LEADERSHIP
With more than a century of combined experience in the chemical and refining industries, Element Fuels’ senior management is comprised of industry veterans who have successfully engineered, developed, and managed over $500 billion of complex capital projects, including individual greenfield developments of nearly $40 billion.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Element Fuels executives have served in top leadership positions for publicly traded energy production companies; directed complex energy sector supply chain operations, managed and improved environmental, health and safety functions; held senior leadership positions with top financial and funding institutions; and driven growth through innovation, vision, and fiscal responsibility. Meet the team making cleaner, greener, low-carbon intensity fuels happen.
STRATEGIC ADVISORS
Jack is the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of CVR Energy, Inc., an energy holding company, and CVR Refining LP, a petroleum refining M.L.P. He also served as the Executive Chairman of CVR Partners LP, a nitrogen fertilizer M.L.P. He was the lead on taking all three companies public on the NYSE. He is also a member of the board of SandRidge Energy Corporation and has served on numerous public and private boards including Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Cheniere Energy.
Jack is one of 27 advisors worldwide on the Goldman Sachs Strategic Advisory Group. In addition, he is a member of the Kelso & Company Specialists Advisory Team. He also advises Warburg Pincus in the area of renewable energy.
Jack has more than 45 years of experience in the petroleum refining and nitrogen fertilizer industries. He began his career with Texaco Inc. in 1972. In 1985, he joined The Coastal Corporation, eventually becoming Vice President of Refining with responsibility for Coastal’s worldwide refining and petrochemical operations. Upon the merger of Coastal with El Paso Corporation in 2001, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Refining and Chemicals with responsibility for all refining, petrochemical, lubricants, and nitrogen-based operations, as well as corporate engineering and construction. In 2002, he left El Paso and became an independent management consultant. In 2004, he joined Prudentia Energy, an advisory and management firm, serving as Managing Director and Partner.
In 2005, Jack, in partnership with his management team and investment affiliates of Goldman Sachs and Kelso & Company, acquired Coffeyville Resources, LLC, the predecessor company to CVR Energy and its affiliates.
He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1972 and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law in 1988.
Dr. Yao advises Element Fuels on initiatives with the petrochemical segment of the industry. He has over 30 years of experience in petrochemicals, has been granted five patents, and has had over 40 studies published in leading academic research publications. He served as CEO of YCI Methanol One and spent more than 20 years in the chemicals division of Royal Dutch Shell. Dr. Yao received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from China’s Wuhan University. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from The University of Houston and earned an MBA from the University of Texas in Austin.
STRATEGIC ADVISORS
Jack is the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of CVR Energy, Inc., an energy holding company, and CVR Refining LP, a petroleum refining M.L.P. He also served as the Executive Chairman of CVR Partners LP, a nitrogen fertilizer M.L.P. He was the lead on taking all three companies public on the NYSE. He is also a member of the board of SandRidge Energy Corporation and has served on numerous public and private boards including Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Cheniere Energy.
Jack is one of 27 advisors worldwide on the Goldman Sachs Strategic Advisory Group. In addition, he is a member of the Kelso & Company Specialists Advisory Team. He also advises Warburg Pincus in the area of renewable energy.
Jack has more than 45 years of experience in the petroleum refining and nitrogen fertilizer industries. He began his career with Texaco Inc. in 1972. In 1985, he joined The Coastal Corporation, eventually becoming Vice President of Refining with responsibility for Coastal’s worldwide refining and petrochemical operations. Upon the merger of Coastal with El Paso Corporation in 2001, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Refining and Chemicals with responsibility for all refining, petrochemical, lubricants, and nitrogen-based operations, as well as corporate engineering and construction. In 2002, he left El Paso and became an independent management consultant. In 2004, he joined Prudentia Energy, an advisory and management firm, serving as Managing Director and Partner.
In 2005, Jack, in partnership with his management team and investment affiliates of Goldman Sachs and Kelso & Company, acquired Coffeyville Resources, LLC, the predecessor company to CVR Energy and its affiliates.
He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1972 and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law in 1988.
Nick Ayers is one of America’s leading public policy and business strategists. He has forged a successful career in business and served at the highest levels of the United States government. Nick served in the White House as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President.
Today, through Ayers Family Holdings, Nick invests in and advises businesses in financial, technology, and business services. Nick recently partnered with Insight Venture Partners to acquire Veeam Software, where he serves as a member of Veeam’s board of directors. Ayers also serves on PublicSq.’s (PSQH:NYSE) board of directors and is a member of the nominating and governance committee. In 2020, Governor Brian Kemp appointed Nick to the board of directors of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Time Magazine named Nick one of the “40 most influential people in politics under the age of 40” and The Wall Street Journal called him a “political prodigy.” The World Economic Summit nominated Nick to join the forum as a Young Global Leader. He received a Bachelor of Political Science degree from Kennesaw State University. Nick is the proud husband to Jamie and father of eight-year-old triplets, Charles, Mary Floyd, and Talton.
The Honorable Ben F. Barnes is the founding partner and principal of the Ben Barnes Group LP, a crisis management and consulting firm with offices in Austin, TX and Washington, D.C. Mr. Barnes was elected to the Texas House of Representatives at the age of 22, was chosen speaker of the house in 1965 at the age of 26 and was elected the youngest-ever Lieutenant Governor with more votes than any statewide candidate in Texas history.
He is a former Speaker of the House for the State of Texas and a protégé of President Lyndon B. Johnson and ally of Governor John Connally. As speaker, Barnes established the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and secured a minimum wage for farmworkers. He also supported passage of the Consumer Credit Code, of clean-air and water-quality legislation, of legislation establishing programs for the elderly, and of legislation to aid the mentally ill and handicapped. As lieutenant governor, he successfully backed an increase in the minimum wage, legislation in the area of mass transportation, and legislation creating the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. Throughout his four terms in the two offices, Barnes also was interested in the issue of higher education. During that time, Texas increased its appropriations for higher education more than threefold, rising to near the top in its ranking among the 50 states in expenditures for higher education. Several new universities and graduate schools originated as a result of increased appropriations.
Mr. Barnes has spent over 50 years affecting state and federal policy decisions.
Ben Barnes Group LP works with clients representing virtually every major industry, spanning interests both domestic and abroad. His legislative legacy has benefited generations of Texas public school students, and he has helped to transform Texas into a technological hub.