Petroleum engineer Adam Sayers is one of the four founders of Axia Energy Inc., a Denver-based E&P launched in August 2009 with $150 million in backing from Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP and Liberty Energy Holdings LLC. This is the group’s second start-up; after working together at Tom Brown Inc. until its sale to Encana Corp. in 2004, they launched Orion Energy, headed by James D. Lightner, now chairman of Forest Oil Corp.

Colorado’s Piceance Basin is the launching pad for Axia, as it was for Orion. The latter built a portfolio of Piceance Basin assets and sold twice, in 2006 and 2009, for some $400 million, returning four times the initial private-equity investment.

“The project was proven and the company had taken on moderate debt, so we decided to test the market,” says Sayers. “Even in the lower commodity-price environment, the wells were still very, very economic, and the buyer (Williams Production Co.) recognized that.”

Colorado native Sayers earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering from Colorado School of Mines, in Golden. He interned for Meridian Oil Corp. in southern Louisiana during college and after graduation joined the company in Denver. He worked the Williston Basin as an operations engineer, primarily focused on production and completions. When Meridian consolidated its operations a year later, Sayers transferred to Midland. But several years later, eager “to reclaim my ownership of Colorado,” he returned to Denver and Tom Brown Inc.

During his four-year stint with the E&P, he earned his master’s degree and was a reservoir engineer for Piceance Basin assets. After the sale to Encana, Tom Brown executives forming Orion asked him to come along as an acquisitions and operations engineer.

Like its predecessor, Axia is Rockies-focused to exploit its personnel’s core competencies in operations, drilling and completion. The start-up’s first project revisits the Piceance Basin’s tight-gas sands.

Today, Sayer’s favorite aspect of his work is the business side. “The industry’s entrepreneurial spirit and the opportunity it offers are what make this fun,” he says. Outside of work, he has devoted time to Camp Wapiyapi, a camp for children with cancer and their families.

Investor: Are low natural gas prices a concern given your current area of focus?

Sayers: We believe there will continue to be fluctuations in prices. The key is, during these fluctuations there is opportunity. At the end of the day, we create drilling inventory, and to do that you have to be cost effective whether prices are up or down, and well performance has to be the best in the basin.

We bring a strong engineering background to plays, and we look for drill-to-earn opportunities and farm­outs where we can deploy those competencies. Whether prices are high or low, there are always underperforming assets. When assets aren’t performing at optimum levels, that’s opportunity.

Investor: How does that model work in the Piceance?

Sayers: An area like the Piceance Basin is largely held by three or four major companies that have put together wonderful land positions and a lot of drilling inventory. We can bring a competent operations group to the assets and move some of that inventory forward in time. These companies wouldn’t get to some of these opportunities for 10 to 15 years. We can bring value to them more quickly.

Investor: Would you look at the big shale plays?

Sayers: The shales lend themselves to our competencies. What’s critical is the timing of when you get into them. We like to drill our way in, so we need to be early and take more risk with fewer dollars up front.

We’re seeing huge acreage positions being put together. Some of those companies won’t be able to maintain the fee positions. They may need help in putting personnel and rigs to work and come to us to help develop some of those assets.

Investor: How do you see the financial-market picture developing through 2010?

Sayers: When we went to raise money—about two and a half times what we had at Orion—equity had become very important. Folks who had relied too heavily on the debt markets had gotten into some trouble. Having the dry powder was critical. You can’t rely totally on the debt markets as you could have in years past. The additional equity gives us more flexibility, combined with conservative debt leverage.

Investor: Who have been your mentors?

Sayers: I’ve worked for Tom Brown alumni Tom Dyk for 15 years; other mentors are Doug Harris and Jim Lightner.

There are a lot of things Tom Dyk has guided me on, such as the importance of knowing you can be successful while maintaining integrity and honesty. I was lucky to get work with wonderful people and get great advice.

Investor: What is your growth target?

Sayers: We’ll likely maintain the size we’re at—15 to 20 people seems to fit us well. We like to deploy capital and build drilling inventory and monetize that for our investors.