James H. Coleman – Chairman – Non-executive Director

Mr. Coleman is a senior partner in the law firm Macleod Dixon LLP and has been involved in banking, corporate, securities, mining and oil and gas transactions in Canada, the United States, Europe, Central and South America, Africa and Asia. He has also been involved in a number of large divestments and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and major financings within the energy sector. As a director of a number of public companies, including mining and oil and gas companies, he has chaired various independent committees of public companies relating to corporate governance and securities matters. Mr. Coleman graduated from Saint Francis Xavier University and Dalhousie University and was called to the Alberta Bar in 1975. He was appointed as Chairman of Arawak in May 2003.

Alastair D. McBain – President & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. McBain has over 28 years’ experience in the oil industry, the first 16 of which were with Shell where he held numerous senior international positions, including assignments in Singapore, Dubai, China and Venezuela. He also worked in Shell’s natural gas business with specific responsibility for the development of liquefied natural gas projects. He joined Vitol in 1995 to head up the growth of Arawak’s portfolio of upstream assets. Mr. McBain is a graduate of Oxford University and became President and CEO of Arawak, as well as a Director, in September 2002.

Charles R.A. Carter – Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Carter is a chartered accountant having trained at Deloitte Haskins & Sells in London (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP), and was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Arawak in September 2004. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Carter spent over six years at Deloitte Haskins & Sells, including 18 months on secondment to National Grid plc at the time of the company’s privatisation. He subsequently joined National Grid, spending nine years in senior international business development and finance roles, including periods of time living and working in India and Australia. His final role at National Grid was as director of Corporate Finance. Mr. Carter holds an honours degree in mathematics from Oxford University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Mr. Carter was appointed as a Director of Arawak in July 2008.

Shahveer P. Kapadia – Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Kapadia is a petroleum engineer with 28 years’ project management and operations experience in the international oil and gas industry. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Arawak in January 2005. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Kapadia held the position of Senior Vice President of Samson International Ltd. Mr. Kapadia holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Business Administration from Oklahoma City University. Mr. Kapadia was appointed as a Director of Arawak in July 2008.

Michael D. Volcko – Vice President Business Development

Mr. Volcko is a petroleum engineer with 22 years’ petroleum industry experience. He was appointed Vice President, Business Development of Arawak in November 2005. Prior to his appointment, he was the President and founder of Altius from May 1999. Previously, Mr. Volcko worked for PanCanadian Petroleum Limited for over thirteen years, initially performing reservoir and production engineering functions for domestic Canadian operations. and subsequently performing technical evaluations for the International Division, including projects in South East Asia, Australia, North Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Upon the company’s exit from Kazakhstan, Mr. Volcko became Project Coordinator, South America and in 1998, Manager, Engineering and Development International. Mr. Volcko holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary. Mr. Volcko was appointed as a Director of Arawak in July 2008.

Phillip de Boos-Smith – Non-executive Director

From 1959 until his retirement in 1998, Mr. de Boos-Smith held various senior executive finance and administrative positions within the Total S.A. group of companies in Australia, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, including Managing Director and CEO of Total Oil Great Britain Limited. For over 37 years, he was a member of a number of professional institutes and organisations including the Australian Society of Accountants (now Certified Practising Accountants), the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and the Institute of Petroleum UK (MIP) and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. Mr. de Boos-Smith was appointed as a Director of Arawak in June 2005.

Nicholas J. Clayton – Non-executive Director

Mr. Clayton has been providing strategic and corporate finance advice to a number of public and private oil and gas companies since January 2007. Since June 2008 he has also been a non-executive director of Artumas Group Inc., an international oil company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Between August 2005 and December 2006 he was Global Co-Head of Oil and Gas Corporate Finance for Canaccord Adams, a Canadian broker-dealer, located in London. Prior to this, Mr. Clayton held the position of Global Head of Oil and Gas Corporate Finance for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the investment bank, having previously been Global Head of Oil and Gas Research. Mr. Clayton began his career at BP having obtained a first class honours degree in business studies from the University of Portsmouth. Mr. Clayton was appointed as a Director of Arawak in June 2007.

Ross D.S. Douglas – Non-executive Director

Mr. Douglas is the President and CEO of Mancal Corporation. From September 1999 to May 2008 he was President and CEO of Mancal Energy Inc. (a private Canadian controlled company). Prior to this, from June 1995 to July 1999, he was President and CEO of Highridge Exploration Ltd, a public company previously listed on the TSX, and from March 1993 to November 1994 he was President and CEO of Atlantis Resources Ltd. Mr. Douglas graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Douglas was appointed as a Director of Arawak in June 2005.

Alan Duncan MP – Non-executive Director

Mr. Duncan has been a Conservative MP in the UK for 16 years, and is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. He worked for Shell between 1979 and 1981 and as an oil trader for Marc Rich from 1982 to 1988. He ran his own oil advisory company for several years, during which time his clients included Vitol and he maintains extensive contacts in the Middle East and Pakistan. He is currently a non-executive director of Catalytic Solutions Inc., an AIM-quoted company, which designs and manufactures precious-metal-based emissions catalysts. Mr Duncan was educated at St. John’s College, Oxford University, where he was President of the Oxford Union, and as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard. Mr. Duncan was appointed as a Director of Arawak in April 2008.

Malcolm C. Hope-Ross – Non-executive Director

Mr. Hope-Ross is the Chairman and CEO of Counsel Limited, an Anguillan company whose primary business is the management of offshore companies. Prior to this, he worked in Trinidad for a number of years where he occupied several senior management positions, including Chief Accountant of BP (Trinidad) Ltd. and Financial Controller of one of Trinidad’s largest conglomerates. Mr. Hope-Ross joined Touche Ross & Co, Trinidad in 1974 and was made a partner with responsibility for oil company audits shortly thereafter. Mr. Hope-Ross holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Cork, Ireland and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr. Hope-Ross was appointed as a Director of Arawak in August 2001.

Audit Committee
  • Nicholas Clayton (Chairman)
  • Malcolm Hope-Ross
  • Phillip de Boos-Smith
Environment, Health & Safety Committee
  • Phillip de Boos-Smith (Chairman)
  • Ross Douglas
Nominations Committee
  • Nicholas Clayton (Chairman)
  • Alan Duncan M.P.
  • Malcolm Hope-Ross
Remuneration Committee
  • Alan Duncan M.P. (Chairman)
  • Ross Douglas
  • Malcolm Hope-Ross
Reserves Committee
  • Ross Douglas (Chairman)
  • Nicholas Clayton
  • Phillip de Boos-Smith