Directors Profiles
Michael Blaha - Executive ChairmanTo top
Michael Blaha, is a petroleum engineer with twenty nine years industry experience in the Royal Dutch Shell Group (”Shell”). Until he became Executive Chairman of Cove, in October 2009, he was country chairman for Shell in Algeria, prior to which he held the positions of director external relations for EP Africa from 2003 to 2005, vice president EP for Russia (Salym, Sakhalin) from 2001 to 2003 and vice president EP Iran (Soroosh and Nowrooz) from 1998 to 2001. Earlier in his Shell career he worked at the Shell head offices in The Hague from where he developed business in China, Iran and Russia. He has also held senior roles in the Philippines, Syria, Thailand and the UK. Mr Blaha has an MSc in Chemistry from Universiteit van Amsterdam. He joined the Board in May 2009.
John Craven - Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”)To top
John Craven is a petroleum geologist with thirty five years’ experience in senior technical and commercial roles in upstream oil and gas exploration and production companies. Prior to joining Cove, he was founder and chief executive of AIM and ESM quoted, African and Mediterranean focused, exploration company, Petroceltic International plc (”Petroceltic”). Petroceltic grew under his direction and stewardship to a business with a diversified portfolio of exploration and appraisal projects in Italy, Algeria and Tunisia. Mr Craven has an MSc in Petroleum Geology from the Royal School of Mines in London and an MBA from Queens University in Belfast. He joined the Board in May 2009.
Michael Nolan - Finance DirectorTo top
Michael Nolan is a chartered accountant and has worked in the resource industry for seventeen years. He was chief executive officer of AIM-listed, mining company, Minmet Plc from 1999 to August 2007 and thereafter he was among the founders of Vancouver-based Rathdowney Resources Limited, a company which now trades on the TSX and where he remains as a non-executive director. He also serves on the board of several resource exploration and investment companies. Mr Nolan was re-appointed to the Board on 13 September 2009.
Frank Moxon - Senior Independent Non-executive DirectorTo top
Frank Moxon is a corporate financier with over twenty five years of industry experience, latterly at Williams de Broë, where he was head of corporate finance and head of natural resources and Evolution, before establishing his own natural resources consultancy Hoyt Moxon Ltd in 2008. Amongst other things he is also a non-executive director of TSX-V quoted Whetstone Minerals Ltd, plus quoted Imperial Minerals plc and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and chairman of its Corporate Finance Forum as well as a number of UK charities. He holds an economics degree from Loughborough University and is a fellow of the Energy Institute and a member of the Petroleum Exploration society of Great Britain. He joined the Board in December 2009.
Dr Stephen Staley - Non-executive DirectorTo top
Dr Stephen Staley, FGS, MBA, has considerable experience in the European, African and Asian oil and gas and power sectors. In 1986 he joined Conoco (UK) Limited as a geophysicist and worked on a wide variety of successful European exploration, development and production projects. Subsequently, he joined Midlands Power International Limited, later part of Cinergy Global Power Limited, a large US utility company. In 1997, he was appointed vice president of Cinergy Global Power Limited. While in this role he led the identification and acquisition or development to commercial operation of oil, gas and power opportunities in Europe, Africa and Asia. From 2005 to 2009 he was managing director of Independent Resources plc and he is the founder and managing director of Derwent Resources Limited, a UK based energy project management and consulting firm. He is a fellow of the Geological Society and a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain, the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers, the Association of MBAs and The Arctic Club. He joined the Board in February 2010.
Anthony Golding - Non-executive DirectorTo top
Mr Golding, a lawyer, is currently a consultant to leading law firm Thompson & Knight LLP. His practice is focused on corporate, finance and energy law with expertise in negotiations; mergers, acquisitions and disposals; private and public equity; and debt finance. He also held the position of Senior Associate, with law firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae from 2000 to 2005. In addition Mr Golding spent 14 years with the UK Independent and FTSE 100 upstream oil and gas company LASMO plc where he held a number of legal posts including Group General Counsel and US Business Manager from 1998 to 1999. He joined the Board in July 2010.
