John Crum

About John Crum

John A. Crum is an independent director of Ring Energy (REI), serving since 2020; he is age 73 and holds a B.S. in petroleum engineering from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, with approximately 50 years of worldwide oil and gas experience including executive leadership at Apache Corporation and Midstates Petroleum . He is Managing Partner of JAC Energy Partners, LLC and currently serves as a director for Forty Acres Energy, LLC; the Board nominated him to continue serving as a director in the 2025 proxy .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Independence: The Board determined John A. Crum is independent under NYSE American listing standards, following NESG-led evaluation of relationships, stock ownership, and familial ties .
• Committee roles: Compensation Committee Chair; NESG Committee member; not listed on the Audit Committee in 2024 .
• Attendance: The Board held 11 meetings in 2024; no directors attended fewer than 75% of Board and committee meetings on which they served .
• Committee activity: Compensation Committee held 4 meetings; NESG Committee held 3 meetings; Audit Committee held 6 meetings in 2024 .
• Compensation governance: Compensation Committee retained an independent compensation consultant for FY2024; the committee has sole authority to engage and terminate consultants .
• Board effectiveness: NESG oversees annual Board and committee evaluations via written questionnaires and director self-evaluations; director orientation and continuing education are provided with external advisor updates .
• Interlocks: No compensation committee interlocks or insider participation among current/recent Compensation Committee members; Crum has never been an officer/employee of REI or its subsidiaries .

Fixed Compensation

Performance Compensation

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Expertise & Qualifications

• 50 years of global oil and gas development experience, including senior operational leadership across North America, UK, Australia, and Eurasia .
• CEO and director experience in a public E&P company (Midstates Petroleum), contributing executive perspective to board deliberations .
• Board service in industry associations (APPEA, UKOOA, CAPP) provides regulatory and policy insight across multiple jurisdictions .
• B.S. in petroleum engineering (New Mexico Tech) supports technical oversight of operating strategies and capital allocation in E&P .

Equity Ownership

Governance Assessment

• Board effectiveness and independence: Crum is affirmed independent, chairs the Compensation Committee, and serves on NESG; he met attendance expectations, with the Board noting no director fell below 75% attendance in 2024, indicating strong engagement and governance quality .

• Pay alignment for directors: RSU grants are time-based and vest after one year; no performance metrics apply to director equity, which is common but reduces explicit performance linkage for directors; however, director compensation is majority equity by policy, intended to align with shareholder value .

• Ownership alignment: Crum holds 472,662 shares with additional unvested RSUs; while percent ownership is <1% due to share count, director stock ownership guidelines (5x cash retainer and hold requirements) further reinforce alignment, and hedging/pledging are prohibited .

• Conflicts and related-party exposure: No Compensation Committee interlocks were reported, and the Audit Committee reviews/approves related-party transactions; Warburg Pincus-related agreements exist at the company level, but there is no disclosure of Crum’s personal related-party transactions .

• RED FLAGS:

  • No individual attendance shortfall or related-party transactions reported for Crum; none identified in proxy disclosures .
  • Director equity is service-based (no performance conditions), which may signal lower at-risk pay for directors but is standard for non-employee directors .