GCMP Joins Gulf Coast Energy Forum Panel on Regional Gas Storage

HOUSTON, October 16, 2026 — Gulf Coast Midstream Partners, LLC (GCMP) took part in the 8th annual Gulf Coast Energy Forum, held October 14–16, 2026, at the Westin Canal Place in New Orleans. GCMP Chief Executive Officer Edmund Knolle joined a panel of industry leaders on the critical state of natural gas storage infrastructure along the Gulf Coast.

The panel examined why the region's storage base is falling behind its demand, and what new capacity must look like to close the gap. Knolle outlined how GCMP's Nash Storage Hub in Fort Bend County, Texas, is being built to meet that need.

Hosted by LDC Gas Forums, the Gulf Coast Energy Forum gathers producers, pipeline and storage operators, utilities, LNG exporters, power generators and marketers from across the natural gas value chain.

A region outgrowing its storage

Gulf Coast gas demand is climbing on several fronts at once. New LNG export capacity, gas-fired generation for data centers and a growing industrial base are all pulling more gas through the region, often with sharper day-to-day swings.

Storage has not kept pace. U.S. working gas storage capacity has barely grown in a decade, and existing Gulf Coast salt cavern capacity is largely contracted. Panelists discussed what that means in practice: more price volatility, less room to absorb supply disruptions, and a growing premium on storage that can inject and withdraw quickly and cycle many times a year. “The Gulf Coast is adding demand faster than it is adding the flexibility to serve it. Customers are telling us they need high-deliverability, multi-cycle storage connected to the pipelines they already use, and they need it now." — Edmund Knolle, CEO, Gulf Coast Midstream Partners

GCMP CEO Edmund Knolle speaks on the gas storage panel at the 2026 Gulf Coast Energy Forum in New Orleans.

GCMP CEO Edmund Knolle speaks on the gas storage panel at the 2026 Gulf Coast Energy Forum in New Orleans.

How the Nash Storage Hub responds

The Nash Storage Hub is a salt cavern natural gas storage facility in Fort Bend County, about 30 miles southwest of Houston. It is designed around the needs the panel described: deliverability, flexibility, and direct access to the region's major markets.

  • Capacity: The Railroad Commission of Texas has permitted five caverns at the site. Initial development covers three caverns, each containing about 11.2 Bcf of working gas.
  • Flexibility: High-deliverability service designed for multiple turns per year, suited to LNG feed gas, power generation, and other customers with fast-changing loads.
  • Connectivity: A roughly 40-mile, 30-inch header to the west and a 2.5-mile, 24-inch header to the east will connect the hub to eight major pipeline systems, including Transco, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Florida Gas Transmission, NGPL, Gulf South and Kinder Morgan Tejas.
  • Market reach: As an intrastate facility regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas, the hub will also offer NGPA Section 311 service to interstate pipelines.

GCMP secured a growth capital investment and equity commitment from Black Bay Partners in April 2026 and recently concluded an open season for firm storage services. The company is targeting a final investment decision in 2027, with solution mining to begin in late 2027 and the first cavern in commercial service in 2030.

GCMP thanks LDC Gas Forums for hosting the event and the fellow panelists and attendees for a timely discussion. The company looks forward to continuing the conversation with customers and partners as the Nash Storage Hub moves toward construction.

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CEO & President | Corporate Development & Strategic Leadership

Edmund Knolle

Edmund Knolle brings over three decades of commercial and operational leadership across development-stage and operating natural gas storage companies and assets. As President and CEO of Gulf Coast Midstream Partners (GCMP), he is responsible for growing GCMP into a premier independent natural gas storage and transportation company. His prior experience before joining GCMP in 2023, includes serving as CCO for a 1.2 Bcf/day NGL and helium processing plant, VP of Commercial and Business Development at Crestwood Equity Partners, where he originated natural gas transportation expansion projects connected to the Stagecoach and Arlington storage facilities, and as a co-founder and COO of Falcon Gas Storage Company where he led the expansion and commercialization of two intrastate underground storage projects in Texas (Hill-Lake and Worsham Steed), and the development, permitting and commercialization of two interstate natural gas storage developments in New York (Wyckoff) and Alabama (MoBay).

He began his career as a litigation attorney in Houston, Texas. Edmund is a native of Houston, Texas and holds a JD from the University of Houston and an MBA and BA from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Chief Operating Officer | Engineering, Operations & Project Execution

Hugo Guerrero

Hugo Guerrero brings over 32 years of Oil & Gas experience to the Nash Storage Project, with deep expertise in large-scale infrastructure development, field operations, and project execution. Most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Engineering & Operations at Summit Midstream, he led a 210-person team overseeing Field Operations, Asset Integrity, SCADA, Supply Chain, and IT.  He served on the board for the Double E Pipeline joint venture with ExxonMobil — and was responsible for the execution of the $500MM project completed six months ahead of schedule and $100MM under budget. At Crestwood Midstream Partners, he led a 95-person technical services organization with responsibilities that included System Planning, Project Execution & Controls, Supply Chain, Operations Engineering, Asset Integrity, I&E, and Measurement, SCADA, Land, and Permitting.  His team was responsible for executing nearly $1.5 billion in growth capital projects across ten states, including gas gathering, processing, transmission, and storage assets.

Prior to Crestwood, Mr. Guerrero spent eight years leading and growing CH2M HILL’s Pipelines & Terminals market segment with responsibilities across the Americas, including Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.  Mr. Guerrero started his career in Southern California at an oil and gas engineering firm where he spent 12 years in various roles with increasing responsibilities.

Mr. Guerrero holds a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of Arizona, is a graduate of the Project Management Program at University of California, Irvine. Mr. Guerrero is also a U.S. Army Field Artillery veteran, having served in Germany and the middle east during Desert Storm.
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Chief Financial Officer | Finance, Capital Markets & Strategic Growth

Tyler Buckingham

Tyler Buckingham is a seasoned energy finance executive with a proven track record of building and scaling midstream companies from early-stage ventures to multi-billion-dollar platforms. Prior to Gulf Coast Midstream Partners, Tyler was CFO of Northwind Midstream Partners, a gas gathering, treating and sequestration business that was acquired by MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) in 2025 for $2.4 billion. Before Northwind, Tyler served as CFO at Blue Tide Environmental, a joint venture between Tailwater Capital and Pennzoil-Quaker State (subsidiary of Shell) and Chisos Energy. Tyler also held investment banking roles at Simmons Energy (Piper Sandler) and Barclays Global Natural Resources group.

He holds an MBA and BBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and is a CFA Charterholder.

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Vice President, Cavern Engineering Underground Storage Engineering & Technical Development

Michael (Mike) McCall

As VP of Cavern Engineering at Gulf Coast Midstream Partners, Mike McCall leads all technical engineering and development activities for the Nash salt cavern storage project, from design and permitting through cavern development and commissioning. His underground storage expertise includes domal salt caverns, salt strata caverns, mined rock caverns, and porous media storage for both gas and NGL applications. At ONEOK Partners, he managed a multi-state underground storage portfolio and led an operational improvement program that delivered eight new salt cavern developments, increased withdrawal deliverability at four reservoir facilities, and restored an LPG mined rock cavern to service.

A member of the API/INGAA technical committee that drafted API Recommended Practices 1170 for Solution Mined Gas Storage, Mike is a recognized national authority on underground storage design, safety, and regulatory compliance.

He holds a BS in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and is a former U.S. Army Captain in the Chemical Corps.

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Controller | Accounting, Financial Reporting & Internal Controls

Bryce Buckley

Bryce Buckley is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 20 years of experience, primarily focused on accounting for complex, capital-intensive energy companies, including both private equity-backed and publicly traded businesses.

Prior to joining Gulf Coast Midstream, Bryce served as Chief Accounting Officer at private equity-backed Blue Tide Environmental, where he built and led the accounting organization from inception. In this role, he established scalable processes and controls across the financial reporting, revenue and inventory accounting, capital project cost tracking, tax compliance, and corporate insurance functions. 

Before Blue Tide, Bryce spent 15 years in accounting roles of increasing responsibility at large public companies, with experience spanning financial and operational accounting, SEC reporting, investor relations, and technical accounting. Bryce has led numerous complex technical accounting projects, including the implementation of major accounting standards related to revenue recognition, leases, and credit losses, as well as accounting for multiple business combinations.

Bryce earned both his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Science in Accounting from Texas A&M University.

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Vice President, Land | Land, Leasing & Regulatory Permitting

Kevin Cochran, CPL

Kevin Cochran is a Certified Professional Landman with 34 years of experience managing all aspects of oil and gas land work, from mineral acquisitions and lease negotiations to surface permitting and right-of-way agreements. As VP of Land at Gulf Coast Midstream Partners since 2019, he has managed all land and surface matters for the Nash Storage Project, including pore space and surface lease acquisition, capital raise due diligence support, and coordination of regulatory permitting. Prior experience includes Apache Corporation initial prospect generation through production operations — including negotiation of JOAs, farmout agreements, and complex surface use arrangements. He also founded and operated his own petroleum landman firm, C&L Land Services, managing multi-project client engagements for major E&P clients including Exxon, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

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Chief Accounting Officer | Accounting & Finance

Angelica Gonzalez, CPA

Angelica Gonzalez serves as Chief Accounting Officer at Producers Midstream, where she oversees the company’s accounting, financial reporting, treasury, tax, compliance, and financial systems functions. With more than 15 years of experience across public accounting, energy, and consulting, she brings deep expertise in financial leadership, M&A, technical accounting, and business transformation.

Prior to joining Producers Midstream, Angelica was a Principal at Embark, where she advised energy and infrastructure clients on finance transformation, acquisitions and divestitures, system implementations, and organizational optimization. Earlier in her career, she held leadership roles at Oasis Petroleum and began her career at KPMG, serving public and private energy companies.

Angelica holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Finance from McNeese State University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).