Team

Our dedicated key people

Andrew Shrager

CEO

A well-respected private investor with long experience in investment banking. Some of his main roles include senior adviser at Renaissance Capital (emerging markets), senior advisor to Merrill Lynch (Energy & Power group throughout Russia and Central Europe), especialy the British Petroleum TNK acquisition, director of corporate finance at Lazard Brothers – advisor for both the Central Electricity Generating Board on privatization and National Power on its IPO, director of Utilyx, 2001-2012, director of GeoDynamics Worldwide since 2010.

Robin Sutherland

Senior Technical Advisor

Following a BSc in Geophysics from Edinburgh University Robin relocated to Tunis more than 30 years ago and has been based in Africa since. He has held a variety of technical and leadership roles in African oil and gas, joining the highly respected Energy Africa team in 1997 and leading Tullow’s exploration team through the discovery and appraisal of the Jubilee and TEN fields in Ghana before becoming exploration GM for the continent. Since leaving Tullow he has focussed on promoting investment and economic growth while reducing the significant impact of climate change on Africa.

Jonathan Bedford

Technical Director

He works directly with growth stage companies on strategy optimisation and execution, leveraging his strong combination of skill gained from working in global Oilfield Services, E&P and financial institutions. These include Simmons & Co, where he worked in the Corporate Finance group focused on BD/origination, Schlumberger wireline, where he spent most of his career, serving in a range of roles including technology interpretation development, global reservoir characterisation technical community leadership, and Sun Oil where he began his career as an explorationist.

Constantine Tripodis

Finance

Costa is an internationally accomplished and experienced executive having held CEO and CFO roles in a variety of industries and geographies. He is a professional accountant with an MBA and has had early experience as an Oil & Gas banker. More recently, he has been advising Private Equity, Fintech and Telco companies with operations across Africa.

Yuri Perez

Technical Consultant

Yuri is a Petroleum Geologist with 21y in upstream. Holds a MSc. in Petroleum Geology from University of Pinar Del Rio, Cuba (2008). He worked at the Cuban National Oil Company (9y), at the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Namibia (3y). He is an Exploration Manager at Pioneer. His professional expertise comprises Hydrocarbon Potential assessment (conventional and non-conventional), oil & gas fields exploration, onshore & offshore evaluation, basin analysis, petroleum systems analysis, structural geology, geostatistics, seismic interpretation, potential field data processing and interpretation.

Raydel Toirac Proenza

Consultant Geologist

Toirac is an Exploration Geologist with 18y experience in oil and gas industry. Worked for the Cuban National Oil Company (CUPET)(10y) and for the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Namibia (2y). At Pioneer he specializes in integrating G&G data with main focus on seismic interpretation, well correlation, basin analysis, evaluation of leads and prospects, reserve estimation. Experience in several drilling campaigns as wellsite/operation geologist both onshore and offshore. Skilled with Petrel, Autodesk Map, ArcGis. Speaks fluently Spanish and English.

Carlo Brentari

Geologist

Carlo holds a M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Padova, Italy and a MBA in Energy and Environmental Management and Economics from Eni Corporate University, Milan, Italy. He joined Eni in 2007 as a geophysicist for time-lapse reservoir studies. Experienced in managing geological and geophysical data for Oil & Gas exploration, he also has several years of experience on GIS-based softwares. He fluently speaks English, Spanish, Italian.

Michele Armano

Physicist, Ph.D.

Michele holds a a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Trento, Italy. He worked at the University of Trento and with the Consorzio Criospazio Ricerche for the gravitational waves LISA pathfinder experiment, in his Ph.D. education program. Since 2007 is a Scientist for the LISA Pathfinder (LPF) Space Mission of the European Space Agency in Madrid and further in the Netherlands. He supports MEL in its data processing as well as technical presentations and discussions with investors. He fluently speaks English, Spanish, Italian. His support is until 30/11/2023.

Elisa Alessia Ugrinova

Project Manager

Graduated from the University of Furtwangen, Germany, in Business Management. She gained skills in team work, organizing and planning as well as problem solving with her experience at Robert Bosch GmbH and Microsoft GmbH. Entered the oil & gas sector in 2007, first in the finance and administration team, then eventually took up end-to-end project coordination, commercial negotiation and resource management. With 22y of international experience, she fluently speaks English, Italian, Russian, German and Bulgarian.

Our partners

Geodynamics WorldWide

Passive seismic exploration

Geodynamics offers geophysical and geological services, as well as expert consultancy to the Oil & Gas industry. Its services are designed to reduce the risk of Oil & Gas exploration and development plans by minimizing the capital expenditure and by concentrating the efforts of other geophysical methods. Geodynamics specializes in: Passive Seismic in frequency and time domains processing and analysis, resulting in Spectroscopy, Micro-Seismic, and Depth to Basement outputs; Remote Sensing through satellite imaging; Geochemical analysis of the subsurface.

Pioneer Oil and Gas

Oil & Gas consulting

Pioneer is an exploration company operating from Windhoek, Namibia. It offers consultancy services to both the Mineral and Petroleum Sectors. Established in 2006, Pioneer focuses on the field of Earth Sciences. Pioneer specializes in: Exploration Licence Application and Administration; Exploration and Development; Geochemical, Geotechnical and Geophysical surveys; Resource Valuation; GIS and Data Management; Environmental studies; Groundwater exploration. Pioneer offers unique help with local logistics and local administration.

E&P Geo Field Services

Surface geochemistry

EP combines multidisciplinary know-how of Oil & Gas professionals with experience in traditional exploration and new innovating technologies for the Oil and Gas Industry. EP offers expertise in Surface Geochemistry, different techniques not only to identify the location of hydrocarbon microseepage, but also to determine the composition of those migrating hydrocarbons. The added value is substantial reduction of risk and cost associated with the exploration for hydrocarbons by specializing in tailoring our exploration tools to clients’ exploration needs.

Airbus Defence

Remote sensing

Through its intelligence portfolio, Airbus Defence and Space is recognized as a World leader in geo-information. Airbus brings in unmatched access to Earth observation satellite imagery, unique expertise and decades of experience in one organization. We partner with Airbus mostly for their Geological interpretation and Thermal anomaly assessment. They provide various image enhancements and conduct an onshore anomaly interpretation, based on the identification of thermal and vegetation health variation which may indicate the occurrence of hydrocarbon macro seeps.

PBG Geophysical Exploration

G & G services

PBG offers a broad range of non-invasive geophysical methods for minerals, geothermal and hydrocarbon exploration. Some of their geophysical methods include EM, GPR, VLF; ERT, VES; Gravity; Magnetic; MT, IP, TDEM. They operate worldwide and have a highly-trained staff of geophysicists with good professional experience and international practice. PBG operates high-technology measurement equipment for data acquisition and use professional software for processing and interpretation of data. PBG is based in Poland but operates internationally since the 1950’s.