Board of Directors

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  Andrew Armour (Chairman of the Board)

  Andrew has had a long career as a geophysicist and manager in the oil and gas industry, having gained a BSc in Geological Geophysics from Reading University and a PhD in Geophysics from Durham University. From university he joined Shell International in 1978 and lived for a time in Norway and Tunisia before returning to the UK to join Superior Oil.

  He spent a large part of his career with Enterprise Oil plc, joining in 1984, working as General Manager Norway from 1992 to 1996, becoming Exploration Director in 1996 and leaving in 2002, immediately prior to the acquisition of that company by Shell. Andrew was appointed Executive Chairman of Revus Energy ASA, a new start Norwegian Oil and Gas Company, on its foundation in early 2003, listed the company on the Oslo stock exchange in 2005 and finally left when the company was sold in 2008.

   From 1997 to 2004 Andrew was Chairman of the Millennium Atlas Company Ltd, a non-profit making venture set up to publish a major book on the Petroleum Geology of the Central and Northern North Sea. He is a non-executive director of Ikon Science Ltd, a privately held software development and consulting company in the Oil and Gas sector.

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  Malcolm Thoms (Non-Executive Director)

  Malcolm holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics from Edinburgh University and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University. He started his career as a field engineer with Schlumberger and subsequently became manager of its businesses in Qatar and Brunei. He joined Cairn Energy PLC in 1989 where he held a number of senior management positions prior to his appointment as an Executive Director in 2000. His current position is Chief Operating Officer. Malcolm was a Non-Executive Director of Revus Energy ASA from 2003 to 2008. Currently, he is a Non-Executive Director of Cairn India Limited and also sits as a Trustee of The University of Edinburgh Development Trust.

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  Bengt Lie Hansen (Non-Executive Director)

  Bengt Lie Hansen has had a distinguished career with Statoil, Norsk Hydro, Deminex and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in Norway. Before his retirement from Statoil in 2010 he was President of Statoil in Russia where he had been working on the giant Shtokman project. Before the Statoil Hydro merger he was President of Norsk Hydro Russia.

  He was employed at Norsk Hydro from 1983 to 2007 with a wide range of senior roles including VP Finance and Control, E&P Division Senior VP Natural Gas, Senior VP Mid and Northern Norway responsible for the Ormen Lange Project, Senior VP International E&P. He also served as Vice President of Deminex from 1980 to 1983 and Head of Division, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy from 1978 to 1980. Bengt Lie Hansen serves as a Director of TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company L.P. and is a non-equity partner in the Oslo based law firm Selmer DA. He has a law degree from the University of Oslo and a Master of Economics and Business Administration from NHH in Bergen. He is also a visiting professor at the High North Centre for Business and Governance at Bodø Graduate School.

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  Graeme Sword (Non-Executive Director)

  Graeme has had a long career in the private equity industry and is recognised as being one of the leading private equity investors in the European energy sector. Having started his career with Unilever, Graeme joined the UK FTSE 100 listed 3i Group plc in 1995. He became a partner in 2001 and led 3i’s Oil, Gas & Power team from April 2002 until May 2009. Under Graeme’s tenure, 3i invested in a number of leading Exploration and Production companies including Revus, Venture Production, CH4 Energy, Salamander and Noreco, and oil service companies such as Dockwise, Petrofac, RBG and Vetco International. Graeme holds an MA from Dundee University.

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  Olivier Hopkes (Non-Executive Director)

  Olivier is the head of private equity & special situations at RIT Capital Partners plc.