Kris Martyn Sliger

Kris Martyn Sliger, 64, died on June 19, 2025. He was a uniquely kind, generous, and thoughtful person, an honorable man of great integrity.  He always put the needs of others before his own.  One of his signature traits was his endless curiosity.  His family and friends deeply miss his calm and steady presence in their lives.

Kris was born in Farmington, New Mexico, on June 11, 1961, to the late Bertine (Moore) and Brizz Sliger.  He played linebacker on the Midland High School football team, graduating in 1979.  He completed a degree in petroleum engineering at the University of Texas in 1983.

Soon after graduating, he briefly lived in Big Lake managing oil wells for John L. Cox, as Kris’s father had done for many years. He then landed a job with Amoco, which was later acquired by BP, where he would spend the rest of his career. He was a dedicated and meticulous manager and leader at BP, which sent him all over the country and then all over the world developing energy projects. Early in his career, he studied at night while working full time to earn an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Highlights of his later career included developing BP’s successful venture in Russia as an executive vice president, starting in 2003. He threw himself into that undertaking with the gusto that his friends and family know was typical of him: he learned Russian, read hundreds of books on Russian history and culture, and put in the long hours needed to make the company a success. Despite challenging working conditions, which gave rise to many stories that his family found by turns amusing and flabbergasting, he made the most of that opportunity both personally and professionally. He met his wife, Natalia, in Moscow, and they married in 2011. Their beloved daughter, Ekaterina (Katya), was born in 2014.

He spent a brief but intense stint in Alabama after the tragic explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig, working nearly around the clock to lead BP’s disaster response in the state. Later, he served as chairman of a BP joint venture in India developing natural gas production, before returning to Moscow as CFO of BP Russia. He concluded his career as a strategy director at BP headquarters in London, retiring in 2020. Since that time, he dedicated himself to his family, spending time in Colorado and Florida.

Kris is survived by his wife, Natalia Sliger, and daughter, Ekaterina Bertine Sliger, of Boca Raton, FL; his sister, Janice Sliger, of Georgetown; and his niece, Alexandra Thomas, of Chicago, and nephew, Luke Thomas, of Austin, and their families. He was predeceased by his brother, Monte Sliger, of Midland.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, August 22, at 3pm, at First Presbyterian Church of Midland. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to cancer research at MD Anderson Cancer Center at MDAnderson.org/Gifts. Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences can be offered at www.npwelch.com.

To send flowers to the family or place a tree in memory of Kris Martyn Sliger, please visit our Tribute Store.