Purple Land Management taps ex-Chesapeake landman to open Oklahoma office

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Truitt Rogers

David Brooks is leading Purple Land Management's new Oklahoma City office. He previously managed Chesapeake's landman activities in the Marcellus Shale.

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Nicholas Sakelaris

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Purple Land Management hired former Chesapeake Energy Corp. land manager David Brooks to lead its new Oklahoma City office.

Brooks brings more than 30 years experience to Purple Land Management, a Fort Worth-based landman firm. He most recently worked for Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.

Purple Land Management now boasts 10 offices, one in all the major oil and gas plays around the country, company President Jesse Hejny said.

He co-founded  Purple Land Management with his friend and fellow Texas Christian University graduate Bryan Cortney in 2010.

The company employs about 100 landmen and has another 125 to 150 contractors working around the country. Many of them are law graduates that Purple Land Management recruits out of college. 

Landmen help exploration and production companies secure oil and gas leases or help companies acquire assets through mergers or acquisitions.

The new Oklahoma City office will allow the company to go after oil plays throughout Oklahoma and Kansas, Hejny said.

“The panhandle is getting really hot, we’ve got some clients in Oklahoma City who are active in the panhandle,” he said. “Oklahoma’s just really busy in general.” 

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake laid off 800 workers last year as part of a reorganization. 

Nicholas covers the energy, manufacturing, aviation and transportation beats for the Dallas Business Journal. Subscribe the Energy Inc. newsletter