Management Team
John Walker
President & Chief Executive Officer
John Walker joined El Toro Resources in February of 2015. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Walker led multiple design and manufacturing companies in the industrial automation space for both private and private equity ownership. He has an excellent record of driving company revenue growth, stakeholder value growth, and successful exits. In 25 years of steering automation companies, he has led businesses serving clients throughout the scope of industry, including surface control and down-hole operations in oil and gas. He has directed the development of products and systems used by companies such as Halliburton, Schlumberger, Wood Group, Emerson Process Management, Flowserv, Delta Valve and Kim-ray. In addition to leading El Toro Resources, Mr. Walker has served and serves as a board member and consultant for multiple companies in the industrial automation, medical device and consumer electronics spaces.
Mr. Walker holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Jeff Smith
Vice President - Accounting
Jeff Smith joined El Toro in 2020 as Assistant Controller, was promoted to Controller, and then Vice President - Accounting. Prior to El Toro Jeff spent 10 years in Public Accounting focused on Audit, Tax, and Compilation for small businesses in the Energy, Construction, Retail, and Medical industries around Oklahoma City. In 2012 he worked as a Senior accountant for RKI Exploration and Production and participated in the merger and acquisition with WPX Energy in 2015. In 2016 Jeff joined the Hertz Corporation as the contract administrator overseeing the company’s Fleet OEM contracts for over 500,000 vehicles in North America and responsible for the accurate and timely reporting of related accounting.
Mr. Smith holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Tyler J. Cates
Vice President - Land
Mr. Cates has served as Vice President - Land for El Toro Resources LLC since January of 2025. Prior to his current position he served as Senior Landman from August 2013 through December 2024. Before joining El Toro, Mr. Cates served as Landman for Diamondback Energy, Inc. from December 2007 through August 2013, overseeing their Midland Basin land operations in the Permian for the Land Department, Division Orders and Lease Records. Subsequent with his role at Diamondback, Mr. Cates served as Landman for Windsor Energy Group, L.L.C. from October 2007 through September 2013, promoted to Senior Landman serving from September 2013 to September 2021. He oversaw land operations in North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio and West Virginia. Mr. Cates began his oil and gas career with Cordillera Energy Partners II, LLC out of Denver, Colorado whose principal shareholder was EnCap Investments where he was a Landman working their Granite Wash Play assets in Western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle of the Anadarko Basin. Mr. Cates has over 18 years of industry experience covering the basins and plays of the Eagle Ford, Permian, Bakken, Marcellus, Utica, Anadarko, Niobrara, DJ, Bighorn, Powder River and East Texas.
Mr. Cates holds a B.A. degree with a Minor in Business from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Nick Smith
Vice President - Operations
Nick Smith joined El Toro Resources in 2015 as Operations Manager and was promoted to Director of Operations, then Vice President - Operations. Mr. Smith leads El Toro in all areas of drilling and completion operations, production, compliance, and vendor relations. Prior to coming to El Toro, Mr. Smith served as Operations Manager for EF Energy, a private equity-owned oil and gas operator in Houston, TX. Mr. Smith has a successful history of drilling and completing horizontal wells in both the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin plays. Before EF Energy, Smith gained valuable experience working for premier service providers Cudd and Halliburton. His areas of expertise include drilling, hydraulic fracturing, completions, production, facilities, workovers, and re-completions.
Mr. Smith holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University