The Board is committed to promoting high standards of corporate governance and understands that an effective, challenging and diverse board is essential to enable the company to deliver its strategy in line with shareholders’ and stakeholders’ long-term interests, whilst also generating confidence that the business in conducting itself in a responsible manner.
Craig van der Laan
Non-Executive ChairCraig was appointed as Non-Executive Chair in February 2023.
Skills and experience
- B.A. and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), University of Sydney
A qualified lawyer, Craig has nearly three decades of senior international executive experience across a wide range of industries, including multinational public companies at FTSE100 and ASX20 level with exposure to operations in over 50 countries. He is an experienced driver of strategic initiatives, complex transactions, portfolio reconstructions and capital market activities with a strong commitment to delivering the highest standards of corporate governance at Capricorn.
Craig has had an extensive international career with a range of large public companies in operational, functional, legal/M&A, special project leadership and unique advisory roles.
He has had deep exposure to the interaction between the public and private sectors and has a strong understanding of the roles and expectations of boards as well as their interactions with executive management.
Most recently, Craig was CEO of the New South Wales Government’s Barangaroo Delivery Authority (2014-2019) where he was responsible for a high-profile A$10 billion infrastructure and urban renewal project.
Craig held several positions with the Brambles Group, including as President of Brambles’ CHEP logistics/network business across the Asia Pacific region, Global Head of M&A, Group General Counsel and Group Company Secretary.
He also held senior executive and advisory roles with the Westfield Group, Transurban Group, CIMIC Group, Lend Lease Corporation and the Foster’s Group, and a non-executive directorship at SHAPE Group.
Key external appointments
- None
Committee membership
- Nomination and Governance Committee - Chair
Randy Neely
Chief ExecutiveRandy was appointed as an Executive Director in June 2023.
Skills and experience
- Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting, University of Calgary
Randy has more than 30 years of industry experience in executive and financial roles, including CFO of Zodiac Exploration, CFO of Pearl Exploration & Production and CFO of Trident Exploration.
Most recently, he was President and CEO of TransGlobe Energy, an Egypt-focused production and development business with operations in the Eastern and Western Deserts. At TransGlobe Energy Randy led negotiations which resulted in an amended, extended and consolidated Production Sharing Contract with EGPC in Egypt, and ultimately the negotiations which led to the merger between TransGlobe and VAALCO Energy in October 2022.
Randy obtained designations as a Chartered Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Key external appointments
- None
Committee membership
- Sustainability Committee
Maria Gordon
Non-Executive DirectorMaria was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in February 2023.
Skills and experience
- Master’s, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
- Bachelor’s in Political Science, University of Wisconsin
- Chartered Financial Analyst
- Corporate Director Certificate, Harvard Business School
Maria has strong governance experience, having served as chair, senior director and committee member of various public companies. She currently serves as Non-Executive Chair of Constellation Oil Services, a deep-water drilling oil services company based in Brazil. She has two decades of direct investment experience in senior roles, including as Head of Emerging Markets Equity Strategy at Goldman Sachs and PIMCO. With that she brings considerable expertise in portfolio management and equity and debt capital markets.
Key external appointments
- Non-Executive Chair, Constellation Oil Services
Committee membership
- Remuneration Committee – Chair
- Audit Committee
- Nomination and Governance Committee
Richard Herbert
Senior Independent DirectorRichard was appointed as a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director in February 2023.
Skills and experience
- Bachelor’s in Geology, University of Bristol
Richard is a petroleum geologist with over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas sector, including leading executive roles across the world's major hydrocarbon provinces. Most recently, Richard served as CEO of Frontera Energy Corporation and global head of exploration for BP.
His career started at Phillips Petroleum, followed by 19 years at BP in senior exploration and development positions spanning Southeast Asia, Latin America, the US, Angola and the UK North Sea. After leaving BP, Richard spent 6 years with TNK-BP in Russia, serving first as VP Exploration and then EVP Technology. After that he worked in Canada as Vice-President, Exploration of Talisman Energy for 5 years, before returning to BP as Head of Exploration in 2013.
Key external appointments
- CEO, Angus Energy plc
- Non-Executive Director, PGS ASA
Committee membership
- Audit Committee
- Remuneration Committee
Hesham Mekawi
Non-Executive Deputy ChairmanHesham was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in February 2023.
Skills and experience
- Advanced Management Program (AMP), Harvard Business School
- MBA, Boston University
- Bachelor’s in Engineering, Cairo University
Hesham is an accomplished senior corporate executive with over 30 years’ experience at BP, serving most recently as Regional President of BP North Africa. He brings considerable industry knowledge and experience of the North Africa, having developed strong political and business relationships in the region.
As Regional President for BP North Africa (2014-2020), Hesham was responsible for a business that spans Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Morocco.
He transformed BP's Egypt business by identifying and translating complex growth opportunities into tangible outcomes, including leading successful negotiations for the modernisation of the fiscal and commercial terms of BP's Egyptian concessions.
He led the merger between BP Egypt and BP North Africa to create a more responsive and performance-driven organisation, resulting in significantly reduced costs, improved efficiency and outstanding growth potential for BP’s North Africa business.
Hesham held various roles with BP and Amoco earlier in his career, focusing on financial operations, strategic planning, economic analysis and business development across locations in Cairo, Houston, Chicago and London.
Key external appointments
- Non-Executive Director, Orange Egypt
- Non-Executive Director, Egypt’s Sovereign Infrastructure & Utilities Sub-Fund
Committee membership
- Nomination and Governance Committee
- Sustainability Committee
Tom Pitts
Non-Executive DirectorTom was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in February 2023.
Skills and experience
- Master’s degree, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge
He has over 25 years’ investment banking and private equity experience in public and private markets. He is currently a partner at LionRock Capital, having previously served in senior leadership positions at firms including Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and D.E. Shaw. Tom has broad experience in emerging markets, capital markets and structuring of complex financial products.
He is currently Head of Europe and an investment committee member at LionRock Capital, a private equity firm investing primarily in Europe and Asia. Prior to joining LionRock, Tom was a managing director at Credit Suisse, where he ran distribution and coverage groups involved in leveraged finance, credit, equity derivatives, cash equities and private placements.
He has direct investment experience in numerous emerging and frontier markets, including Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Laos.
Key external appointments
- Director, Haglöfs AB
- Non-Executive Vice Chairman, Harmony Advisors
- Non-Executive Director, SiGi Capital
Committee membership
- Audit Committee – Chair
- Remuneration Committee
Patrice Merrin
Non-Executive DirectorPatrice was appointed as Non-Executive Director in June 2023.
Skills and experience
- B.A. Politics & Psychology, Queen’s University
- Completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD
Patrice Merrin is a high-quality corporate director, with significant experience across the energy, resources and commodity sectors. She served for nine years until May 2023 as an independent Non-Executive Director of Glencore plc, where she chaired the Ethics, Culture and Compliance Committee and was a member of the Health, Safety, Environment and Communities Committee and the Investigations Committee.
In 2022, Patrice joined the board of Lancium, Inc., a leading energy technology and infrastructure private company dedicated to accelerating the energy transition. Patrice also serves as Chair of Metals Acquisition Limited, the new owner of the CSA (Cobar) copper mine in New South Wales, Australia.
Previous roles held by Patrice include President, CEO and Director of Luscar Ltd., Canada’s largest thermal coal producer, prior to which she had been EVP and COO of Sherritt International, a Canadian diversified miner, energy producer and power generator. In addition, she was a Director of Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation, created to support Alberta’s initiatives on climate change and the reduction of emissions.
Key external appointments
- Chair, Metals Acquisition Limited
- Lead Independent Director, Lancium Inc.
Committee membership
- Sustainability Committee - Chair
- Nomination and Governance Committee