Team

Jeffrey A. Smetzer, CPL, President

Jeff is a graduate of The Ohio State University with degrees in Agriculture and has been in the oil and gas business since 1980. He has worked primarily as a landman and earned the Certified Professional Landman designation in 1996 and is a past president of the Michigan Association of Professional Landman. He is a member of the Michigan Oil and Gas Association and has worked in numerous eastern states as contract landman for numerous major and independent oil and gas companies. He has worked in all phases of in house land work and has numerous years of experience as a field landman including due diligence work, permitting and staking wells, settling damages with landowners, project planning and development. As a founding partner and President of NuEnergy, LLC his responsibilities are the day to day operations of the company, gas marketing, negotiating contracts and well trades. As the Chairman for the T.A.C.K.L.E. (Together Against Cancer Kept Local Everyday) Committee, Jeff is dedicated to serving individuals in Otsego County fighting cancer.


Tom Carnaghi, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Tom joined our staff in January 2012. He has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan (1984) with a non degree concentration in accounting along with his CPA. Tom also earned a Masters of Science in Corporate Finance from Walsh College (1993). He worked for 3 years in public accounting with Touche Ross & Co, and then spent the next 23 years in the real estate and construction industry as CFO/Vice President/Owner of various companies. Tom is responsible for all financing aspects of current and proposed oil and gas projects as well as tax planning and accounting on the partnership/ownership side of the business. Tom works out of our Grosse Pointe, Michigan office.


Karen L. Thomas, Controller

Karen has over 24 years of experience in Accounting for the Oil and Gas Industry. This includes multi-company activities for Joint Interest Billing, Revenue Accounting, Accounts Payable, Reporting and Tax preparation for Partnerships, Corporate and Tax Accounting. Karen is an active member and on the Board for the Council of Petroleum Accountants Society (COPAS) since 1995, and a member of Desk & Derrick since 2001, and a past President for 2012-2013. She is currently the President of the Otsego County United Way.


Stacey Buchinger, Account Manager

Stacey joined our staff in September 2013. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Davenport University. She has over a decade of experience in Oil & Gas Accounting from a service company perspective. During the beginning of her career she managed an Oil & Gas service company. Currently she is responsible for Accounts Payable and Joint Interest activities as well as Revenue Accounting. Stacey is an active Member of COPAS and MOGA and the Co-Founder of T.A.C.K.L.E (Together Against Cancer Kept Local Everyday) for which she has a great passion.


Jacqueline Mankowski, Joint Interest Billing Accountant

Jacqueline joined our staff in February 2022. She recently graduated from Lake Superior State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. While pursuing a degree in accounting, she worked as an accounting intern for an Oil & Gas company. Currently she is responsible for Accounts Payable and Joint interest activities. 


Aurora Walchak-Arndt, Production Administrator

Aurora joined our staff in August 2022. She has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and an MBA in Marketing and Analytics from Michigan State University, as well as a Master of Education from Texas A&M University. Currently, she is responsible for production administration. Aurora is a member of MOGA and a member of the TACKLE board of directors.