Dr. Markus Drouven

Technical Director, Strategic Energy Initiatives

National Energy Technology Laboratory

Markus Drouven is a Senior Engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh. At NETL, he leads a $65 million R&D portfolio focused on integrated energy systems and cross-cutting initiatives that connect technology, infrastructure, and strategic decision-making across industry and government. Before joining DOE, Markus worked in the private sector, where he built an optimization engineering team at EQT. He holds engineering degrees from RWTH Aachen University in Germany and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon.

Monday - May 4, 2026 | Pre-Conference

Start Time	Description
8:00 am	private meeting, separate registration required
10:30 am	private meeting, separate registration required
12:00 pm	private meeting, separate registration required
1:00 pm	private meeting, separate registration required
2:00 pm	in the Irving Convention Center exhibit hall (ground floor)
5:00 pm	private meeting, separate registration required
6:00 pm	Texican Court; open to all conference registrants; enjoy drinks, snacks, networking, & live entertainment, sponsored by
7:30 pm
7:30 pm	Invitation only, sponsored by

Tuesday - May 5, 2026 | Conference Day 1

Start Time	Description
7:45 am
8:30 am	Kickoff sponsor Pete Cook, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection
8:40 am	Jorge Corral, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Joseph Triepke, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection
9:00 am	Robert Crain, Executive Vice President, Texas Pacific Water Resources Scott Mitchell, CEO, Deep Blue Jon VandenBrand, Senior Vice President, Western Midstream Bentsen Falb, Managing Director, Raymond James (Moderator)
9:45 am	Ryan Hassler, Vice President, Rystad Energy
10:15 am	Kelly Bennett, Co-Founder & CEO, B3 Insight
10:45 am	exhibit hall refreshments & coffee available throughout the day, coffee sponsored by:
11:15 am	Christian Herrington, Senior Director - Commercial Operations, WaterBridge Hayden McEntire, Senior VP - Integrated Operations and Planning, WaterBridge Taylor Spalla, Partner, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP (Moderator)
11:45 am	Alex Wylie, CEO, LibertyStream John Gunn, Manager of Emerging Technologies, Bechtel Jinxuan Hu, Vice President Engineered Water Solutions, Select Water Solutions John Durand, CEO, Magnificent Desolation LLC [Moderator]
12:30 pm
1:30 pm	Tyler Milam, Senior Vice President, Kinetik Sean Puryear, CEO, Permian Oilfield Partners Graeme Valentine, Producer, Price Forbes & Partners Tim Carroll, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. Senior Vice President Jason Schumacher, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers LLP (Moderator)
2:15 pm	Robert Ballantyne, Senior Vice President, RWI Enhanced Evaporation
2:30 pm	Will Bernitsky, Senior Director - Commercial Operations, Bison Water Midstream John Cave, Senior Foreman Water, Expand Energy Matt Tate, VP, Dakota Midstream Bret Sumner, Shareholder, Beatty & Wozniak, P.C. (Moderator)
3:15 pm	Nick Jeffries, Vice President North America, Concept Tanks
3:30 pm	Michael Otto, President, Industrial Process Filtration
3:45 pm	Travis Mosher, President, R.B. Mosher Co. Ted Wooten, Chief Engineer, Railroad Commission of Texas Nathan Alleman, Chief Regulatory Advisor, Ace Energy Advisors Brandon Durrett, Partner, Jackson Walker LLP (Moderator)
4:30 pm	sponsored by
5:30 pm	practice for tomorrow's tournament, play a round, or just hang out and watch and network! the courts will be directly in the convention center this year...
6:30 pm	evening free for client dinners (many options in walking distance near the Irving Convention Center!)

Wednesday - May 6, 2026 | Conference Day 2

Start Time	Description
8:00 am
9:00 am	Pete Cook, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection
9:15 am	Raymond Vaz, Energy Marketing Professional, Devon Energy Vrajesh Mehta, Water Manager, Oxy Luis Baez, Independent [Moderator]
10:00 am	Katie Smye, Principal Investigator, UT Center for Injection and Seismicity Research Vitalis Nzerem, Pressure Mitigation Advisor, ExxonMobil Noah Ahmed, Senior Manager - Strategy & Special Projects, Select Water Solutions Patrick Patton, VP, B3 Insight (Moderator)
10:45 am	exhibit hall refreshments & coffee available throughout the day, coffee sponsored by:
11:00 am	Stephen Cole, Executive VP & Partner, Five Point Energy Joshua Lancaster, Business Development, Delek Logistics John Nesland, Founder & Managing Partner, Baymont Advisors (Moderator)
11:30 am	Barry Barksdale, President, PDS Energy Information Philip Tominac, Sr. Engineer, National Energy Technology Laboratory Joseph Triepke, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection (Moderator)
12:00 pm	main conference ends; post-conference pickleball tournament begins (separate tickets purchased during registration required)
12:05 pm	courts next to exhibit hall with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration
12:15 pm	served at the pickleball courts; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration
1:00 pm	next to exhibit hall with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration; swag and lessons included plus play for bragging rights and trophy sponsored by Texas Pacific with paddles sponsored by Western Midstream and sweatbands by Patriot Environmental and food and beverages sponsored by River Basin Rentals!
4:00 pm	trophies awarded to winners; conference adjourns

Monday - May 5, 2025 | Pre-Conference

Start Time	Description
10:30 am	Private meeting, separate registration required
12:00 pm	Private meeting, separate registration required
1:00 pm	Private meeting, separate registration required
2:00 pm	In the Irving Convention Center Ballroom
5:00 pm	Private meeting, separate registration required
6:00 pm	Open to all conference registrants; drinks, snacks, entertainment; sponsored by
7:30 pm	Invitation only, sponsored by

Tuesday - May 6, 2025 | Conference Day 1

Start Time	Description
7:30 am	In exhibit hall
8:15 am	kick-off sponsored by Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
8:30 am	Ryan Hassler, Rystad Energy
9:00 am	Tracee Bentley, Permian Strategic Partnership [Chair] Ray Perryman, The Perryman Group Karr Ingham, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers Kirk Edwards P.E., Latigo Petroleum
9:45 am	Kelly Bennett, B3 Insight
10:15 am	break sponsor
10:45 am	Brian Bohm, Independent [Chair] Steven Runyan, Coterra Energy John Cave, Expand Energy Chance Freeman, Civitas Resources Tyler Mitchell, Devon Energy
11:30 am	Robert Ballantyne, RWI Enhanced Evaporation
11:35 am	Bentsen Falb, Raymond James [Chair] Nick Patterson, Aris Water Solutions Jon VandenBrand, Western Midstream Zach Neal, Pilot Water Solutions
12:15 pm	With time to visit exhibit hall; Sponsorship available
1:30 pm	Tim Carroll, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. James Brewins, Price Forbes & Partners Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection [Moderator]
1:50 pm	Michael Bodino, Texas Capital Bank
1:55 pm	Jason Schumacher, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
2:15 pm	3 rotations (15-minute each) to join tables hosted by E&P representatives for candid dialog The Facility Of The Future In Produced Water (Steven Runyan, Coterra Energy) Loving/Reeves County Mid- to Long-term Production Assurance & Water Disposal Plans (Kirby Lindsey, Oxy) Land & Water (Chance Freeman, Civitas Resources) Where Does Water Midstream Fit In E&P Portfolios (Tyler Mitchell, Devon Energy) Evaporators & Crystallizers (Paul Hart, Diversified) Beneficial Reuse Public-Facing Strategy (Stuart Mussler, Chevron) Water Reuse & Recycling (John Cave, Expand Energy) Nanotechnology for Subsurface Water Management (Steve Gornick, 9Band Operating)
3:00 pm	In exhibit hall
3:30 pm	Patrick Patton, B3 Insight [Chair] Ted Wooten, Railroad Commission of Texas Annan Pascoe, Deep Blue Water Taylor Sanchez, Diamondback Kirby Lindsey, Occidental Oil & Gas Corporation
4:10 pm	Kieron Jeffries, Concept Tanks
4:15 pm	Casey Lowary, Texas Capital Bank [Chair] Cory Hall, AQT Water Management Dan Montgomery, Bison Water Midstream Stan Berry, S&P Global Commodity Insights Benjamin Johnson, Texas Capital Securities
5:00 pm	Sponsored by
6:30 pm	Evening free for client dinners

Wednesday - May 7, 2025 | Conference Day 2

Start Time	Description
8:00 am	In exhibit hall
9:00 am	Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
9:15 am	Doug Robison, Natura Resources Justin Sink, Natura Resources Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection [Moderator]
9:45 am	Dane Broussard, CORE Linepipe [Chair] Robert Crain, Texas Pacific Water Resources Taylor Spalla, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP Chris Harich, XRI
10:30 am	break sponsor
11:00 am	Brandon Durrett, Jackson Walker LLP [Chair] Keith Gardner, KJG Strategies David Grounds, Pilot Water Solutions Nate Alleman, Ace Energy Advisors
11:40 am	Rob Rice, Gravity Michael Anderson, Layne Water Midstream Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection (Moderator)
12:00 pm	Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
12:15 pm	Exhibitor breakdown; time for pickleball tournament preparation, transportation, and lunch at courts
1:00 pm	At Chicken N Pickle with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration; swag and pro lesson included plus play for bragging rights. title belt and trophies sponsored by paddle and ball sponsored by towels courtesy of socks courtesy of sweat bands courtesy of
4:00 pm	Conference adjourns