Qingming Yang

President & Chief Operating Officer

Qingming Yang joined us in July 2009 as Vice President – Exploration. In November 2010, Dr. Yang was named Executive Vice President – Business Development and Geosciences. He was promoted again to Chief Operating Officer in December of 2012. Dr. Yang has over 25 years of domestic and international exploration, technical and operating experience in the oil and gas industry.  Before joining Approach, Dr. Yang was with Pioneer Natural Resources for 12 years in a variety of positions, including Exploration Manager for Worldwide Exploration and Business Development, Geosciences Advisor, and Technical Lead for Pioneer’s Eagle Ford Shale team.

Dr. Yang is a member and Charles Taylor Fellow of the American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG) and served as an Associate Editor for the AAPG Bulletin (2003-2009). In addition, Dr. Yang was the Chairman of Dallas Geological Society International Committee in 2002. Dr. Yang currently serves on the Advisory Council Board of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Yang earned his B.S. in Petroleum Geology from Chengdu University of Technology in the People’s Republic of China, his M.A. in Geology from George Washington University and his Ph.D. in Structural Geology from the University of Texas at Dallas.