Managing Director – Don R. Rollins, Jr.
Don Rollins is a recognized energy industry expert with over 30 years of experience in accounting & finance, administrative and operational areas of oil and gas, coal mining and gas processing/transport industries. Don is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a Bachelors degree in Accounting and holds professional designation as an Accredited Petroleum Accountant. Don’s first energy company position was with Gulf Oil Corporation where he had a very successful 11-year career and rose to the position of Accounting Director for the Central Division where he directed a staff of over 160 professionals. While at Gulf, Don began his 25-year association with the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS) and has been very active over the years with that important industry group. Don currently serves as a Board member for the Houston Chapter, which has one of the largest memberships of the 23 societies that comprise COPAS.
Shortly after Chevron Corp assumed control of Gulf Oil Corporation in 1985, Don elected to leave Gulf to start his own office products business. In 1990 Don sold the business and joined an independent oil and gas company, American Exploration Company as Accounting Director. American had embarked on an extremely aggressive acquisition program and Don lead the efforts to assimilate a large number of producing properties into American’s accounting systems. Don ultimately left American Exploration Company and in 1997 joined Enron Corp in the Risk Assessment and Control department. Don’s responsibilities at Enron included due diligence and portfolio management for a variety of merchant investments totaling $2.7 billion in 95 structured investments, i primarily in oil & gas and coal companies. Don’s expertise resulted in his appointment to the Board of Directors of CGAS, Inc of Columbus, Ohio, Venoco, Inc of Santa Barbara, California and Sierra Well Services (n/k/a Basic Energy Services) of Midland, Texas.
When Enron declared bankruptcy in December, 2001, Don was asked to stay on with the Enron Estate to manage and liquidate energy related portfolio assets with the objective of obtaining maximum value for Enron’s creditors. In this capacity, Don managed all operational and accounting functions for these companies and investments, establishing data rooms and a bidding process that resulted in successful liquidation of these assets. Don’s efforts contributed to an increase in estimated Enron creditor payout from only 19% of claim value estimated in the approved Plan of Reorganization to a current actual realization of nearly 52% of claim value. When Enron’s asset liquidations were in large part completed, Don joined the Accounting and Controls Group and was assigned the difficult responsibility of developing the accounting documentation for Enron’s multi-million dollar crime insurance policy claim. This difficult task required forensic and fraud examination skills to unravel and document embezzlement hidden within some of the most complex financial structures ever utilized. Don was also required to provide testimony in successful litigation that the Enron Estate was forced to pursue to collect on the crime policy claims. Before leaving Enron, Don successfully liquidated a number of difficult to market assets and was a key player in the closure of Enron’s captive insurance programs.
As Managing Director and co-founder of Carson Rollins, LLC, Don is committed to providing outstanding client service and sound business advice.