David Harl is the founder and chief executive officer of Panoak.  He is a native Tulsan and a graduate economist.  He began his career as an investment analyst at Investor Diversified Services, where he was a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers from 1970 to 1973.

In 1973, David resigned from IDS to organize Panoak Oil & Gas Corporation where he advised his investors to invest in oil production.  The oil industry had been stagnant for many years.  However, because of economic fundamentals, he believed this was going to change and oil prices were destined to rise dramatically, which they did.  Within three months the Arabs embargoed oil and oil prices tripled, catapulting Panoak to overnight success.

In 1974, during a recession, he advised his stockholders to buy real estate properties due to unprecedented inflationary pressure and quadrupled their investment and profits in six years.

In 1977, he proposed to his stockholders that they invest in natural gas production when it was $.50 per Mcf, gas tripled to $1.50 per Mcf a year later on its way to $5.00 per Mcf in 1980.

In 1978, David turned his attention to electronics, forming Panoak Lighting Systems and Supply to build television studios and took it international.  Panoak Laboratories, also founded that year, was created to research and design personal computers and perfecting digital circuitry.

By 1980, inflation had worsened toward a runaway pattern.  Interest rates had soared to 21% and the world was in deep recession.  collectively called stagflation, a new phenomenon.

Oil prices had rocketed to $40 per barrel; experts said they would rise to $100 per barrel and real estate prices were rising.  The boom was on with no end in sight.

But David Harl questioned "How was a world in stagflation going to pay for it?"  He advised his stock holders to sell their oil investments, sell their gas investments, sell their real estate, and sell their manufacturing.  by December 1981, Panoak had sold off all of its operations, providing significant profits of over 500% to its investors.  Panoak was liquid, with no debt.

Three months later, in March 1982, the "Oil Bust" hit and the bottom fell out of the oil, gas, and real estate markets.

throughout the 1980's Panoak selectively re-established its position in the gas industry with prudent and thoughtful cost and return analysis.

In 1987, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the major interstate pipelines to open access to transportation, David Harl discovered that he could cut the cost of gas to municipalities from $4.50 per Mcf being charged by the pipeline companies to 2.75 per mcf.  He organized Panoak Gas Company and established a significant presence with service to dozens of municipalities in the Mid-Continent region.

In 1995 David turned his attention back to natural gas production and started up the Panoak Coal Bed Methane Project.  Since then Panoak has acquired 20,000 acres north of Tulsa in Washington County located in the Cherokee Basin and is currently producing over 3,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day.

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