Executive Chairman and President - Dr David Robson
Dr Robson's career has been primarily in operating oil and gas companies. He is currently Executive Chairman, President and Executive Director of Tethys Petroleum Group of Companies, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 2007. Tethys Petroleum Limited was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of CanArgo Energy Corporation founded by Dr David Robson in 1997 where he served as Chairman and CEO until bringing Tethys Petroleum public. He was Chief Executive Officer and one of the founders of the London Stock Exchange listed company JKX Oil & Gas plc and prior to this he was employed in technical and commercial positions in Britoil plc, Hamilton Oil and Mobil. Trained as a geologist with a First Class B.Sc (Hons) degree in Geology and PhD in Geochemistry, Dr. Robson also holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde.
Dr Robson has worked on oil and gas projects in the former Soviet Union since 1990 in areas such as Siberia, Sakhalin, Murmansk, and the Caspian region. He has a number of "firsts" such the establishment of the first non-state gas development project in Ukraine, the first non-state drilling in the fSU Black Sea, the first non-state exploration and development wells in Georgia and negotiation of the first EBRD loan to a private sector project in Ukraine. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS), a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Member of European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers and a Member of the Institute of Directors. Dr Robson holds the Order of Honour for services to the Georgian hydrocarbon extraction industry and was made a Freeman of the ancient Georgia city of Telavi. He was formerly the Energy Sector Representative on the UK Government's East European Trade Council (EETC), a Board Member of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) and was one of the founder members of the President of Tajikistan’s Investment Council. Dr Robson has spoken at numerous International conferences on fSU oil, gas and energy.
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Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director - Julian Hammond
Mr. Hammond is currently Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director and Chief Commercial Officer of Tethys Petroleum Group of Companies, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 2007, on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange since 2008 and on the London Stock Exchange since 2011. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mr. Hammond served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director and Chief Commercial Officer for the Company. In the role of Deputy CEO Mr. Hammond assumed any duties of the CEO that the CEO delegates under the normal course of business. Mr. Hammond was also responsible for the commercial activities and development of the business of the company, including financing the company’s activities through instruments including equity, debt and trade finance and also negotiated any new Contracts or Licenses associated with new business. Overall, he was in charge of all sales contracts and off-take agreements for oil and gas produced by the Company.
Prior to joining Tethys Petroleum, Mr. Hammond worked for CanArgo Energy Corporation in various positions including Business Development Manager and Commercial Manager where he managed an oil refinery in Georgia and led the establishment of a retail chain of gasoline stations that became the market leader in the capital city, Tbilisi. Tethys Petroleum Limited was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of CanArgo Energy Corporation.
Previously Mr. Hammond worked for Credit Suisse First Boston in London and Montgomery Securities in San Francisco. Mr. Hammond holds a BA degree in Economics from University of Colorado. |
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Chief Financial Officer - Bernard Murphy
Mr. Murphy is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA) and prior to joining the Company worked in a network providing accounting and finance services to SME's. He has 30 years experience as a management accountant having previously worked for Courtaulds, BOC, BICC and for HSBC Actuaries and Consultants Limited as Finance Director, and in insurance with HSBC and Royal & Sun Alliance. Prior to his finance career he was awarded a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering from Glasgow University. He is a member of the Executive Board of the Company.
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Executive Director, Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary - Liz Landles
Ms. Landles is a highly experienced administrator and is currently Executive Director, Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company. She is also Director of many of the Company's subsidiaries and is responsible for human resources. Ms. Landles has over 14 years of experience in the oil and gas sector and was Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary of CanArgo Energy Corporation. She has been an Executive Director of Tethys Petroleum since its incorporation in 2003. Ms. Landles holds an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration and Management (an operating division of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in the UK) and is a Fellow of The Institute of Business Administration (F.Inst.BA). Ms. Landles is also a member of The Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD). She is a member of the Executive Board of the Company. Prior to working in the oil and gas sector Ms. Landles worked in finance for several years.
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Vice President Finance - Denise Lay
Ms. Lay joined Tethys Petroleum in 2009 as Vice President Finance. Ms. Lay is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accounts (FCCA) and has more than 15 years post qualification experience. Ms. Lay previously worked for KPMG for six years including an 18-month secondment to Moscow. Between 2000 and 2006 Ms. Lay held the position with the Gallaher Group as Finance Director, responsible for Finance, IT and Legal for Kazakhstan, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. Between 2007 and 2009 Ms. Lay held the position of Finance Director of NRG International Limited a subsidiary of Ricoh. Other positions included a period as an internal auditor with Chevron, an accounting tutor with ATC International working with students from the Ukraine and Eastern Europe and as a consultant with DSL Consultancy Services. Ms. Lay is fluent in Russian and holds a BA (Hons) in Russian Language & Literature.
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Vice President Corporate Development & Planning - George Mirtskhulava
Mr. Mirtskhulava is currently Vice President Corporate Development & Planning General Director for Tethys Petroleum Limited. His responsibilities include finding and evaluating financing and corporate development opportunities for existing projects of Tethys Petroleum Limited as well as finding and evaluating new business opportunities (including Mergers and Acquisitions) to develop the Company and ensure that those opportunities are financed in the most optimal way. Mr. Mirtskhulava is also responsible for business development and M&A activities relating to Kazakhstan as well as for protecting and helping develop Company’s business position in Kazakhstan and to ensure commercial and business relationships as well as specific governmental relationships in Kazakhstan are maintained and developed. He also supervises the development of the Company’s oil-loading terminal in Kazakhstan (AOT).
He previously worked for CanArgo Energy Corporation in various roles including Commercial Analyst, Financial Analyst and Senior Economist. Tethys Petroleum Limited was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of CanArgo Energy Corporation.
Mr. Mirtskhulava has also previously worked in finance and communication sectors. He holds an LLM in Petroleum and Law Policy from the University of Dundee, Scotland, law and engineering degrees from respective Georgian Institutes, and has a Bachelor of Business Administration and General Management, a joint degree from the European School of Management, Tbilisi, Georgia and Preston University, Wyoming, USA. He is a member of The Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN).
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Chief Operating Officer - Graham Wall
Mr. Wall was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Tethys Petroleum Limited in 2010. Previously Mr. Wall held the position of Vice President Technical, which he had held since July of 2006. He has overall responsibility for all operational and production activities of the Company including drilling and testing, production optimisation, reservoir and field development and reserve determination and development planning. Mr. Wall previously worked for CanArgo Energy Corporation, in various positions including Senior Geologist, Head of Regional Exploration and Reserve Determination, and Exploration Manager. He started his career as a minerals geologist working in gold projects in Australia and was a mineral exploration geologist of ACA Howe International Ltd, UK working in Burkina Faso, Greece, Ghana, Russia (Siberia), UK and Georgia. Mr. Wall holds a BSc (Hons) degree in exploration and mining geology, from the University of Wales, College of Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS), a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). He has presented technical papers on central Georgian hydrocarbon systems and the development of fractured reservoirs.
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Vice President and General Counsel - Ian Philliskirk
Mr. Philliskirk was appointed Vice President and General Counsel of Tethys Petroleum Limited in February 2009 and is responsible for all legal and associated matters within the Tethys Petroleum Group, including current and future exploration and development contracts, sales contracts, acquisitions and disposals, financings and corporate compliance. Prior to joining the Tethys team, Mr. Philliskirk was a Director of UK law firm Pinsent Masons LLP. Mr. Philliskirk graduated in 1992 with an LL.B (Hons) Degree from University College London and is a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn, having been called to the Bar in 1993. He subsequently held legal positions with UK Government departments including the Treasury Solicitor before spending several years in Dubai, including seven years as Group Legal Manager and Company Secretary of Dubai's national oil company Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC). During this time he was also Legal Adviser and Company Secretary to Dragon Oil Plc, (majority owned by ENOC) who operate in Central Asia.
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Vice President Operations - Luka Chachibaia
Mr. Chachibaia joined Tethys Petroleum as Vice President Operations in 2008. Mr. Chachibaia is an experienced oil and gas engineer with over 11 years working for Schlumberger in various engineering and management positions. Starting as a field engineer with Dowell Schlumberger, Mr. Chachibaia progressed to hold a variety of roles within Schlumberger including Operations Manager, Well Services for Northern Europe and Business Manager, Well Services in Libya. Mr. Chachibaia specializes in oil and gas field operations management including well construction, completion and stimulation. Mr. Chachibaia has worked in many parts for the world including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. In the Company he is responsible for all drilling and production operational activities and is also project manager of the Company's Kazakhstan Oil Exploration and Development team. Mr. Chachibaia holds a Masters Diploma in Engineering Geophysics.
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Vice President External Affairs - Mamuka Murjikneli
Mr. Murjikneli was appointed Vice President of External Affairs in 2010. In addition, Mr. Murjikneli continues to serve his role as Vice President of Tethys Petroleum Inc and Head of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan Business Unit, as well as president of the company's subsidiary in Afghanistan. Mr. Murjikneli was also the former Head of Corporate Affairs for Tethys Petroleum. Before joining Tethys, Mr. Murjikneli was the Manager External Affairs for CanArgo Energy Corporation. Mr. Murjikneli has also held the position of Attache and Senior Economic Counselor for the Georgian Embassy in the US, Mexico and Canada and was a former Research Specialist for Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Mr. Murjikneli graduated with Honors from the Tbilisy Technical University , Georgia with a degree in International Economics.
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Vice President Petroleum Development - Mark Sarssam
Mr. Sarssam joined Tethys in April of 2011 and is based in the Company's new operations and technical office in Dubai, UAE. Mr. Sarssam joins Tethys from Dragon Oil plc, where he was New Ventures advisor and previously Head of Reservoir Development focused on the successful Cheleken oil and gas Block, (Lam and Zhdanov fields) in the Caspian Sea, offshore Turkmenistan. Prior to his work with Dragon Oil, Mr. Sarssam was employed by Shell as a Senior Reservoir Engineer and Field Leader, working in Oman (PDO) and in Brunei (BSP). Before this Mr. Sarssam worked for Fina Exploration and Amerada Hess on North Sea projects. Mr. Sarssam holds an M.Eng (Hons) in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College, RSM, London.
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Vice President Exploration - Rosemary Johnson Sabine OBE
Mrs Johnson Sabine joined Tethys Petroleum as Vice President Exploration in 2007. She leads exploration on Tethys Petroleum acreage in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and also on possible new ventures. This includes geological and geophysical studies especially seismic acquisition and locating exploration wells as part of a carefully risked and balanced programme. Mrs Johnson Sabine started her career in geophysics and has worked for many years leading teams in exploration and new business for both major and independent oil and gas companies. This includes nearly 10 years with Chevron/Texaco, 7 with Monument Oil & Gas and 7 with Amerada Hess. She has spent the last 7 years focused on Central Asia. Mrs Johnson Sabine is a member of SEG, a past President in EAGE and a past Chairman of PESGB, holds an OBE for services to the UK Oil and Gas industry, and has a BSc in Geology from the University of London.
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Vice President Investor Relations - Sabin Rossi
Mr. Rossi, is the Company liaison between shareholders and potential investors. Currently he is based in the Company's subsidiary office in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was Vice President Investor Relations and External Affairs with CanArgo Energy Corporation, and prior to that held a number of Business Development and Consulting positions for Think Tanks and Technology Consulting companies including Forrester Research, Sprint and independent consulting roles in energy and related industries. He is President of Tethys Petroleum Inc., USA, Chairman and President Designate of The American-Tajik Business Council, Washington, D.C., Representative on The American-Kazakh Business Council, Washington, D.C., former Representative on The American-Georgian Business Council and former Representative on The American Chamber of Commerce in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Mr. Rossi holds a degree in English from The University of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
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Vice President Communications - Veronica Seymour
Ms. Seymour joined Tethys in October 2010 as the Company's Manager, Corporate Communications based in the Company's London office before taking on the role as Vice President. Ms. Seymour is responsible for communicating the Company's message to external audiences and stakeholders. Prior to joining Tethys Ms. Seymour worked in senior roles with ITE Group Plc where she was involved in business development, external relations and in organising government-led oil and gas trade shows and events in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan as well as developing close working relationships with Ministries and governments in the fSU countries. Prior to her work with the ITE Group Plc Ms. Seymour worked in Marketing and Communications for companies in several business sectors in Russia. Ms. Seymour holds a Bachelors Diploma in English and German Philology and a Certificate in Marketing, Management & Logistics from Universities in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. |
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