About Us

Lance is a registered professional engineer with 15 years of experience in the exploration and production side of the oil and gas industry. His areas of expertise are drilling, completions, workovers and abandonments.

Lance worked for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (formerly MMS) for 12 years. He started working for MMS in 2002 as a Field Engineer in the New Orleans District Office where he worked for 4 years in drilling and workovers. Lance then spent 2 years working as a Civil Penalty Reviewing Officer in the Office of Safety Management. From there he served as the Senior Drilling Engineer in the Technical Assessment and Operations Support Section. In 2011, Lance became Chief of the District Operations Support Section where he was responsible for the review and approval of all Well Containment Screening Tools, all BOP control system drawings, managing the Idle Iron Program as well as implementing all policies regarding drilling, completions, workovers, and abandonments.

Lance has a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Louisiana State University.

Andy Jefferies is the founder and principal owner of Deep Sea Development Services Inc. (DSDS) and a co-Founder of Integrity Management & Response (IMR). DSDS, founded in 1996, is a Subsea Engineering company focused on field development and subsea operations support. Prior to founding DSDS, Andy was the Engineering Manager at H.O. Mohr Research and Engineering (HOMRE). Prior to HOMRE, Andy worked in various roles at McEvoy Oilfield Ltd. in the UK and US.

Andy’s first subsea project was the Shell Esso Cormorant field in the UK sector, specifically involved in the insert valve development of part of the Underwater Manifold Center (UMC). The UMC was installed and operated in a water depth of approximately 450’. The UMC was an extension of the Exxon SPS project which was a pioneer in the development of subsea technology in the late 70’s.

By contrast, Andy was part of the ground breaking Beacon Shenandoah development which required the development of new technologies to accommodate mudline shut-in pressures in excess of 15,000 psi in a water depth of 6,000 ft.

Over the past 40+ years in the industry, Andy has worked in the development of fluid swivel technologies for FPSOs, fatigue testing of premium threads for sour service, perforating gun shaped charge performance evaluation, reeled SCR design well containment program development and support, as well as multiple key field development efforts. Some of these key projects include:

• Matterhorn – subsea infrastructure and TLP
• Independence Hub – subsea infrastructure and FPS
• Thunder Hawk – subsea infrastructure and FPS
• Medusa – subsea infrastructure and SPAR
• Galapagos (Santiago/Santa Cruz) – subsea infrastructure and FPS upgrade
• Shenandoah – subsea infrastructure and FPS
• Winterfell - subsea infrastructure tied back to an existing SPAR

In 2010, DSDS was involved in the BP response to the Macondo incident. Following that exposure, DSDS was involved with a number of independent operators in the formation of the Helix Well Containment Group (HWCG). Andy was part of the team that developed the HWCG well containment plan which resulted in the first post moratorium BOMRE drilling permit approval. For the next 9 years, Andy expanded DSDS’s role in well containment support to the industry, culminating in the formation of IMR in conjunction with J. Connor Consulting, Inc. (JCC). IMR now supports 17 operators domestically across both established response equipment programs (MWCC and HWCG) and supports many of these operators internationally with their OSRL based organization programs. This support is in the form of up to 35 trained responders as well as the 24/7/365 availability of the IMR Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Allen has over 20 years of experience in emergency response and over 30 years of experience in training. His areas of expertise include emergency response, disaster planning, exercise development and facilitation, curriculum development and training, incident investigation, and management of remote medical services.

He coordinates all international operations which includes the development of all risks/all hazard response plans, oil spill response plans, business support plans, corporate crisis response plans, training, exercise development and facilitation, site appraisals, incident investigations, and assessment of remote medical services.

Allen has a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, Biology, and Health and Physical Education with a specialization in Sports Medicine from Lamar University. He also attended the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston where he completed his Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic Certification and the University of Kansas where he attended programs in adult learning theory. He taught four years in the Beaumont Independent School District, two years at Lamar University in the College of Nursing, and 17 years as an Emergency Medical Services Instructor for the State of Texas. Additionally, Allen is a member of the Gulf Coast Safety and Training Group.

With over 25 years in the oil and gas industry, Scherie has extensive knowledge and experience in environmental and regulatory compliance both in deep water and shelf operations. She recruited and managed teams of regulatory professionals characterized by efficiency, collaboration, and commitment to compliance while meeting and exceeding stakeholder expectations.

Scherie is a respected leader in the industry, actively participating in advocacy efforts at a region and national level. She was chair of the Gulf Coast Environmental and Regulatory Affairs Group and chaired the Drilling Subcommittee of the Offshore Operators Committee for many years.

Scherie brings a passion for excellence, compliance, efficiency and doing things the right way to the team at IMR.