HOUSTON and BELFIELD, N.D., June 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the emerging growth refining firm and leading innovator in advanced technology and environmentally-beneficial petroleum processing facilities announced today that Paul Coppola, has joined Meridian as its President and Chief Investment Strategy Officer based in the Company’s Houston office. Mr. Coppola has served on the Company’s Board of Directors and has been assisting the Company as a senior financial advisor in its corporate and project financings.
By joining Meridian, Mr. Coppola enables Meridian to focus substantial additional resources upon both the $1.2bn institutional equity and debt financing for the Davis Refinery in the Bakken in North Dakota, and on the Meridian private placement of preferred stock at the corporate level. These two funding initiatives are key elements of the Company’s very aggressive plans for growth and development as an agent of change in the refinery industry.
Mr. Coppola was most recently the Energy Equity Portfolio Manager for RCH Energy/RR Advisors, LLC. He graduated from Fordham University in 1992 as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Economics. From 1992-1995 he served as a Lieutenant in the United States Army, and later began a 12-year career with Morgan Stanley starting as an analyst in investment banking covering energy and transportation. In 1997, he transitioned to Energy equity research covering the Integrated Oils, Independent Refiners and Exploration and Production companies along with responsibility for the crude oil, natural gas and refined products markets analysis. From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Coppola lived in London and New York as the Energy Specialist for Morgan Stanley managing the day to day operations of the energy sales, trading and institutional client platform globally. In 2008, Paul was hired by Satellite Asset Management to run the energy fund and in 2010 transitioned to Houston to run the energy fund at Arrowhawk Capital Partners. In 2012 he ran the energy equity business at Global Hunter Securities, a boutique investment bank, focused on energy and infrastructure investment and his responsibilities included being the energy specialist along with managing many of the key asset management and client relationships for the Firm.
“Paul has been an extraordinary asset as a member of the Meridian Board of Directors,” said William Prentice, Chairman and CEO of Meridian. “Having Paul transition to become President of Meridian positions the Company to move very quickly on its current financing efforts as Meridian is faced with a number of extraordinary opportunities, including the Davis Refinery in the Bakken, the Walton Station Refinery in the Permian, and other strategic locations in the major shale basins. The key to addressing those opportunities is a low effective cost of capital for bringing these assets into operation, and that is Paul’s area of expertise.”
Mr. Coppola commented that, “I am honored to be joining the Meridian team as it represents some of the highest caliber and quality of professionals in the energy industry and I look forward to the tremendous opportunities ahead to build a world class energy company.”
Tom Skwarek, Member of the Meridian Board of Directors, commented that: “Paul has always been Meridian’s most active Board member and we are very pleased that he is joining as President of Meridian. Paul brings to Meridian not only his over twenty years of industry experience touching all parts of the energy value chain, but also has extensive knowledge of the energy industry and substantial expertise in the energy-related capital markets. We look forward to accelerating our project and corporate financing effort now that Paul is aboard.”
About Meridian Energy Group, Inc.
The Mission of Meridian Energy Group, Inc. is to provide long-term shareholder value through the development and operation of the cleanest, most environmentally-compliant and profitable crude oil refineries in the world, with refinery developments in both North Dakota and Texas. Established in 2013, Meridian has offices in Belfield, North Dakota, Houston, Texas and Irvine, California.
For more information, visit: http://www.meridianenergygroupinc.com
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