DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Navigator Energy Services, LLC (Navigator), a full-service midstream solutions provider, today announced the addition of Mark Hafner to its executive leadership team as vice president of commercial operations. A proven leader in the oil and gas industry, Hafner has more than 30 years of experience in engineering, project management and crude oil marketing. Hafner will be based in Midland, Texas, leading the company’s business development efforts in the Permian Basin region.

“We are so pleased to add Mark to our team. Mark’s character and capabilities in multiple facets of the oil and gas industry align him completely with how we have built our business,” said Navigator Chief Commercial Officer Matt Vining. “He has decades of experience in the Permian Basin region, and his knowledge and insight will be instrumental as we continue to expand our platform in West Texas. We could not be more excited about the opportunities Mark brings to the table, the value it adds for our customers, and the expanded reach it gives Navigator to execute its growth strategy. We are very fortunate to be able to attract such high caliber individuals to our team.”

Mark Hafner, Vice President of Commercial Operations

Prior to joining Navigator, Hafner spent 13 years with Occidental Energy Marketing, Inc., ultimately serving as vice president of Permian crude marketing responsible for identifying, negotiating and executing the purchase, sale and trade of all crude oil and condensate for the company’s West Texas and New Mexico acreage. He led a team of lease traders and lease analysts managing hundreds of thousands of barrels of production. In addition to Occidental, Hafner spent more than 10 years with Shell Oil Company, where he started as an engineer and ultimately became the manager of crude oil acquisition for West Texas, New Mexico and South Texas.

Hafner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is a registered engineer in the state of Texas.

Navigator Operations Update

Navigator recently began full service on its Big Spring Gateway System (BSGS), providing deliveries into Alon’s Big Spring Refinery, the BridgeTex Pipeline, and Sunoco Logistics-owned West Texas Gulf Pipeline and the Permian Express 2 Pipeline. Additionally, Navigator is expanding the system’s storage capacity to more than 500,000 barrels and is establishing deliverability into the Midland market.

The 450-mile system spans portions of Martin, Howard, Glasscock, Midland and Mitchell counties in Texas, the heart of the Permian Basin region. Consisting of 250 miles of gathering pipeline, 200 miles of transportation mainline and five truck injection stations, the BSGS provides a direct path to the Texas Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent market centers for Permian Basin production.

“Despite the current market environment, we continue to see strong customer demand for reliable, crude oil transportation solutions and storage out of the Midland Basin,” Vining said. “The Big Spring Gateway System has continued to grow and evolve since its inception last year, and we will continue to expand the systems capability as needed to provide our customers flexible midstream solutions with multiple market choices.”

Based in Dallas, Navigator has grown to more than 50 full-time employees and contractors. In addition to Mark Hafner, Navigator has hired three new executive team members in the past year including Kevin Strehlow as general counsel, Jeffrey Allen as chief financial officer and Albert Johnson as vice president of business development.

About Navigator Energy Services, LLC

Headquartered in Dallas, Navigator provides oil and natural gas producers with comprehensive midstream services including crude oil and natural gas gathering, transportation, storage and natural gas compression and processing. Navigator is focused on domestic midstream opportunities in both developing and mature producing areas. Navigator is supported by an equity commitment from First Reserve. To learn more about Navigator, please visit www.navigatorenergyservices.com.