Geothermal Energy: Reliability. Sustainability.
Meet Our Team
Principal and Co-Founder
Jason Perkins
Jason Perkins co-founded Raptor in 2006 with Dustin Faulkner. The two share executive responsibilities for the company, and Jason specializes in economic analysis and strategic planning. Jason also co-founded and serves on the boards of Raptor Ag and Black Pearl Properties, which are focused primarily on permanent crop agriculture and commercial real estate, respectively. Prior to founding Raptor, Jason held reservoir engineering and production engineering roles of increasing responsibility at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (now part of Occidental Petroleum) and Marathon Oil Corp. Jason led multidisciplinary teams in a variety of large development projects in East Texas, offshore Gulf of Mexico, and Algeria, where he developed a knack for solving complex logistical problems under uncertain conditions. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated with special distinction. When he’s not in the office, Jason is probably either doing Jiu Jitsu or applying his logistical skills as an unpaid and under-appreciated Uber driver for one or more of his five children, with his 7-pound maltipoo riding shotgun. Most mornings he can be found at exercise class with his wife, Lara. They’re the ones wearing matching shoes.
Principal and Co-Founder
Dustin Faulkner, PE
Dustin Faulkner co-founded Raptor in 2006 and shares executive duties for the company with Mr. Perkins. He leads the technical and operational programs for the company. These programs include new technical ventures, drilling and completion operations, and facility design work. He also currently serves on the board of the Raptor affiliated companies of Raptor Ag and Black Pearl Properties. Prior to forming Raptor, Mr. Faulkner led a horizontal drilling development team for Murex Petroleum Corporation in the Williston Basin of North Dakota. Under his guidance, Murex drilled the deepest Bakken horizontal well in the basin at the time. The well was more than two miles deep and extended out greater than two miles giving a total depth over 20,000 feet. Prior to Murex, Mr. Faulkner led an integrated team of geoscientists and engineers that pursued frontier, high pressure and temperature horizontal drilling projects for Anadarko Petroleum Corp (Now part of Occidental Petroleum). The frontier basins were generally deeper than 12,000, had pressures approaching 10,000 psi and temperatures in excess of 300 degrees F. Dustin is a registered professional engineer and has a petroleum engineering degree from Texas A&M University where he graduated with honors and achieved membership in the Petroleum Engineering Honor Society. When not performing his professional plumbing duties on the job, Dustin can be found at the beach (because his wife made him go). While in Florida, both bay and offshore fishing take up most of the time not spent lounging on the beach. Dustin is also an avid winter weather sports participant. Snowmass Colorado has been the winter playground for nearly two decades. Dustin can still snowboard and/or ski a solid half day!
VP of Engineering
Dan Victor
Dan Victor joined Raptor as Vice President of Engineering in 2013. He is currently responsible for all energy related operations and supports the transitional growth into a geothermal focused organization. He also provides logistical and financial modeling for the affiliated permanent crop agriculture business. Prior to joining Raptor, Dan was a partner at Legado Resources where he served as Engineering Manager and supported the acquisition, development, and sale of CO2 flood and horizontal oil assets. He also led reserve booking efforts and worked with the banking syndicate to secure debt financing. Prior to Legado, Dan worked at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation where he held various engineering and leadership roles with a focus on subsurface evaluation and enhanced energy recovery techniques. Dan has a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University where he earned honors and served as an officer in the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Outside of Raptor, Dan enjoys playing basketball and pickle ball, attending sports events with family and friends, and keeping up with their two boys
VP of Geosciences
Rick Whitehead
Rick joined Raptor in 2012 as Vice President of Geosciences where his primary responsibilities are technical data collection and analysis, geologic prospecting, and executing of horizontal drilling programs. With Raptor, Rick has utilized his geologic skill sets to prospect and plan in oil and gas industry, agriculture and water availability, and geothermal. Prior to joining Raptor, Rick has served as a geologist with both public and private equity-backed oil and gas companies, specializing in horizontal redevelopment and extension of legacy oil fields. In his 27-year career as a geologist, he has had the opportunity to work a variety of projects worldwide from horizontal drilling in the Austin Chalk trend to geosteering consulting in Qatar to scouting and executing CO2 floods and carbon sequestration throughout the USA to new ventures and exploration in Argentina at companies such as Union Pacific Resources, Anadarko, Legado Resources and Apache. Rick received his Bachelors of Science in Geology from TCU in 1996, while also obtaining applicable experience, working part-time at Union Pacific Resources. Outside of work, Rick enjoys spending time with his wife and 2 daughters. He is an avid sports fan and long-distance runner who also enjoys performing with his long-form improv troupe. When not at home, you can find him with his family at Houston Dynamo FC games or other various live sporting events or concerts.
VP of Geology
Chris Amador
Chris Amador is VP of Geology at Raptor Geothermal responsible for research and prospect generation for Sedimentary EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) in US basins. Building conceptual geologic models by integrating subsurface geothermal datasets, hydrology, and reservoir characterization to determine resource size with the goal of identifying potential targets for geothermal development. Chris joined Raptor Petroleum in 2013 and is responsible for geologic evaluations and asset valuations and possible entries into new basins. Data interpretation, exploration, and integration with reservoir engineering to determine possible acquisitions. Responsible for reservoir characterization, core-log interpretation, petrophysical analysis, resource volumetric calculations, and drilling operations. Prior to joining Raptor, Chris worked for multiple large and small oil and gas companies with increasing responsibilities. He has evaluated, explored, and drilled, in conventional and unconventional plays across multiple US onshore basins. Chris has a B.S. in Geology from New Mexico State University (1994) and a M.S. in Geology from Oklahoma State University (2000). On his free time, Chris is an outdoors enthusiast sharing his love of sports and nature with his family in Littleton, Colorado.