J.W. Varner
Vice President—Midstream
J.W. Varner is a senior professional in operations and engineering with over 34 years of experience in transmission, midstream gathering, treating and processing, acquisitions and divestitures, capital budgeting, contract negotiations and litigation settlement. Since 2003, Varner has provided consulting services and invested in oil and gas related activities through Ferguson Crossing Pipeline Ltd, a partnership owned and controlled by him and his wife, Trudy.
From 1988 through 2003, he held key positions with Devon Energy, with its midstream division being the former Mitchell Gas Services L.P. In these roles, he directed activities of 500 employees and contractors for large intrastate gathering, processing and transmission operations that included 10,000 miles of pipeline, 500,000 horsepower in compression, and 12 processing plants.
Earlier in his career, for 14 years Varner worked with United Texas Transmission Company of Houston, TX and managed the Laredo to Katy, TX, 30-inch pipeline expansion that was built to move up to 750 MMCFD of volumes to the Houston market place. Varner earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas and a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
Varner served 15 years as a board member of the Association of Texas Intrastate Natural Gas Pipelines (recently renamed The Pipeline Association). He also served on the Board of the Gas Processors Association and is a past chairman of the Transmission Committee of the Southern Gas Association.
