5th Energy Transition Forum 2024 Distinguished Speakers Include

Sam Thigpen, the Founder and CEO of Sapphire Gas Solutions, is a recognized entrepreneurial leader and avid outdoorsman. He is a 2021 winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® award for the Gulf Coast region and attributes his entrepreneurial success to the field and operations experience gained early in his career. Having been in the natural gas industry for 25 years, Mr. Thigpen has spent two-thirds of that time as an entrepreneur. Since founding, what is now, Sapphire Gas Solutions in 2005, the company has been recognized as an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company.
In addition to founding and leading a successful energy transition company, Sam has led successful capital raising efforts in both the public and the private equity markets resulting in over a quarter of a billion dollars in capital committed since 2014. This experience gives him a healthy understanding of the requirements for a successful fundraising campaign.
Mr. Thigpen’s background is one of vast natural gas industry experience. It spans working in natural gas processing, SCADA system installation and maintenance, offshore production service, upstream oil and gas operations, international petrochemical and LNG plant service, natural gas pipeline operations, pipeline and facility construction, gas pipeline auditing, CNG/LNG/RNG fueling station construction, CNG/LNG/RNG virtual pipeline operations, and finally, executive management and strategic leadership.
Outside of business, Sam is an avid offshore fisherman, accomplished semi-professional sporting clays competitor, and enjoys outdoor activities such as pheasant, dove, and quail hunting. Intellectually, Mr. Thigpen is a member of MENSA and the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. He is also a Texas Freemason and a member of the Woodlands Church, in The Woodlands, TX.