About Us » Board
Board of Directors
Andrew James Morris, Non-Executive Chairman
Andrew Morris, aged 44, has extensive international business experience and sits on the Board of several companies, ranging from early stage resource companies to emerging technology companies. He was founder of Persistency Capital, a private investment company, where he has acted as both investor in, and adviser to, companies across a broad range of sectors and geographies. He became a director of Madagascar Oil in October 2008 and his other current directorships include serving as Executive Chairman of Blake Oil and Gas Limited, which has operations in the country of Georgia, Chairman of Kriisa Research Inc, a venture stage alternative energy company, Director of Southwest Energy Ltd, an oil and gas exploration company in Ethiopia, and Director of Falcon Oil and Gas Ltd, a TSXV listed company with assets in Hungary, Australia and South Africa. Previously, Mr. Morris spent 15 years in the financial services industry, including being a Director of Ernst & Young in London where he advised a broad range of organizations on Enterprise Risk Management including advice on corporate governance, management reporting, financial control, operational risk and process improvement. Mr. Morris holds a BSc (Hons.) degree in Mathematics from Bristol University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Paul William Ellis, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Ellis has over 40 years' experience in the areas of exploration, production, development and management of international oil and gas ventures and most recently CEO of Serica Energy Plc from 2005 to 2011. Prior to this role, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Emerald Energy plc, which operated heavy oil fields in Colombia. He commenced his oil industry career as a petroleum reservoir engineer with British Petroleum. He also served as Technical Director of Charterhouse Petroleum, Director International E&P of British Gas and Senior Vice President International of PanCanadian Petroleum (now Encana) in Canada.
In these senior roles he has held technical and financial responsibility for new ventures and projects in over 20 countries. Mr. Ellis is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Ian Christopher Simon Barby, Non-Executive Director
Ian Barby, aged 67, practiced as a Barrister before joining Warburg Investment Management Ltd in 1985, subsequently becoming a vice chairman of Mercury Asset Management plc and latterly, until 2003, a managing director of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. He is currently chairman of Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc and Ecofin Water and Power Opportunities plc, as well as being a director of BlackRock World Mining Trust plc, Schroder Income and Growth Fund plc, Pantheon International Participations plc and SR Europe Investment Trust plc. Mr. Barby holds an M.A. in History & Law from Cambridge University.
Peter Eric Kingston, Non-Executive Director
Mr. Kingston has over 45 years’ experience in the areas of exploration, production, development and management of international oil and gas ventures and most recently has been appointed to the boards of Lochard Energy Group Plc (the AIM listed oil and gas company) and Vintage Resources Limited. Mr. Kingston began his career at Shell International Petroleum Mij, working throughout the Middle East, the North Sea, and Australia, and played a leading role in the development of some of Shell’s earliest oilfield developments in the North Sea. Since then he has held positions in a number of oil and gas companies, the most significant of which include Enterprise Oil Plc as a founder director, SOCO International Plc as the Senior Independent Director and Tower Resources Plc as Executive Chairman, as well as acting as an independent technical consultant to a number of oil and gas companies, both national and international.
Mr. Kingston is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Institute of Directors. Mr. Kingston’s background brings both corporate and technical expertise to the Board, and the Company looks forward to his formal appointment.
John (Iain) Alexander Patrick, Non-Executive Director
Mr. Patrick has ca. 30 years experience in the international oil and gas industry. After graduating with an LL.M in 1980, Iain worked as an oil industry lawyer before joining Monument Oil and Gas plc in 1988 where he held the position of Commercial Director until the sale of the company in 1999. Iain then co-founded PWX Limited, a consultancy providing business development support to a number of oil and gas companies. In 2006, Iain was appointed as Director of Commercial & Legal Affairs of Gulf Keystone Petroleum (UK) Limited, before joining Edgo Energy limited as the Commercial Director in 2008. Iain is currently CEO of the oil and gas consultancy, Trinity Energy Limited.