Mid-Continent Energy Exchange
Oil & Gas Asset Auctions
Those who were born to seek and find oil are among the most fascinating and productive people in all of history. They changed the destiny of America and gave the American worker the energy needed to build the world’s greatest industrialized nation. We admire the imagination, courage, and ingenuity they possess. These qualities have made the story of oil and gas the greatest story in industrial history.
Mid-Continent Energy Exchange salutes our nation’s oil & gas producers!
Our Oil and Gas Auction Vision
Mid-Continent Energy Exchange was created to assist working interest owners, mineral owners, royalty and override owners, land owners, operators, & other energy partners transition their assets at our oil and gas auction. We understand the pride and heritage that comes with generations of owning all these assets and we take great care to respect that legacy. Making a decision to sell these assets is often difficult and perhaps confusing; our experienced team of oil and gas auction professionals can help make that transition a smooth and successful one.
Often times the value of these assets are hard to assess or measure. Our state-of-the-art online and live auction platforms and vigorous marketing efforts can be a useful tool and resource for a seller to maximize their success. Sometimes a qualified and interested buyer can also be hard to find. Our unique blend of traditional and online marketing brings all who are interested to the table. There is a good chance your very neighbor or a venture capitalist may be bidding on your asset.
From beginning to end, we will diligently work toward a successful transition. Our focus will always be on achieving success within your terms.
Charly Cummings
Director of Auctions
Charly Cummings is a founding member of Mid-Continent Energy Exchange. Charly was born and raised in Yates Center, KS, a rural community in Southeast Kansas. As a young teenager, Charly helped his uncle with all types of auctions. In 1995, at the age of 15, he attended the World Wide College of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa. After graduating high school and attending college, he soon discovered that auctions and livestock were his passion. In 2011, he was selected the Livestock Marketing Association’s World Livestock Auctioneer Champion. Charly currently auctioneers and is regional manager for Superior Livestock Auction, the world’s leader in video and internet auction-selling over 1.4 million head a year. He, along with his wife Carrie, son Cash, and daughter Cayten have a cow/calf operation as well as a very successful real estate business. Charly has been involved in the oil and gas industry as royalty owner and helping customers with private oil lease sales. He looks forward to bringing his expert auctioneering skills and his team of auction specialists to Mid-Continent Energy Exchange.
Charlus Bishop
Founder
Charlus Bishop, a founding member of Mid-Continent Energy Exchange was raised on a family farm situated atop the Hugoton Field in SW Kansas. He attended Kansas State University and in 1989 he left KSU to pursue a career in the insurance business. In 1992 he partnered with Preston Withers and purchased 5 gas leases located in Haskell County, KS originally drilled by the Benson Mineral Group. In 1997 he formed Bishop Gas Properties INC and has been investing in oil and gas interests ever since. He owns a successful insurance agency, has multiple real estate holdings, and through his passion for the oil and gas business has developed substantial holdings in the oil and gas fields across KS, OK, and TX. Charlus is a deal maker at heart who loves people, and making things happen. He brings leadership skills, knowledge, and an entrepreneurial spirit to the group.
Max Birney
Senior Management Consultant
Max Birney was the President and C.E.O. for MBA, Inc. one of the largest aerial aviation businesses in North America. He recently sold the privately held company and continues its day to day operations as General Manager. In his youth, Max went on harvest crews with the family’s custom cutting business from Texas through Oklahoma and Kansas, ending up each summer in Colorado. He is no stranger to long hours and measuring a man’s integrity. In recent years Max has begun to invest in oil & gas interests and values the 24/7 production philosophy of the business. He brings to the table 37 years of negotiation skills and problem solving capabilities where at the end of the day, all participants are satisfied. He was recently asked and has agreed to serve in his hometown of Sublette, Ks on the County Board for Armed Services for the Draft.
Preston Withers
Director of Finance
Preston Withers is a born and bred Kansan, growing up in windy Western Kansas. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Kansas State University and has been in the Oil and Gas business for 25 years. Early in life, Preston learned from his father that necessity is the greatest motivator. In the mid 1980’s, the Withers family were going broke purchasing retail natural gas at sky-rocketing prices to power the irrigation wells on their farm. As a result, the family acquired 3 abandoned wells and successfully recompleted them in the Hugoton-Chase reservoir. Preston continued drilling and acquiring wells and the rest is history. In addition to Oil and Gas, the family’s passion for agriculture and real estate has taken them to Arkansas, California, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. They have produced a multitude of commodities including corn, cotton, peanuts, pinto beans, rice, sorghum, soybeans, sweet potatoes, sunflowers, wheat, walnuts, and beef from a Black Angus herd near Ashland, Kansas. Preston looks forward to using his grass roots experience to make Mid-Continent Energy Exchange your choice for buying and selling your interests in the future.
Sarah Krehbiel
Chief Operating Officer
Sarah Krehbiel was raised in Reno County Kansas by a family steeped in rich traditions of oil and gas. She holds a BS in Psychology. Over the past 16 years, she successfully built and developed relationships with oil and gas companies that work within the STACK & SCOOP plays, Permian Basin, Green and Wind River Basins, Powder River Basin, Jonah Field, North and South Piceance Fields, Marcellus Shale and Utica Basin, and others located across the United States. Sarah is responsible for bringing in nearly $100 million in revenue to the companies she has worked with over the years. Sarah is a negotiator with excellent interpersonal skills on a drilling platform, at a tank battery, or in a boardroom. Sarah is the Chief Operating Officer at Mid Continent tasked with working directly with buyers and sellers to help grow the company and provide an excellent experience to the customers of Mid-Continent Energy Exchange.
Kathy Sade
Chief Information Officer
Kathy Sade is a life-long Cowley County, KS resident with roots tied to the aircraft industry. She retired from Textron Aviation (Beechcraft) with 39 years of experience in management, customer service, information technology with an emphasis on organizational development. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Tabor College in Hillsboro, KS. Kathy joined Mid-Continent Energy Exchange in 2019 to create a database system that would create, store and track auction information. She is now the Chief Information Officer for MCEE, dealing directly with buyers and sellers with a variety of responsibilities.
