Viper Energy Partners

Board of Directors

Steven E. West
Chairman, Director

Mr. West has served as a director and Chairman of our general partner since February 2014. Mr. West has also served as a director of Diamondback since December 2011 and as its Chairman of the Board since October 2012. He served as Diamondback’s Chief Executive Officer from January 2009 to December 2011. From January 2011 until December 2016, Mr. West was a partner at Wexford Capital LP, or Wexford Capital, focusing on Wexford Capital’s private equity energy investments. From August 2006 until December 2010, Mr. West served as senior portfolio advisor at Wexford Capital. From August 2003 until August 2006, he was the chief financial officer of Sunterra Corporation, a former Wexford Capital portfolio company. From December 1993 until July 2003, Mr. West held senior financial positions at Coast Asset Management and IndyMac Bank. Prior to that, he worked at First Nationwide Bank, Lehman Brothers and Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co., the predecessor of KPMG LLP.  Since May 2019, Mr. West has also served as Chairman of the Board of the general partner of Rattler Midstream LP (Nasdaq: RTLR), a publicly traded subsidiary of Diamondback.  Mr. West holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from California State University, Chico.

Travis D. Stice
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Stice has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a director of our general partner since February 2014. He has served as Chief Executive Officer of Diamondback since January 2012 and as a director of Diamondback since November 2012. Mr. Stice has also served as Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the general partner of Rattler Midstream LP (Nasdaq: RTLR), a publicly traded subsidiary of Diamondback. Prior to these positions with Diamondback and the general partners of Viper and Rattler, he served as Diamondback’s President and Chief Operating Officer from April 2011 to January 2012. From November 2010 to April 2011, Mr. Stice served as a Production Manager of Apache Corporation, an oil and gas exploration company. He served as a Vice President of Laredo Petroleum Holdings, Inc., an oil and gas exploration and production company, from September 2008 to September 2010 and as a Development Manager of ConocoPhillips/Burlington Resources Mid-Continent Business Unit, an oil and gas exploration company, from April 2006 until August 2008. Prior to that, Mr. Stice held a series of positions of increasing responsibilities at Burlington Resources until that company was acquired by ConocoPhillips in March 2006. He started his career with Mobil Oil in 1985. Mr. Stice has more than 37 years of industry experience and over 28 years of management experience. Mr. Stice graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering. Mr. Stice is a registered engineer in the State of Texas, and is a 37-year member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He also serves on industry boards for the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, American Exploration and Production Council, the National Petroleum Council, the Texas A&M Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board, the All-American Wildcatters and the American Petroleum Institute. Additionally, he is on local community boards for Manor Park Retirement Center in Midland, the Midland Memorial Hospital, the Midland Chamber of Commerce and the Dynamic Catholic Institute.

Laurie H. Argo
Director
Ms. Argo has been a director of our general partner since March 2023.  Ms. Argo brings diversity, executive leadership and robust experience in the finance and oil and gas industry to the Board, as well as experience managing downstream and business development segments. Since March 2022, Ms. Argo has also served on the board of directors of Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. and is a member of the Audit Committee. From May 2019 through August 2022, Ms. Argo served on the board of the general partner of Rattler Midstream, LP. From August 2018 through June 2021, Ms. Argo served as a director on the board of EVRAZ plc, a multinational, vertically integrated steel making and mining company and was a member of the Audit, Remuneration and Stakeholder Engagement Committees. Since October 2017, Ms. Argo has performed consulting services for clients within the energy industry. From January 2015 until September 2017, Ms. Argo served as Senior Vice President of Enterprise Products Holdings LLC, the general partner of Enterprise Products Partners L.P., a midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company. From October 2014 to February 2015, Ms. Argo was President and Chief Executive Officer of OTLP GP, LLC, the general partner of Oiltanking Partners, L.P. and an affiliate of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. From January 2014 to January 2015, Ms. Argo was Vice President, NGL Fractionation, Storage and Unregulated Pipelines of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. From 2005 to January 2014, Ms. Argo held various positions in the NGL and Natural Gas Processing businesses for Enterprise Products Partners L.P., where her responsibilities included the commercial and financial management of four joint venture companies. Ms. Argo earned an MBA from National University in La Jolla, California and graduated from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas with a degree in Accounting. Ms. Argo has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry and continues to maintain various memberships including the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Spencer D. Armour III
Director

Mr. Armour has been a director of our general partner since July 2017. He has over 30 years of executive and entrepreneurial experience in the energy services industry. Mr. Armour has served as a partner of Geneses Investments since February 2019.  He served as President of PT Petroleum LLC in Midland, Texas. from March 2013 until January 2019. He was the Vice President of Corporate Development for Basic Energy Services, Inc. from 2007 to 2008, which acquired Sledge Drilling Corp., a company Mr. Armour co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer for from 2005 to 2006. From 1998 through 2005, he served as Executive Vice President of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., which acquired Lone Star Mud, Inc., a company Mr. Armour founded and served as President from 1986 to 1997. Mr. Armour has served as a director of ProPetro Holding Corp. since February 2013 and as a director of CES Energy Solutions since December 2018. Mr. Armour also served on the Patterson-UTI Board of Directors from 1999 through 2001. Mr. Armour received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Houston and was appointed to the University of Houston System Board of Regents in 2011 by former Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Frank C. Hu
Director
Mr. Hu has been a director of our general partner since April 2022. Mr. Hu most recently served as an investment analyst and Vice President of Capital World Investors, an investment group in the Capital Group Companies, Inc., from 2003 to 2017. He previously served as a manager of project finance in the corporate treasury department at Unocal Corporation from 2002 to 2003, and as a global energy practice consultant at McKinsey & Company from 2000 to 2002. Prior to joining McKinsey, Mr. Hu served in various roles at Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) from 1989 to 2000, including as Vice President of Downstream Operations and Business Development from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Hu has served as a member of the board of directors of EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) since October 2021, where he also serves on the audit committee and public policy and corporate responsibility committee. Mr. Hu also currently serves as an advisory board member for the Geology & Planetary Science Division at the California Institute of Technology.
W. Wesley Perry
Director

Mr. Perry has been a director of our general partner since June 2014. Mr. Perry has served as a director of Genie Energy Ltd., an independent retail energy provider, since October 2011, currently serves as the chair of its audit committee and a member of its compensation, nominating, corporate governance and technology committees and has served as the chairman of the board of directors of Genie Energy International Corporation since September 2009.  Mr. Perry also served as manager of PBEX, LLC, an oil and gas exploration and development company, a position he has held since July 2012.  Mr. Perry has served as manager of S.E.S. Investments, Ltd., an oil and gas investment company, since 1985. He served as Chief Executive Officer of E.G.L. Resources, Inc., an oil and gas production company, from July 2008 until December 2019 and served as its President from 2003 to July 2008.  Mr. Perry was a director of UTG, Inc., an insurance holding company, from 2001 to 2013 and served on its Audit Committee.  Mr. Perry served on the Midland City Council from 2002 to 2008 and as Mayor of Midland from 2008 through 2014.  He is the Chairman of the Milagros Foundation and a trustee of the Abell-Hangar Foundation.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Oklahoma.  

James L. Rubin
Director

Mr. Rubin has been a director of our general partner since June 2014. He served as a partner at Wexford Capital from 2012 to 2023 having served as Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of Equities and as a member of Wexford Capital’s hedge fund investment committee. From 2006 to 2012, he served as an analyst and later as Vice President, focusing on Wexford Capital’s public and private energy investments. Since January 2023, Mr. Rubin has served as Head of Commodity Equities at BTG Pactual Asset Management US. Mr. Rubin graduated cum laude from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in political science and economics.