Minnetonka's Northern Oil and Gas names new CEO

Nicholas O'Grady has been promoted to CEO of Northern Oil and Gas.

The current CEO, Brandon Elliott, who was promoted after Bahram Akradi took over as board chairman of the Minnetonka company, will remain as a consultant through 2020 after he steps down at the end of the year.

O'Grady had been president and chief financial officer, and Chad Allen, currently the chief accounting officer, will be promoted to CFO.

"I'd like to thank Brandon for his invaluable contributions to Northern's growth over his tenure and I wish him well in his future endeavors," said Akradi, who is CEO of Life Time and the second-largest shareholder of Northern Oil and Gas. "I'd also like to congratulate the rest of the team for their well-earned promotions as we continue to build Northern into a non-op powerhouse, and welcome Mike Kelly to the team."

Kelly, who will serve as executive vice president of finance, was a partner at Seaport Global Securities.

Elliott will help facilitate the management transition and advise the company on strategic matters.

"With the culmination of the financial repositioning and the beginning of a sustainable program to return capital to shareholders, the company and the management team have never been better positioned to continue the successes we have had," he said.

With the O'Grady and Allen promotions, Adam Dirlam, currently executive vice president of land, will be chief operating officer.

Under Elliott, the company made its biggest land acquisition in April. In a deal worth more than $295 million, Northern Oil bought 18,000 acres in North Dakota that at the time had 87 active wells.

Catherine Roberts • 612-673-4292