Shelby White

President & Senior Engineering Advisor

Growing up in North Louisiana as the only son of a cotton farmer and cattleman, Shelby learned early on the value of hard work. Having three older sisters, he mastered the art of being a good listener with traits of patience and humility.

Shelby knew early on that he wanted to be an engineer. Upon finishing high school with a scuba diving certification, Shelby recalls watching a Shell commercial showing divers around an offshore platform. Intrigued, he researched and discovered that petroleum engineering was a very challenging and profitable profession.

Working three summers in the oil fields between college semesters, Shelby demonstrated his value as a “college boy” roughneck on a Superior Oil barge drilling rig in South Louisiana, and as a wireline helper and production roustabout offshore Louisiana for Mobil Oil. He graduated in December of 1980 with a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering from LSU.

Shelby went to work for Mobil Oil in Denver, Colorado in 1981 as a drilling and completion engineer. He was responsible for projects primarily in the mid-continent area, and worked as a wellsite drilling engineer with rotational assignments offshore in Cook Inlet, Alaska and Morocco and Madagascar, Africa. Shelby also gained valuable field experience working as a drilling and completion rig supervisor on land locations in Oklahoma, Kansas and California. Shelby transferred back to Louisiana in 1988 to work as an offshore production engineer. It was in New Orleans where he was exposed to Gulf of Mexico HPHT wells. Shelby spent a total of 11 years at Mobil Oil gaining valuable industry knowledge and skills, including 160 days of formal training.

Shelby resigned from Mobil Oil in 1992 to become an independent drilling and completion consultant. He joined Flores & Rucks (later renamed Ocean Energy) as an employee in 1993 and stayed until the company was sold to Devon Energy in 2003. During this very active time in his career, he was directly responsible for 122 projects, including critical firsts such as OEI’s first horizontal well, first one-trip completion, and first subsea completion.

With a little girl and an expectant wife of twins at home, Shelby opted not to relocate to Houston with Devon. Although successful as an independent consultant, Shelby knew God was leading him to start his own company that not only specialized in completions, but would also be a worthy home for other high-integrity like-minded professionals. Shelby listened to God and founded Completion Specialists, Inc. in 2003, and has since been blessed with a company that attracts and retains some of the brightest and most-respected professionals in the O&G industry. Along with overseeing business activities for the company, Shelby has directly planned and supervised over 120 drilling, completion, workover and remedial projects over both water and land, including HPHT completions with equipment rated as high as 25,000 psi and 450°F.

Shelby’s passions outside of work are his faith, family, golf, tennis, hunting, fishing and traveling. Shelby has been a registered professional engineer in Louisiana for over 30 years with most of his 40 years of O&G experience in the Gulf of Mexico and South Louisiana. He belongs to several professional affiliations including API, SPE, IADC, AADE and SIPES, and chairs his church’s finance committee. Shelby has been married for 24 years and has three children.

Greg W. Stutes

Senior Engineering Advisor

Gregory W. Stutes is a Senior Engineering Advisor for Completion Specialists, Inc. His professional work history spans over 32 years where he has been an owner/partner at CSI for the past 15 years.  Raised in Houston with three sisters (whom he is still very close to), it was Greg’s maternal grandparent’s farm they called “the country” that was the setting for Greg’s natural, God-given mechanical talents to flourish because everyone knows there’s always something to be done on a farm from carpentry, auto mechanics, construction, operating tractors to hunting and fishing. Greg credits his father and his maternal grandfather’s practical wisdom and country-strong determination for his can-do, failure-is-not-an-option attitude.

In 6th grade, Greg’s family moved to Lafayette where he still resides. Although removed from the family farm, Greg and his sisters quickly owned the hills and hollers of rural Lafayette. Suffice to say, the Stutes kids were rarely indoors.

Greg parlayed his rich childhood experiences, instilled high integrity and strength of character into a career in oil and gas. Prior to working as a consultant, Greg spent 17 years mostly with Conoco, Drilling Services of America, Halliburton Integrated Solutions and Chevron working offshore Gulf of Mexico completions, workovers, well servicing, and production operations. After initially starting college at LSU in Mechanical Engineering, Greg returned to Lafayette and earned his BS in Industrial Technology from USL in 1987. He launched in the O&G industry, operating wells and platforms in the GOM for five years rotating 7&7 with offshore crews that became his extended family, and becoming a very proficient mechanical and hydraulic crane operator in the process. But when asked, Greg defers success to the teams around him. As an empathetic leader, Greg believes the greatest contribution he can make to any team is to humbly provide the tools, techniques and leadership to equip others for success. Naturally, Greg’s “Scotty-esque” attention to detail and mechanical aptitude, coupled with his calming demeanor, took him off the deck and into the office where he has stayed for 27 years to date.

Since joining Completion Specialists in 2005, Greg has directly planned and supervised over 50 new completions and workovers onshore and in federal and state waters for CSI’s clients.

Greg has been blessed with over 32 years of marriage. Like most career oil and gas professionals, Greg spent considerable time away from his supportive loving wife and can count on one hand the number of vacations that did not involve work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Greg has been fortunate to always call Lafayette home.

Greg is a member of SPE, AADE, SPWLA, API, IADC and LAGCOE, and has received numerous scholastic and professional society accomplishments. He recently served as chairman of LAGCOE during 2018-2019.

Claire D. Frantzen

Administrative Assistant

A native to south Louisiana with large extended French families on both sides, Claire is the second of four children. Growing up she was taught to never be late. Coupled with her natural tendency to keep things straight, organized and running smoothly, Claire is a model for dependability.

Claire’s professional life has been almost exclusively in the oil and gas industry. Attracted to oil and gas, Claire jumped into the industry in 1979, and she still enjoys the process and the excitement of being involved from the permit application all the way to the end of the life of the well.

In her early years, Claire served as an office manager for Badger Oil and later as a secretary at Dynamic Exploration. Her 41 years of experience include records maintenance, joint interest billing, revenue payments, State of Louisiana permitting and reporting, and all aspects of business accounting.

In May 2005, Claire joined the CSI team as Administrative Assistant. Claire is responsible for all administrative duties of the company including receptionist, accounts receivable and payable, payroll, tax reporting, record keeping, and engineering support. She is a vital member of the CSI team and is a partner/owner in the business.

Claire is a member of API and serves as a board member of the local API chapter.