Tim Petrus is a native of Alexandria, Louisiana where he attended Holy Savior Menard High School, he was the Salutatorian of the class of 1972. He enrolled at Louisiana Tech University in 1972 and received a B. S. degree in Electrical Engineering in February, 1976. Upon graduation, he was employed as engineer with Exxon Company USA (now ExxonMobil ) in the Lafayette District office, where he was involved in both reservoir and production engineering.
In May, 1980, Mr. Petrus accepted a position in the Petroleum Lending Department of Texas American Bank-Fort Worth, where he rose to the position of Vice President. His duties included oil and gas property evaluations for loan collateral and the generation and servicing of energy loans.

In February, 1988, he joined the newly formed Cross Timbers Oil Company in Fort Worth as a  Regional Engineer. Cross Timbers, which became a public company as XTO Energy in 1993, was a premier  acquirer and exploiter of oil and gas properties throughout the United States. Tim  took over the Acquisitions Group of XTO in 1990 and was ultimately promoted to the position of Executive Vice President. Under his leadership, the company completed $15 billion in property acquisitions.  When XTO was acquired by ExxonMobil for $41 billion in June, 2010, the company employed over 3500 people and was the largest natural gas producer in the U.S.

In January, 2012, Mr. Petrus and three other members of XTO’s executive management team formed MorningStar Partners, a privately held partnership that acquires and manages oil and gas properties. In his role as Executive VP and General Partner, he continued to be involved in property acquisitions. In June, 2021, Mr.Petrus retired from MSP.
Tim and his wife Elaine(also a Menard and Louisiana Tech graduate) reside in Fort Worth, Texas, where he has been involved in many civic and non-profit organizations. Among those organizatons are Big Brothers and Sisters, Tarrant Area Food Bank (Board President), City of Fort Worth Zoning Board of Adjustment (Chairman), Fort Worth League of Neighborhood Associations (Board President) and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce (Treasurer). He currently serves on the Board of Governors at Colonial Country Club.
He has also served his alma mater on the Board of the Engineering and Science Foundation (past President and Life Director) and the Louisiana Tech University Foundation as a Board member.
In 2012, Mr. Petrus was named a Distinguished Electrical Engineering Alumnus and in 2016 was chosen by the Alumni Association as Alumnus of the Year.