Steve Cromwell has enjoyed 40 years in the oil and gas industry as an independent, as well as working for a large independent and a small exploration and production company.  He graduated from LSU in 1977 with a business degree and began his career with Gulfstream Petroleum in Houston, Texas in the land department.  He was responsible for Oklahoma operations.  Working in Oklahoma led to an opportunity with Devon Energy in 1980.  By 1982, Steve was managing the Land department as Devon grew by utilizing public drilling funds and asset acquisitions.  Devon formed one of the first publicly traded MLP’s in the mid 80’s providing tax advantaged ownership for the numerous entities.  Devon continued it’s contra-cyclical strategy to drill, exploit and acquire assets during low product price environments and organize, consolidate and divest non-strategic assets during periods of high prices.  These years provided invaluable experience.
In 1997, Steve moved to corporate development and managed the acquisitions and divestitures for Devon.  From 1996 to 2003, Devon closed 6 mergers/acquisitions that took the company from less than .5B to one exceeding 20B in market value.  In 2004, Devon was the third largest gas producer behind BP and Exxon.
Steve then formed SDL Energy Corporation, a privately owned company whose purpose was to acquire and exploit producing properties, acquire minerals and participate in exploratory drilling in shallow basins.
In 2013, he joined BG Energy Partners, LLC, which conducted acreage plays and shallow exploration in the Cherokee Basin.  Product prices once again retreated and the partners formed WellCaddie, LLC, in an effort to meet the operator’s need for data management.