Our People

Mr. Edward S. Sampson - Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Edward Sampson has excelled in the field of business management during the past 38 years. He has initiated and managed a series of successful business operations focused primarily on oil and gas exploration and development. Mr. Sampson was instrumental in the growth and development of a number of mid-sized Canadian public companies.

Mr. William T. Hornaday - Chief Operating Officer, Director

Mr. William Hornaday is a professional engineer with over 34 years of industry experience. He has worked in North America, India, Indonesia and Australia. Mr. Hornaday has extensive experience in all aspects of operations including project management, production, facilities, drilling and business development. He was previously executive Director & Chief Operating Officer for a successful intermediate size international gas and power generating company.

Mr. Jim Cummings - Director

Mr. Jim Cummings has been involved in the petroleum industry for the past 35 years. He graduated from The University of Alberta with a degree in Law, has practiced in government, corporate and private roles, specializing in international oil and gas law. Jim has served as Senior Counsel with the Attorney General of Alberta in the Constitutional and Energy Law Department, Senior Counsel with Home Oil, Vice-President and General Counsel with Asamera and Bow Valley and was formerly a partner in Donahue and Company. He is currently a partner in International Energy Counsel LLP and a director in a number of private corporations. He is a past Chair of the Association of General Counsel of Alberta and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Chapter of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.

Mr. Conrad Kathol - Director and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Conrad Kathol is an engineering graduate of the University of Alberta and has worked in the oil and gas industry for the past 38 years. He has worked as an exploration geologist in Western Canada and the United States and has a strong background in all aspects of the industry including modern exploration technology, reservoir engineering and economic evaluation.

Mr. Wendell Robinson - Director

Wendell Robinson joined Global Environment Fund as Managing Director from Rockefeller & Co. where he was responsible for Rockefeller’s worldwide private equity program. Mr. Robinson oversaw the investment and successful sale of more than $300 million in private equity and venture capital positions throughout Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Mr. Robinson has been the director of numerous corporations, as well as a member of investment advisory boards and investment committees for private investment funds and partnerships in Argentine, Brazil, China, Spain, France and the U.S. Mr. Robinson has over 45 years of experience in domestic and international financial, investment and company management.

Mr. Edward S. Sampson - Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Edward Sampson has excelled in the field of business management during the past 38 years. He has initiated and managed a series of successful business operations focused primarily on oil and gas exploration and development. Mr. Sampson was instrumental in the growth and development of a number of mid-sized Canadian public companies.

Mr. William T. Hornaday - Chief Operating Officer, Director

Mr. William Hornaday is a professional engineer with over 34 years of industry experience. He has worked in North America, India, Indonesia and Australia. Mr. Hornaday has extensive experience in all aspects of operations including project management, production, facilities, drilling and business development. He was previously executive Director & Chief Operating Officer for a successful intermediate size international gas and power generating company.

Mr. Murray E. Hesje - Vice President Finance, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Murray Hesje holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan. He has served in senior positions with a number of oil and gas companies. Murray was most recently Chief Operating Officer for Pearl Energy Limited, a company trading on the Singapore Stock Exchange and operating exclusively in S.E. Asia. Prior to Pearl Energy, Murray was with Gulf Canada Limited where he was Vice-President and Controller at the time of ConocoPhillips’s acquisition of Gulf Canada Limited. He then worked for ConocoPhillips Canada as Vice-President Finance.

Mr. Keith Rawlinson - Vice President Exploration

Mr. Keith Rawlinson graduated from Queens University with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Engineering) degree. He has over 27 years international exploration and management experience. He has been responsible for new ventures and exploration activities in Southeast Asia, Australasia and South America. His Canadian experience has been primarily in the Mackenzie Delta.

Mr. Gary Christenson - Vice President Indonesia Operations

Mr. Gary Christensen has 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, including positions as Chairman and CEO of Black Gold Energy; President and General Manager of Santos Indonesia; General Manager of Unocal Makassar and Senior Vice President and General Manager of Unocal Indonesia Deepwater Exploration and Production; Exploration Manager of British Gas Indonesia and British Gas Gabon. Unocal Indonesia Deepwater drilled over 100 deepwater exploration and appraisal wells resulting in the discovery of over 6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 100 million barrels of liquids; and developed and produced the West Seno field. British Gas Indonesia was part of the 7 trillion cubic feet Vorwata gas discovery which anchors the Tangguh LNG plant.

Mr. Gerold Fong - Vice President Caribbean Region

Mr. Gerold Fong is a Petroleum Geophysicist with over 27 years of international and frontier exploration experience. Prior to joining Niko Resources Mr. Fong was President and CEO of Voyager Energy Ltd. where as one of the founders of the company he assembled a substantial landholding in Trinidad. Prior to Voyager Energy Mr. Fong was an exploration consultant and provided project management and geophysical consulting services to various local and international exploration companies. He has also held senior exploration positions with Petro-Canada, Bow Valley Energy and Chauvco Resources. Mr. Fong has worked on a diverse number of exploration and development projects on almost every continent of the world.

Mr. Brian Adolph - Vice President/Country Manager – Kurdistan and Madagascar

Mr. Brian Adolph, is a professional engineer with over 31 years of industry experience including 15 years internationally. He has worked worldwide including North America, Indonesia, Peru, Hungary, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Australia and New Zealand. He has received a Bachelor of Science (Civil Engineering) degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He has strong managerial, operational and technical skills in developing and optimizing oil and gas projects in an international setting.

Mr. Larry Fisher - Vice President/Country Manager - India, Bangladesh and Pakistan

Mr. Larry Fisher, is a professional engineer with over 31 years experience including 16 years internationally in engineering, operations and management in the petroleum and mining sectors. He has and B. Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta. His international experience has exposed him to many diverse cultures and he has led the international engineering and operating initiatives for a large international oil and gas company.