Board, Senior Management & Advisors

Nicholas Smith was appointed as a Non-executive Director in October 2007 and as Chairman in September 2009. He is a member of Remuneration Committee and Chairman of the Nomination Committee. Nicholas Smith trained as a chartered accountant before joining the Jardine Fleming Group, becoming Chief Financial Officer from 1993 to 1997. He is Chairman of Aberdeen New Thai Investment Trust plc and Senior Indpendent Director of Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc.

Dr Nick Cooper was appointed as an executive director and Chief Executive in June 2011. He is a member of the Nomination and Technical Advisory Committees. Prior to joining Ophir, Nick Cooper was Chief Financial Officer and co-founder of Salamander Energy plc. He began his career as a geophysicist with BG and Amoco before joining Booz-Allen & Hamilton. From 1999-2005 he was a member of the oil and gas team at Goldman Sachs. In September 2014 Nick was appointed as non-executive director of Siccar Point Energy Limited. Nick has a BSc and PhD in Geophysical Sciences and an MBA from INSEAD.

Bill Higgs was appointed as an executive director and Chief Operating Officer on 10 September 2014. Bill has over 25 years of global exploration, development and operations experience, the majority with Chevron Corporation. His roles at Chevron included Senior Vice President of Operations for Saudi Arabia Chevron, Reservoir Manager for Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan, Asset Manager for the BBLT development in Block 14 Angola and General Manager for Strategy for Chevron Corporation. In his time at Chevron he was also a member of the Corporate Reserves Audit Committee and the Decision Review Boards for the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG developments in Australia. Bill has spent the last two and a half years as Chief Executive Officer of Mediterranean Oil & Gas plc, which was recently acquired by Rockhopper Exploration plc. Bill has a BSc in Geological Sciences from the University of Leeds and a PhD in Structural Geology from the University of Wales.

Ronald Blakely was appointed as a non-executive director in July 2011 and as Senior Independent Director on 18 February 2013. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees. Ronald Blakely spent over 38 years working for Royal Dutch Shell companies. On his retirement in October 2008, he held the role of Executive Vice President Global Downstream Finance, while previous roles included CFO of Shell Oil Products in the USA and CFO of Shell Canada. Mr Blakely is a member of the Society of Management Accountants of Alberta, Canada.

Alan Booth was appointed as a non-executive director on 26 April 2013. He is the Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee and member of the Remuneration, HSE and Audit Committees. Alan Booth has 30 years' experience in oil and gas exploration at Amerada Hess, Oryx Energy and Encana. Most recently Alan Booth was Founder and CEO of EnCore Oil plc; and is now the Founder and Director of EnCounter Oil Ltd. On 21 January 2015, Alan Booth was appointed as a non-executive Director of InfraStrata plc. Alan Booth holds a BSc in Geology from the University of Nottingham and MSc. DIC. in Petroleum Geology from the Royal School Mines, Imperial College. He is a former president of the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) and currently a director of the Oil and Gas Independents Association (OGIA).

Vivien Gibney was appointed as a non-executive director on 14 August 2013. In November 2013, she was appointed as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and as member of the HSE Committee. Vivien has 25 years’ experience as counsel in the upstream oil and gas industry, including roles with Mobil Oil and Enterprise Oil plc. Whilst at Enterprise Oil, Vivien set up the legal department and held the positions of General Counsel, Company Secretary and Head of HR. Vivien has held a number of non-executive board positions in the voluntary sector and in listed companies. More recently, she was a member of the Board of Directors of Encore Oil plc where she chaired the Remuneration Committee. Vivien is a barrister with an LL.B. and received an Honorary Fellowship in Petroleum law from the University of Dundee.

Lyndon Powell was appointed as a non-executive director in October 2007. He is Chairman of the HSE Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committees. Lyndon Powell spent the majority of his career in the armed services, gaining a wide spectrum of experience in operational and strategic management. This included providing protection to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and commanding four major units. He is a director and owner of Barbican Global Ltd. specialising in providing independent security advice to the corporate sector.

Bill Schrader was appointed as a non-executive director on 18 February 2013. He is a member of the Audit, HSE and Technical Advisory Committees. Bill Schrader has over 30 years' experience working at BP plc, including as Chief Executive of several country operations, as President of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company and as Chief Operating Officer of TNK-BP. In December 2014 Bill Schrader was appointed non-executive director of CHC Group Ltd, he is also non-executive Chairman of Bahamas Petroleum Company plc and non-executive director of the Hess Corporation. Mr Schrader holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from the University of Houston. Throughout his career Bill Schrader has been commended for his strong leadership qualities, strategic vision and capability in managing complex operating and government relationships.

Dr Nick Cooper was appointed as an executive director and Chief Executive in June 2011. He is a member of the Nomination and Technical Advisory Committees. Prior to joining Ophir, Nick Cooper was Chief Financial Officer and co-founder of Salamander Energy plc. He began his career as a geophysicist with BG and Amoco before joining Booz-Allen & Hamilton. From 1999-2005 he was a member of the oil and gas team at Goldman Sachs. In September 2014 Nick was appointed as non-executive director of Siccar Point Energy Limited. Nick has a BSc and PhD in Geophysical Sciences and an MBA from INSEAD.

Bill Higgs was appointed as an executive director and Chief Operating Officer on 10 September 2014. Bill has over 25 years of global exploration, development and operations experience, the majority with Chevron Corporation. His roles at Chevron included Senior Vice President of Operations for Saudi Arabia Chevron, Reservoir Manager for Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan, Asset Manager for the BBLT development in Block 14 Angola and General Manager for Strategy for Chevron Corporation. In his time at Chevron he was also a member of the Corporate Reserves Audit Committee and the Decision Review Boards for the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG developments in Australia. Bill has spent the last two and a half years as Chief Executive Officer of Mediterranean Oil & Gas plc, which was recently acquired by Rockhopper Exploration plc. Bill has a BSc in Geological Sciences from the University of Leeds and a PhD in Structural Geology from the University of Wales.

Clark Brannin joined Ophir in August 2012. In his 30 years with Getty-Texaco-Chevron, Woodside and now Ophir, Clark Brannin progressed from an entry-level engineer to Director of Drilling.His work and associated travels have taken him to sixty countries with residency in seven. Immediately prior to joining Ophir, Clark was the International Well Delivery Manager for Woodside and Chairman of the Australian Well Integrity Committee. Clark has Bachelor of Science degrees with honours in Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering from Tulane University, USA and the University of Tulsa, USA respectively.

Andrew Brown joined Ophir in November 2012. Andrew has spent 40 years in the gas business, a large part of it with the BG Group and the last 20 years internationally. Andrew has very broad experience across the gas value chain having worked on the development of new business and commercialisation of upstream gas and oil in Egypt, Chile, India, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Tanzania. Before joining Ophir, Andrew spent two years as General Manager of PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Ltd an integrated gas company supplying gas to consumers and electricity producers in Tanzania. Andrew is responsible for managing all Ophir assets and the Commercial team.

Dr Mike Fischer joined Ophir in 2006 and has held a variety of senior positions within the company in both the Perth and London offices. Mike is a geologist who spent the first 10 years of his career with BP Exploration with assignments in Aberdeen, Spain, Australia, Papua New Guinea and China. He spent 10 years with Woodside Energy in Perth and was part of the team responsible for developing Woodside's international strategy, subsequently running the West African business where he led the team responsible for discoveries at Chinguetti, Banda and Tiof. He left Woodside in 2004 to join OMV E&P as senior VP for Exploration, Operations and Projects where he had full responsibility for both the geoscience and engineering technical functions.

Dr Oliver Quinn joined Ophir in August 2013. Oliver has 15 years' upstream Oil and Gas experience. He began his career as a geologist with Shell before moving to Fairfield Energy and more recently Hess Corporation where he held a variety of business development, technical and leadership roles. Oliver has been involved in E&P projects and business development across Africa, Asia, Europe, Russia and the Americas. Oliver has a BSc in Geology, a PhD in Petroleum Geoscience and is an alumni of London Business School.

Gawain Ross joined Ophir in June 2013. Prior to joining Ophir, Gawain spent the greater part of his career in the British military where he enjoyed a broad range of roles and experiences. In between the military and joining Ophir, Gawain worked as a Director in the risk management sector, providing security solutions to the Oil and Gas industry.

Tony Rouse joined Ophir in October 2014. Tony has over 30 years' experience in the Upstream Oil and Gas industry including 13 years of assignments in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Tony started his career with BP, before moving to LASMO plc, Premier Oil and most recently Salamander Energy where he was Group Financial Controller for 9 years. Tony is a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).

Dato Sandroshvili joined Ophir in February 2014. Dato has spent most of his career in Oil and Gas Corporate Finance Advisory and prior to joining the company, was an adviser to Ophir from 2009. Dato started his Corporate Finance career at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney in London, before moving to UBS where he managed the Russia/CIS Oil and Gas Advisory business. In 2009, Dato joined London-based independent advisory firm, Lexicon Partners (later acquired by Evercore Partners), where he focused on an EMEA E&P client base. Dato has a Diploma in Accounting and an MBA in International Finance.

Dina Taylor joined Ophir in January 2013. Dina has worked in HR for over 25 years across a variety of industry sectors, which include 10 years with LASMO plc and then private investment, airports and leisure, financial services, consulting and more recently within oil services. Dina manages an HR operations team who support London, Australia and Africa. Dina is a member of the UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has an MSc in HR Development and Organisational Design.

Shirin Johri joined the Company as a consultant in November 2014. She previously held the position of Group General Counsel of Afren Plc for 7 years until December 2013. Prior to Afren she worked in Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s African practice. Shirin holds an LLM from Cornell Law School, New York, a LLB (Hons) from Delhi University, India and she has been called to the New York Bar.

Peter Dolan graduated in geology from Southampton University in 1965. He emigrated to Canada and worked for Mobil before transferring to Libya in 1969. After a 3-year break to obtain a PhD degree at University College London, he returned to Mobil in Indonesia until 1974. He then worked for Premier Oil in London for 2 years before spending the next 20 years co-founding several oil industry consultancies  (including JEBCO, Dolan & Associates, IKODA) and working on projects worldwide. In the mid-1990s he was a co-founder of Fusion Oil & Gas of which he was Chairman and which was listed on AIM in 2000.  After Fusion was taken over in late 2003, he was one of the three founders of Ophir Energy in early 2004. Peter's role with Ophir is now as an advisor, generally providing the management team with market intelligence. Other business interests, all as a founder shareholder and variously as a director or advisor, involve Neon Energy (SE Asia), Ikon Science (a private service company in the business of predicting lithology, fluid, pressure and rock mechanics properties) and his son's company Real Ale Limited. Peter is also heavily involved with the Geological Society's 'City of London Geoscience Forum', other professional bodies, as well as local community and charity activities.