Meridian Energy Group, Inc. Announces that Charles E. Schwenck has Joined its Senior Management Team
Former Bechtel group counsel will serve as company’s Chief Commercial Officer
HOUSTON, BELFIELD, N.D. and IRVINE, Calif., July 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the emerging growth refining firm and leading innovator in advanced technology and environmentally-beneficial petroleum processing facilities, announced today that Charles E. Schwenck has joined Meridian as Executive Vice President, Law, and Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Schwenck will report to the Chairman and CEO and will be responsible for the Company’s commercial relationships with its contractors, lenders, suppliers and customers, and will manage Meridian relationships with outside counsel.
Mr. Schwenck has served as the Company’s principal outside legal counsel for several years and has been assisting the Company as a senior legal, commercial and project financing advisor as part of that engagement. By joining Meridian on a full-time basis, Mr. Schwenck will be able to work more closely with Meridian’s executives, board members and counterparties to accelerate completion of the critical project agreements. Schwenck will also manage the $1.2Billion institutional equity and debt financing for the Davis Refinery, and move quickly into completing plans and agreements for several follow-on refineries, consistent with Meridian’s strategy for growth and change in the refining and hydrocarbon processing industries.
Mr. Schwenck has more than 40 years of experience in the development, financing construction and operation of energy, infrastructure and natural resource projects and facilities and a broad range of commercial transactions relating to the energy and natural resource industries. He has served in executive positions and as a board member at Ultrasystems, Inc and LG&E Power and as General Counsel at Fluor Corporation and Division Counsel for one of the largest divisions of the Bechtel Group. Mr. Schwenck has also had a distinguished career in the private practice of law, including as a partner in international law firms K&L Gates, Morrison & Foerster and Greenberg Traurig, where he was Co-Chair of the firm’s Energy and Natural Resources Practice. Mr. Schwenck earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Juris Doctor from Berkeley’s School of Law (Boalt Hall). He is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
“Charlie has been an extraordinary asset to Meridian since he was originally engaged as outside counsel,” said William Prentice, Chairman and CEO of Meridian. “Having Charlie join Meridian in his new, full-time, role enables the Company to move very quickly on its current project development and financing efforts. Meridian is fortunate to have a number of extraordinary opportunities, including the Davis Refinery in the Bakken, the Walton Station Refinery in the Permian and other sites in most of the other major shale basins. Charlie's skills and experience will greatly enhance our ability to capitalize on those opportunities.”
Mr. Schwenck commented that, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to become a full-time member of the Meridian team and work more closely with Meridian’s talented executives and professionals with whom I have worked over the past several years.
Tom Skwarek, Member of the Meridian Board of Directors, commented that: “Charlie has been critical to our key negotiations with our industry partners, as well as our financial advisors. Having Charlie join now, as we move forward with important project financing decisions and completing customer and supplier agreements, brings in house the added leadership and expertise that our next steps require.”
About Meridian Energy Group, Inc. The Mission of Meridian Energy Group, Inc. is to provide long-term shareholder value through the development and operation of the cleanest, most environmentally-compliant and profitable crude oil refineries in the world, with refinery developments in both North Dakota and Texas. Established in 2013, Meridian has offices in Belfield, North Dakota, Houston, Texas and Irvine, California.
