TOPS announces leadership transition

L.D. Green (Photo: TOPS.)

Total Operations and Production Services, LLC (TOPS) announced that the company’s founder and CEO, L.D. Green, has retired and is in transition to becoming the board’s chairman. He has passed the mantle of CEO on to his son, Brian Green, who has been with the company since 2006 and was previously the company’s chief operating officer.

The change in management was effective Jan. 1.

Since its founding in 1996, TOPS has transformed under L.D. Green’s leadership to what is today a provider of environmentally friendly, electric-drive compressors under contract to top-tier customers in the Permian Basin. TOPS’ electric compressors enable meaningful CO2 and methane emissions savings for operators, helping the industry meet its emissions reduction objectives.

“I am extremely proud of what we have built at TOPS and look forward to supporting the next phase of growth through the chairman role. We have developed an impressive team and I am confident in Brian’s abilities to take the Company to the next level,” said L.D. Green.

In a retrospective interview prior to the transition, L.D. Green said his proudest achievement as an entrepreneur was building a company that had a vision of a better world. The company was the culmination of a long career with a company that has seen aggressive growth over the last 18 months.

“My first job was pumping gas at a station in Kermit, Texas at the ripe age of 14,” he said. That job gave him people and service-oriented skills that served him well throughout his career.

The younger Green said he was grateful for the new role and looking forward to taking the company forward.

Brian Green (Photo: TOPS.)

“We have all of the right ingredients in place to continue building on our success as demand for our units and services continues to reach record levels due to our track record for high quality service and our environmentally friendly solutions,” Brian Green said. “The next year will bring several milestones as we reach new levels of scale, set our first 2000 horsepower unit, and continue to expand our offerings with our customer-oriented focus.”

Scott Browning, Partner at Apollo, commented, “We are impressed by how TOPS has performed through our first 18 months together. Brian has been instrumental to navigating the company through a period of rapid growth as ongoing electrification trends and the TOPS operating track record have led to increased demand.”

Based in Midland, Texas, TOPS, is a portfolio company of Apollo Global Management. The company provides contract gas compression services for the Permian Basin and specializes in lower emission, electric driven compression for gas lift and other applications.