James A. Gibbs is a Manager of Five States Energy Capital, LLC and serves as Chairman of the Board of Managers of Five States Energy.

Mr. Gibbs received a BS in Geology from the University of Oklahoma (1957), then served as a communications officer in the US Navy from 1957 to 1959. He received an MS in Geology from the University of Oklahoma (1962).

In 1962, Mr. Gibbs was employed as a geologist by The California Company (now Chevron-Texaco) in New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana. In 1964, he opened an office in Dallas, Texas, as a consulting geologist and independent oil and gas producer. He has initiated drilling prospects, purchased and sold oil and gas leases, operated wells, and served as an exploration consultant to several companies. From 1975 to 1978, Mr. Gibbs consulted exclusively for Petrus Operating Company. From 1978 to 1981, he consulted for Cornell Oil Company. From 1981 to 1983, he consulted for Lyco Energy Corp. Since 1964, he has participated in drilling more than 600 wells, primarily in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

John B. Kiser is the President of both Five States Energy Company and Five States Capital.

John graduated from Texas A&M University where in 1984 he received a BS in Petroleum Engineering. In 1997 he received his MBA from SMU. 

John B. Kiser is founder and President, L2K Strategic Solutions, a management consulting company. 

Previously he led SDL Citadel, LLC, a research company working to unlock the latent energy in post-industrial solid waste and convert it into commercial grade liquid fuels. 

Mr. Kiser worked at the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU from 2006 – 2015. Starting as its Director of Strategic Planning, later becoming an Associate Dean, and finally serving as Executive Director of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership. 

Before SMU, John had a wide variety of engineering, marketing and management roles with oil and gas companies including Lyco Energy Corporation (Dallas), Mobil Oil Corporation (Baton Rouge, Dallas, Pittsburgh), and Exxon Company USA (Midland). His exposure to the oil industry began while in high school giving him nearly thirty years of work experience in the industry. 

John currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Carr P. Collins Social Service Center for the Salvation Army, where he was its chairman from 2011-2015. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Philip’s School and Community Center where he is leading a strategic planning effort. John previously served on the Town North YMCA Board of Management from 1997 - 2007, serving two years as its chair after having led three annual sustaining campaigns and a $4M capital campaign.

Executive Vice President of Engineering

Gary L. Stone has over 45 years of diversified technical and managerial experience in the petroleum industry. His career has focused on growth property identification and valuation, acquisition and divestiture negotiations, reservoir development and exploitation, forging and maintaining joint interest relationships, and production optimization. He has been with Five States Energy Company since 1997, and as Executive Vice President of Engineering has been responsible for the analysis and management of all company legacy reserve assets and analysis of potential assets for the company’s investment funds.

Prior to his time at Five States, Gary worked in acquisitions and development, technical engineering software development and sales, reservoir engineering consulting, and energy banking.  A proud graduate of Texas Tech University in Petroleum Engineering and a member of the Texas Tech University Petroleum Engineering Academy, he is 2015-2016 President of the Texas Energy Council, a four-time member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, a policy advisor specializing in the energy industry for the Heartland Institute, past Chairman of the Dutch Treat Wildcatters industry luncheon organization, a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

Vice President of Operations

He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University (1972).

From 1980 to 1984, Steve was Vice President of Engineering for Dorchester Enhanced Recovery Company, a division of Dorchester Gas Corporation. 

From 1984 to 1994, he worked for Halliburton Resource Management (HRM), a division of Halliburton Company, where he served as part of the senior management team of the second largest natural gas compressor rental company in the US. Steve served as Sr. Vice President of Wellspring Partners, LLC from 1995 to 2004.

Vice President of Accounting

Mr. Scales received a BBA in Accounting from Baylor University (1980). He worked in the audit division of Arthur Andersen and Company in Dallas from 1980 to 1983, last serving as an audit senior for a number of clients in various industries. From 1983 to 1998 he was employed by American Liberty Oil Company–the parent company of energy, hospitality, ranching and other investment entities–where he served initially as Chief Accountant and later as Controller.

Vice President of Corporate Planning 

Tom originally joined Five States in 2000 as a Financial Analyst, His core areas of responsibilities included portfolio review and reporting,  and the financial analysis of investment oppurtunities.

Tom joined Cornerstone E&P in 2008 in the role of Finance Manager. He was responsible for the development and maintenance of all the financial models related to the company's drilling and production activities, as well as the corporate financial planning and analysis. 

Tom rejoined Five States  in 2010 in his current role. He oversees the financial analysis and reporting of all portfolio assets  and is responsible for the financial underwriting of new investments. Tom also maintains the company's risk management program, primarily through the use of commodity hedging.

Director - Asset Acquisitions & Development

Thomas has a BS in Business Administration from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Thomas has over a decade of professional experience in client-service focused roles. He entered the oil and gas industry with Five States Energy where he was responsible for originating a wide variety of upstream and midstream investments throughout the United States: direct property acquisitions, mezzanine loans, syndications and structured equity. In addition to the origination efforts, Thomas was also involved in fundraising at Five States, which focused on family offices and high-net-worth individuals. 

In 2019, Thomas left Five States to work in the sell-side A&D advisory space, where he helped companies and individuals sell various types of oil and gas properties.  In summer 2020, he re-joined the Five States team as Director of Asset Acquisitions & Development.  

Thomas is responsible for leading the Five States’ business development efforts, with a focus on oil and gas property acquisitions.