Frank D. Bracken, III is the Managing Member of Bandera Energy Partners, LLC, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bandera Operating, LLC.

Frank’s 36-year career spans across a broad array of disciplines, providing a 360-degree perspective on the Energy industry. Frank broke into the industry as an equity research analyst at Fidelity Investments in Boston. Under the mentorship of Peter Lynch, Frank rose to the position of Portfolio Manager of the Fidelity Select Energy Fund, which he successfully managed to a #1 ranking among diversified Energy funds in the United States.

Frank also spent 14 years on the ‘sell-side’ as an Energy equity research analyst at Howard Weil, Southcoast Capital, Prudential Securities and Jefferies & Co, Inc. Frank’s coverage of a broad array of Exploration & Production companies provided the opportunity to be integrally involved in positioning twelve different Initial Public Offerings, most notably Spinnaker Exploration and W&T Offshore. Frank also garnered several national awards for his stock recommendations and natural gas macro research.

Frank transferred corporate relationships gained during his time as a sell-side analyst into his role as a Managing Director, Investment Banking for Jefferies & Co., Inc. During his 3 years in investment banking, Frank executed a full suite of transactions including equity offerings, unsecured debt offering, corporate M&A, and drilling joint ventures.

Frank’s experience as senior management in the Exploration & Production business commenced as Chief Financial Officer at Denver-based Gerrity Oil & Gas Corporation, focused on the Denver-Julesberg Basin. Frank was responsible for corporate planning, investor relations, acquisitions, and capital formation which included common and preferred equity offerings and debt offerings.

Most recently, Frank served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Lonestar Resources beginning in 2012, based in Fort Worth. During Frank’s tenure as CEO, Lonestar divested its Barnett Shale and Bakken Shale positions to focus exclusively on the Eagle Ford Shale. Starting with a staff of five and 2,000 net acres, Lonestar built a multi-disciplinary technical team and formed an exclusive joint venture with Schlumberger. Lonestar’s technical advancements drove the Company’s growth to a team of nearly one-hundred employees, over 55,000 net acres of leasehold, production of 15,000 boe/d, and EBITDAX of approximately $150 million. Under Frank’s leadership, this growth was financed by an IPO on the NASDAQ, a credit facility with Citibank, and unsecured debt offerings. In October 2021, Lonestar was acquired by Ranger Oil Corporation (formerly Penn Virginia) for total consideration of $440 million.

Frank earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University in 1986. Frank is married with four children and five grandchildren.

Phone: (817) 782-9589
Email: fbracken@banderaenergy.com