC filing 8-K – Exascale appoints new CFO

EOG Resources appoints new CFO

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EOG Resources has appointed Jeff Hibbard as its next CFO, effective January 1, 2027. He replaces Ann Janssen, who has decided to retire after more than 30 years with the company.

EOG has its head office in downtown Houston and is one of the largest independent oil and gas producers in the US, with a market capitalization of around $73 billion.

Mr. Hibbard, 44, is currently EOG’s Senior VP, Finance, a role he took up when he joined the company in August 2025. Before that, he spent more than 20 years in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, most recently as a Managing Director in the Global Energy Group.

Ms. Janssen joined Enron Oil and Gas in 1995. That business was spun out of Enron in 1999 and renamed EOG Resources. She was Chief Accounting Officer from February 2018 through December 2023 and became CFO in January 2024. From January 2027 she will stay on as an advisor to the company until she retires later in 2027.

The filing gives no details of Mr. Hibbard’s new salary.

SEC filing 8-K – EOG appoints Hibbard

Crown Castle CFO to step down in March

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Sunit Patel, the CFO of Crown Castle will step down at the end of March 2027. He will be replaced by Kris Hinson, who is currently the Chief Commercial Officer.

The company also announced that Cathy Piche, the Chief Operating Officer, will leave at the end of February 2027. Crown Castle will conduct a search for her replacement.

Mr. Patel has only been the CFO since April 2025, though he joined Crown Castle as a non-executive director in January 2024. In their press release, the company described Mr. Patel’s departure as a retirement. While it is true that he will be 65 years old by the time he retires, he will also be receiving a severance package. He will get $1.25 million being one times base salary and target bonus, plus a pro-rated bonus for 2027. Mr. Patel will also get continued vesting of restricted stock units. At December 2025, they were worth $2.8 million.

Ms. Piche originally joined Crown Castle in 2011, then left for a competitor in October 2023, before being hired back a year later. Like Mr. Patel, she will get one times base and bonus ($1.1 million)  and a pro-rated bonus for 2027. Her restricted stock units will continue to vest (worth $1.5 million at December 2025).

Mr. Hinson joined the company in 2023 as VP, Corporate Finance and Treasurer. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at ExxonMobil in various roles, including Director of Investor Relations.

Recent Struggles

Crown Castle has a tumultuous few years.  Current CEO Chris Hillabrant was appointed in September 2025. His predecessor, Steven Moskowitz, was fired in March 2025 after just 11 months in the role. The CEO prior to that was forced out in December 2023, just ten days after Elliott Investment Management, an activist investor, urged the company to do so. Elliott had been pushing the company to divest of its fiber business and they were the ones who originally nominated Mr. Patel as a non-executive director.

At the beginning of May, the company sold its fiber business for $8.5 billion. Elliott had been pushing for that, so Mr. Patel departs after he has helped achieve that goal.

In anticipation of the sale, the company had reduced its headcount by 20% or 1,250 employees earlier in 2026. Those reductions were also accelerated by the financial difficulties of DISH Wireless, a major customer. Crown Castle has sued DISH over the cancellation of its contract and for monies owed.

SEC filing – 8-K Crown Castle CFO change

Targa Resources appoints new CFO

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Targa Resources has promoted Ben Branstetter to be its next CFO. He replaces Will Byers, who is retiring after two years in the role. The changes are effective September 1.

Targa has its head office in downtown Houston.  The company is the largest natural gas processor in the Permian Basin. It owns pipelines to its NGL (Natural Gas Liquids) processing plant in Mont Belvieu, near Houston. The company is also a leading exporter of LPGs (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). [note – LPGs primarily comprise Propane and Butane, whereas LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is methane].

The company has revenues of $17 billion and a market capitalization of $63 billion.

Mr. Branstetter joined the company in 2017 and currently serves as the President – Logistics and Transportation. He is a Texas Longhorn, who started his career at Glencore as a Risk Manager. He also worked at Phillips 66 and Lazard investment Bank before joining Targa. Mr. Branstetter will receive a base salary of $600,000.

Mr. Byers, who is 50, joined Targa in June 2024. He had previously held CFO roles at two PE-backed midstream companies. Mr. Byers will remain with the company until the end of 2026. He won’t get severance, but his restricted stock units will continue to vest. He will get a 2026 annual incentive cash bonus, once that is determined.

Targa has hired Brent Secrest to replace Mr. Branstetter. Mr. Secrest has spent the past 11 years working in various roles at Enterprise Products, another publicly-traded midstream company.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1389170/000119312526364099/0001193125-26-364099-index.html

 

 

 

 

Specialty Insurance company appoints new CFO

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Mark Haushill, the CFO of Skyward Specialty Insurance, has announced he will retire at the end of March 2027. He will be replaced by Deputy CFO Taryn McHarg.

Skyward is based in the Memorial City area of Houston and has a market capitalization of $2.5 billion. The company went public in January 2023 at a stock price of $15 per share. It now trades close to $60.

Skyward traces its origins to 2007 when Stephen Wray formed Southwest Insurance Partners. He had previously taken HCC Insurance Holdings public before leaving in 2006. In 2010 Southwest Insurance merged with Delos Insurance to form Houston International Insurance Group. The company rebranded as Skyward in 2020, the same year that Mr. Wray stepped down as CEO.

It specializes in niche areas of Property and Casualty Insurance, particularly harder-to-place risk (such as power generation plants or professional liability exposure). The company tries to minimize its underwriting in commoditized insurance markets that are regulated by states.

In January this year, the company paid $555 million for Apollo, a US centric specialty underwriting platform operating at Lloyds of London. Ms. McHarg was the CFO of Apollo before the acquisition.

Mr Haushill, who is 64, became CFO of Skyward in 2015. Prior to that he was the CFO at two other publicly-traded insurance companies. After he steps down as CFO, he will remain as a Senior Advisor through December 2027 with an annualized base salary of $250,000.

The new CFO

Ms. McHarg is an Australian citizen who joined Apollo in May 2022 as CFO. She started her career at Ernst & Young in Melbourne, Australia before joining Bupa as an internal auditor. Bupa is a private medical insurer that began in the United Kingdom before expanding internationally.  She moved to London in 2014 when she was promoted to Group Chief Internal Auditor. She later became the CFO for all international markets for Bupa, before leaving for Apollo.

Compensation details for Ms. McHarg for her new role will be determined in the first quarter of 2027.

SEC filing – 8-K – Skyward CFO appointment

 

Houston healthcare provider appoints new CFO

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US Physical Therapy has appointed Nchacha Etta as its new CFO. Jason Curtis, the Senior VP of Finance and Accounting, who has been the interim CFO, reverts back to his old position.

The company owns and/or manages 796 outpatient physical therapy locations in 45 states. It has its head office in west Houston, revenues of $670 million and a market capitalization of $1.2 billion.

Mr. Etta replaces Carey Hendrickson, who announced back in February that he was resigning to take a position at another publicly-traded company. In April, Mr. Hendrickson was appointed CFO at the PACS Group, a Salt Lake City provider of post-acute care and senior living facilities. PACS has a market capitalization of $7 billion. His predecessor at PACS, Derick Apt, resigned in September 2025 after he was found guilty of accepting expensive items from people linked to the company’s business partners. PACS Group is also under investigation from the DOJ regarding potential fraudulent billing under Medicare.

Between June 2023 and Nov 2025, Mr. Etta was the CFO of Omnicell, a global healthcare and technology company that is based in Fort Worth and is publicly-traded (market cap $1.7 billion). In his career he has worked for Eli Lilly, Microsoft, Coca-Cola (including a two-year stint in Houston) and Johnson & Johnson. He is also a non-executive director at Houston-based KBR.

Mr. Etta will receive a base salary of $625,000. He will also receive a restricted stock grant worth $550,000 that will vest over four years. A performance-based grant worth $200,000 will also be granted. This will vest in the first quarter of 2027 (assuming the company meets performance targets).

SEC filing – 8-K US Physical Therapy CFO appointment

 

ConocoPhillips announces leadership transition

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ConocoPhillips (‘COP’) has announced a leadership transition. Ryan Lance, who has been CEO for 14 years, transitions to Executive Chairman. Andy O’Brien, currently the Executive VP, Strategy, Commercial and Chief Financial Officer, becomes CEO. Konnie Haynes-Welsh, currently VP, Finance and Controller is promoted to CFO.



COP has its head office in west Houston and is the third largest Houston-area by market capitalization ($148 billion), behind ExxonMobil and Chevron.

Ryan Lance started in Alaska

Mr. Lance, 64, began his career with Arco Alaska, which was later acquired by BP. In 2001, he joined Phillips Petroleum as General Manager of the Lower 48 and Canadian operations. After the merger with Conoco, he was appointed VP of Lower 48 for the combined company. In his new role, his salary will reduce from $1.8 million to $1.1 million.

Mr. O’Brien, 50, started his career with Conoco in the United Kingdom in 1997 as a Financial Analyst. He spent time in finance roles in Calgary, Anchorage, Indonesia and Houston before becoming Senior VP, Global Operations in 2022. He became CFO in 2025 after his predecessor retired. Mr. O’Brien’s base salary will increase from $934k to $1.7 million.

Konnie Haynes-Welsh joined COP in 2012 as a Manager, SEC Compliance and has held various roles in the finance department. She is a graduate of the University of Texas and started her career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 2000. She worked for Mariner Energy (later acquired by Apache) before joining COP. Ms. Haynes-Welsh will have a base salary of $743k.

Another Brit promoted

Greig Patterson, currently VP, Corporate Planning & Development, will become VP, Finance and Controller. He is another Brit, who started his career with BP as a Financial Analyst in Aberdeen. He joined COP in 2007 and has worked in Norway, Canada and Malaysia.

Big retention stock awards for key Executives

In addition to these changes, the company also gave Kirk Johnson, Executive VP, Global Operations and Technical Functions, a restricted stock unit award worth $5 million, that will vest on the fifth anniversary of the grant. Likewise, Nicholas golds, Executive VP, Lower 48 and Global HSE, is awarded a $3 million grant, that will vest after three years.

SEC filing 8-K – ConocoPhillips leadership transition

 

 

 

 

 

Testing and Engineering services company moves back to Houston

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A year after TIC Solutions moved its corporate office from Tomball to Hollywood, Florida, it has now moved it back to the Galleria area.

The company provides asset integrity, engineering and geospatial services. It has revenues of $1.8 billion and an enterprise value of $3.1 billion.

TIC was formed from the merger of two publicly-traded companies in August 2025, Acuren (based in Tomball) and NV5 (based in Florida). Acuren shareholders ended up with 60% of the combined company, NV5 40%. The combined entity was renamed TIC Solutions and the head office moved to Florida.

Acuren was originally formed in 1974 as Longview Inspection. In July 2024, it was taken public by a SPAC, Admiral Acquisition Corp for $1.9 billion. NV5 traced its origins back to 1949 in California and went public in 2013. Both companies were highly acquisitive.

At the time of the merger, the CEO of Acuren, Tal Pizzey, became the CEO of the combined company, though he was actually based in Edmonton, Canada. The CEO of NV5, Ben Heraud, became the COO of the combined company. He is based in California. Mr. Pizzey voluntarily resigned in March 2026 and Mr. Heraud took over as CEO.

Kristin Schultes, the CFO of Acuren, became the CFO of the combined group. She is based in the Houston-area.

There have been a number of companies that have moved their head office to Houston area in 2026. Expand Energy and Devon Energy are the two largest, but there have been a few other smaller companies (Ainos, Barnwell Industries and Olenox Industries).

SEC filing – 8-K – Quarterly results