Every Appalachian operator is one or two senior roles short of the team they need.
The work calls for a VP of Operations or a COO. The headcount math doesn't justify the hire. Cornerstone fills that senior operating gap for private and PE-backed Appalachian operators on a fractional basis. Without a full-time hire.
Operator-built. Not consultancy-trained.
Most fractional COOs are either former executives who skipped the operational ranks, or consultants who never managed a budget. Ryan started as a Lease Operator at Range Resources in 2008 and worked every level for the next seventeen years — Field Supervisor, District Manager, Completions Manager, Director, Senior Director, VP of Production at Encino Energy, Acting COO at OWS. The roles you need filled, he has actually held.
Inside operators for seventeen years. Now at scale for several.
After seventeen years working inside operators, Ryan founded Cornerstone to do the work for two to three private and PE-backed operators at a time. The same operating role, applied across multiple companies that don't each need a full-time hire.
Deep in Appalachia. Open where the fit is right.
Seventeen years of operations in PA, OH, and WV — every contractor, regulator, formation, and politic of the basin is Ryan's actual operating environment, not a study. Most engagements live there. Engagements outside the basin are considered case-by-case when the operational fit and economics make sense.
Two to three clients. No junior handoff.
Cornerstone caps capacity at two to three concurrent clients. You work with Ryan from pitch to close — no team-of-twelve dilution, no associate doing the actual work six weeks in.
Built in the basin. Not in a classroom.
Ryan Healy started as a Lease Operator at Range Resources in 2008 and worked every level of the operation for the next seventeen years — Field Supervisor, District Manager, Completions Manager, Director, Senior Director, and finally VP of Production at Encino Energy.
The roles you need filled, he has actually held. The budgets you manage, he has actually managed. The contractors and regulators you deal with daily, he has actually dealt with. When Ryan walks onto your well site, he is not learning your business — he is recognizing it.
That is the kind of operator most Appalachian assets actually need running them. The career arc — Range to Encino to a Hart 40 Under 40 to founding Cornerstone — was deliberate: the next chapter is helping multiple operators avoid the mistakes he watched up close at the $1B-program scale.
Cornerstone is a focused practice. Ryan personally leads every engagement, and the firm intentionally takes two to three concurrent clients. That is the bandwidth that lets him show up the way he is paid to show up.
The Cornerstone 90-Day LOE Diagnostic
A fixed-scope, fixed-fee assessment of where your lease operating expense is actually going — and what to do about it. Built on basin benchmarks, peer comparables, and seventeen years of Appalachian operating experience.
Most operators sense LOE is leaking. Few have the bandwidth to find it. The Diagnostic produces a written cost reduction roadmap with measurable targets, owner-ready, in ninety days.
- Wk 1–2Asset walk, data ingest, contractor list. Cost-driver mapping by lease and well type.
- Wk 3–6LOE-per-BOE benchmarking against basin peers. Workover and re-completion candidate ranking.
- Wk 7–10Contractor and vendor rate audit. Field team route and span-of-control review.
- Wk 11–13Written cost reduction roadmap with quantified targets, owner presentation, KPI framework.
What we deliver.
Every service is built around a specific operational problem. Pick the engagement that fits your situation, or start with a discovery call and we'll tell you which one makes the most sense.
Operations & Production Optimization
Your LOE is climbing, production is underperforming, or you know money is leaking. You can't pinpoint where.
- Identifies exactly where your LOE dollars are going
- Benchmarks cost per BOE against basin peers
- Surfaces re-completion and workover candidates
- Builds the KPI framework your team needs to stay accountable
- Delivers an ownership-ready written roadmap
Fractional COO & VP of Operations
You need a senior operator at the helm. A full-time VP isn't the right fit yet.
- Embedded executive leadership 2–4 days per week
- CapEx and LOE budget discipline from week one
- Team alignment, KPIs, and accountability systems
- Ownership reporting and board-ready updates
- Flexible 3–12 month engagements; scale up or down
EHS Compliance & Safety Programs
A regulatory gap doesn't just create fines. It creates liability, delays, and reputational damage.
- Closes compliance gaps before they become enforcement actions
- Prepares operations for PA DEP, WVDEP, OEPA, and OSHA inspection
- Builds EHS programs your team can actually maintain
- Protects your license to operate across all three states
- 17 years of direct regulatory relationships in basin
Technical Due Diligence & Acquisition Support
You're evaluating an Appalachian package and need an operator-grade read on what you'd actually own.
- Production diagnostics and re-completion screening
- Operations, EHS, and infrastructure assessment
- Contractor and field team evaluation
- Post-acquisition 90-day value creation plan
- Direct experience with $50M to $1B+ programs
Capital Planning & CapEx Advisory
You're deploying serious capital this year and need someone who has run programs at this scale, not someone figuring it out as they go.
- Annual CapEx budget design and quarterly phasing
- Well pad sequencing and completions program design
- Contractor benchmarking against current market rates
- Budget discipline and risk assessment
- Credible at any program size: $5M to $1B+
Just send me your numbers.
No pitch. No pressure. Email me what your operation looks like and what you're trying to fix, and I'll tell you whether Cornerstone is even the right tool. A reply from me, not a sales sequence.
Email me your numbersRyan took a hands-on, boots-on-the-ground approach from day one — long nights and weekends included. Through challenging conversations, his vision was always clear and he was willing to put in whatever work it took. The leadership style I watched him model has stayed with me; I carry it into how I lead teams and work with vendors today.
Field Operations Contractor · Appalachian Basin
Who Cornerstone works with.
Four buyer types fit this practice. The deepest expertise is Appalachian — Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia — where the rolodex, regulatory relationships, and contractor network compound.
Private & family-owned operators
10 to 10,000+ wells. Need senior operational leadership without the full-time executive overhead.
PE-backed E&P companies
Portfolio companies needing post-acquisition integration, operational improvement, and value creation.
Mid-size independents
$50M – $500M asset base operators looking for measurable improvement in LOE efficiency and operational performance.
Energy-focused PE firms
Firms evaluating acquisition targets or managing portfolio operations who need technical diligence from a real operator.
Cornerstone is a focused practice — not a one-person shop.
Engagements that benefit from additional disciplines draw on a curated bench of credentialed Appalachian specialists, engaged on a project basis under Cornerstone's MSA. Named affiliates available on request as engagements are scoped.
Reservoir / Petroleum Engineer
PE-licensed engineer engaged on engagements requiring type-curve modeling, decline analysis, or reserves work. Available named on request.
EHS Specialist
Senior environmental and safety specialist with direct PA DEP, WVDEP, and OEPA experience. Brought in for full program build-outs and litigation support.
Completions / Workover Consultant
Field-experienced completions engineer for re-completion screens, workover program design, and contractor benchmarking on capital programs.
Pennsylvania first. Ohio and West Virginia by extension.
Seventeen years of expertise, regulatory relationships, and contractor networks built across the Appalachian Basin. The rolodex compounds here.
Pennsylvania
Home base. Marcellus Shale and conventional. Direct PA DEP relationships across the Washington and Greene County operating regions.
Ohio
Utica Shale and conventional. Extensive operator and contractor network from Encino Energy and Acting COO engagement.
West Virginia
Marcellus, Utica, and conventional. WVDEP experience and active statewide contractor network.
Run your numbers.
Five tools built from seventeen years of Appalachian operating experience. No login required for four of them; the Acquisition DD Checklist is gated behind a single email submission.
Download the materials.
Two documents to share with your team or ownership before any introductory call.
Tell me what you're seeing.
The fastest way in is an email. Send me your numbers, your situation, or just the thing that's nagging you about your operation, and I'll send back a real read. No pitch, no sales sequence — a reply from me.
Email me your numbers