US oil & gas firm names new CFO

Houston-based oil and gas producer W&T Offshore has appointed a new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who has 25 years of financial and operational experience, of which 20 have been in banking.

While announcing the appointment of Sameer Parasnis to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, W&T Offshore explained that he would report to the firm’s Chairman and CEO. The appointment will become effective on 3 July 2023. According to the U.S. player, Parasnis has advised companies in the oil and gas and energy transition industry on equity capital markets, debt capital markets, and strategic M&A. Prior to joining W&T, Parasnis served as Managing Director of Stifel Financial Corporation’s Energy & Energy Transition team in Houston.

Tracy Krohn, W&T Offshore’s Chairman and CEO, commented: “Sameer has served as a trusted financial advisor to W&T over the years on key strategic initiatives of the company, including our drilling joint venture and corporate debt refinancing in 2018, the non-recourse term loan financing with Munich Re Reserve Risk Financing, Inc. in 2021 as well as our opportunistic At-The-Market equity offering in 2022. We are confident that his experience with both W&T’s business and our senior management team will allow a smooth transition into this new role.”

Furthermore, Parasnis started his investment banking career at Credit Suisse, where he worked for eight years on several domestic and international deals in the oil and gas industry, including initial public offerings, debt high-yield offerings, and spinoffs. Initially, Parasnis started his career as a chemical engineer at Reliance Industries Ltd. in 1996 and subsequently transitioned to finance with Citigroup, following his MBA.

In the Gulf of Mexico, W&T Offshore has working interests in 47 fields – 39 in federal waters and eight in state waters –  as of 31 March 2023. The firm also has under lease approximately 625,000 gross acres – 457,000 net acres – spanning across the outer continental shelf off the coasts of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama, with 8,000 gross acres in Alabama state waters, 458,000 gross acres on the conventional shelf and 159,000 gross acres in the deepwater. 

W&T Offshore was the apparent high bidder on two shallow water blocks in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) lease sale held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) at the end of March 2023.