Sexton steps down from KFx, forms new company, Evergreen Energy

Ray Tyson

Former Evergreen Resources chief executive Mark S. Sexton is stepping down from his position on the board of directors of KFx to pursue other interests through his new company, Evergreen Energy Co.

One possibility is a joint venture with KFx to develop and finance new plants for the production of K-Fuel, KFx’s patented process for upgrading sub-bituminous coal and lignite into a higher grade, cleaner coal product. “We are pleased that he and his new company … are interested in working with our company in another capacity,” Ted Venners, KFx’s chief executive officer, said Nov. 16.

However, Venners said there was no assurance that a deal with Sexton could be secured. “Any such discussions will likely be time consuming and complex and involve a number of significant contingencies,” he said.

KFx is affiliated with a company interested in exporting Cook Inlet coal from Alaska to the Far East.

Sexton had served on the KFx board since 1999, while he was still running the show at coalbed methane producer Evergreen Resources, which merged with big exploration and production independent Pioneer Natural Resources earlier this year.

Sexton, who could not be reached for comment, said in June that as soon as the sale of Evergreen Resources to Pioneer was final, he was going to go out and do it all over again in the Rockies – but this time he would keep his company private, citing the increased costs of doing business as a public company as the reason.

“It’s really not much fun to be a publicly traded energy company right now,” he said. “Public companies are less productive than private companies. ... Quite honestly, a lot of executives are tired of doing penance for the sins of others.

“A lot of the disclosure requirements put public companies, in my opinion, at a competitive disadvantage,” he said. “People with successful track records at public companies who go through the normal consolidation cycle will be motivated and tempted to do it all over again, but not necessarily as a public company.”

Sexton said that when he started over, he would open a firm with fewer than a dozen employees and allow it to grow gradually.

According to Pioneer, Sexton remains on its board of directors.