Jim Graham

JAMES P. GRAHAM serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Palo Petroleum, Inc. ("Palo"). After graduating with honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Petroleum Land Management and Finance, Mr. Graham received a M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University in 1970. While attending school he worked for Hunt Oil Company as a landman. Following graduation from SMU, Mr. Graham joined Continental Oil Company’s (Conoco) land department. In 1971, he went to Cenard Oil & Gas Co. in Dallas and served as Manager of Land and Contracts and Assistant Secretary of Cenard and its subsidiaries. When Cenard was sold to Gulf Oil Corporation in 1975, Mr. Graham went into private consulting, and supervised the acquisition, drilling and completion of oil and gas exploration ventures for his clients. In 1976, Mr. Graham and Mr. Lonnie R. Holotik formed Palo for the exploration and development of oil and gas prospects. At that time, Mr. Graham also served as Managing Partner of Graham-Lawrence Petroleum, a joint venture with John Lawrence, former Chairman of the Board of Dresser Industries. As Managing Partner, Mr. Graham supervised participation in 108 wells in seven drilling partnerships. In addition to running Palo, Mr. Graham also currently serves as President of Dallas Natural Gas Company, an oil and gas investment firm. The majority stockholder of Dallas Natural Gas was Louis F. Davis, former Vice-Chairman of Atlantic-Richfield (Arco). In 1982, Mr. Graham, along with First Boston and others, was one of the founding stockholders of Snyder Oil Company Holdings, Inc., a former NYSE-listed company prior to its sale.