John David Wells is a co-founder and principal of Pecan Creek Energy, where he directs the firm’s land operations and contributes to its overall corporate strategy. Over the course of his career, he has acquired mineral and royalty interests on behalf of institutional investors, family offices, and registered investment advisors, deploying more than $1 billion across the Eagle Ford Shale, Delaware, Midland, Powder River, and Uinta basins. The substantial majority of that capital was placed through proprietary, owner-direct origination, a discipline that continues to define Pecan Creek’s innovative approach to acquisition.

As the mineral and royalty market has matured and grown more competitive, he has led the evolution of the firm’s sourcing and land practices, adapting to shifting market dynamics while drawing on long-standing relationships with mineral owners, operators, and industry peers built over more than twenty years in the mineral space.

Beyond the firm, John David is actively involved in the American Association of Professional Landmen and currently serves on the Annual Summit Committee and works in tandem with AAPL’s Government Relations Board to advance the association’s engagement on federal and state policy affecting the energy land profession.

• Education: B.A., Texas A&M University
• Professional Designation: Certified Professional Landman (CPL), American Association of Professional Landmen, No. 00088342
• Professional Affiliations: American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL); Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen (DAPL)
• Community: Dallas Forum on Law, Politics, and Culture; White Rock Conservancy; Preservation Dallas; Texas A&M Association of Former Students; Corps of Cadets Association

Adam Burris is a co-founder and principal of Pecan Creek Energy, where he leads the firm’s underwriting and marketing and contributes to its business development efforts. Over the course of his career, he has underwritten well over $1 billion in mineral and royalty transactions and played a role in more than 4,000 individual acquisitions, primarily across the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales, the Permian Basin, and the Powder River Basin.

Before co-founding Pecan Creek, Adam spent 11 years in underwriting and acquisition roles in the mineral space, building the strategies, valuation parameters, and deal analysis that guided capital deployment for more than a dozen mineral funds. That experience across a wide range of buyers, basins, and market cycles shapes the disciplined, data-driven approach Pecan Creek brings to every acquisition and gives mineral owners a clear, dependable offer.

At Pecan Creek, he oversees the valuation of every opportunity the firm pursues and directs how the company reaches mineral owners, pairing rigorous financial analysis with straightforward communication so that sellers understand exactly what they are being offered and why.

• Education: M.S., Economics, University of Texas at Dallas; B.J., Newswriting, University of Missouri
• Focus Areas: Mineral and royalty valuation, acquisition underwriting, marketing, and business development