Charle Gamba, President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Gamba founded Canacol Energy Ltd. in 2008. He has held a variety of technical and management roles with major and mid-sized international oil companies, with the majority of his professional career focused on E&P in South America. Prior to creating Canacol, Mr. Gamba was Vice President of Exploration for Occidental Oil & Gas Company based in Bogota, Colombia. In his 8 years with Occidental, he has lived and worked in Ecuador, Qatar, Colombia, and the United States, working in a variety of technical and management roles. Mr. Gamba has also worked for Alberta Energy Company in Argentina and Ecuador, and for Canadian Occidental in Australia, Canada, and Indonesia. He started his career as a geologist with Imperial Oil in Calgary, and holds an MSc and PhD in Geology.
Mark Holliday, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Holliday joined the Company from Petrominerales Ltd., where he was Vice President, Operations. Mr. Holliday has over 25 years in the international oil and gas industry working in drilling, completions, and production. Mr. Holliday's primary focus is South America, but he has managed projects in Australia and China. Mr. Holliday holds a BSc degree in Petroleum Engineering.
Mark Teare, Vice President, Exploration
Mr. Teare joined Canacol from Encana Corporation. At Encana, he held a series of senior management positions in Ecuador and Brazil. Mr. Teare has over 20 years of experience with different senior international Canadian energy companies operating in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. He holds a MSc degree in Geology.
George Gramatke, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Gramatke is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of domestic and international finance and accounting experience. Most recently, Mr. Gramatke held Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer positions with several public and private companies based in Calgary. Prior thereto, Mr. Gramatke was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Russia and Central Asia, and a Senior Manager with KPMG in Canada.
Dr. Luis Baena, MPA, MIA, MD, VP of Business Development-Colombia
Dr. Baena holds an MD, MPA, MIA from the Universities of Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Universidad Externado de Colombia, and Columbia University of New York. He has significant experience in the public and the private sector in Colombia. In the public sector, Dr. Baena was the Secretary of Health of Bogota for 2 years and the Welfare Commissioner of the Country for 4 years. In the private sector, Dr. Baena has managed several enterprises, the last one being in the telecommunications industry, which he sold to Telmex, a company owned by Carlos Slim. In the oil & gas industry, Dr. Baena represented BGP in Colombia as branch of CNPC, the Chinese Oil and Gas Company, and was one of the founders of Canacol Energy Ltd.
Diego A. Carvajal, Vice President, New Ventures
Mr. Carvajal is a Geologist with over 30 years of experience in E&P activities, mainly in Colombia but also internationally. Prior to joining Canacol, Mr. Carvajal was the Chief Executive Officer of Carrao Energy Ltd., a private oil and gas exploration company he co-founded and co-managed until its acquisition by the Corporation in November 2011. He was the former Vice President Exploration of Ecopetrol (Colombian State Oil Company) and responsible for all exploration activities in country and overseas. Prior to that, Mr. Carvajal worked for Texaco and British Petroleum, both in Colombia and abroad. Mr. Carvajal has been President of the Colombian Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists (affiliated to AAPG) and a Professor at the Graduate School of Geoscience of the National University of Colombia.
Anthony Zaidi, Vice President, Business Development & General Counsel
Mr. Zaidi is a lawyer and businessman with significant experience in corporate finance and in the mining and energy sector in Colombia. Prior to joining Canacol, Mr. Zaidi was the President and General Counsel of Carrao Energy Ltd., a private oil and gas exploration company he co-founded and co-managed until its acquisition by the Corporation in November 2011. Prior to Carrao, he had been an officer or director of several private and public companies, including Integral Oil Services, Pacific Rubiales Energy, Petromagdalena Energy, Medoro Resources and others, as well as a securities lawyer at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. Mr. Zaidi holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toronto as well as a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree from McGill University.
Kevin Flick, Vice President
Mr. Flick joined the Company in June 2010 from TransAtlantic Petroleum, where he led business development and investor relations. Prior to TransAtlantic, Mr. Flick led business development, capital formation, and mergers and acquisitions for various start-up and Fortune 1000 enterprises, participating in over 20 transactions with an aggregate value of US $22 billion. Mr. Flick started his career with investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and later private equity firm Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst. He holds a BBA in Finance.
Nicolas Acuna, Vice President, Finance
Mr. Acuña has 17 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in Colombia in the finance and administrative areas. Previously he worked for Cepsa Colombia as Finance, Administration and IT Manager and held various senior management positions in Petrocolombia S.A., including Finance and Administration Manager and General Manager of an affiliate operating company. He holds an MBA from Inalde, a MSc in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University and a BSc in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de los Andes.