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Meet Our Team

Tom
Fontaine

Director
Chief Executive Officer
Bio+

Thomas Fontaine, our Chief Executive Officer, serves a member of our board of directors, is an engineer and energy entrepreneur who holds board roles in both the energy and technology sectors. He is a director at Halocell Energy Pty Ltd (since August 2019), where he drives the commercialization of printed Perovskite Solar Cell technology, Chairman of Chameleon Innovations Australia (CIA) Pty Ltd (since January 2017), overseeing global product marking and authentication solutions, and a director of Homerun Resources Inc. (OTCQB: HMRFF) (since May 2025). Since 2012, he has been director of Petro Australis Energy Ltd, advising on international energy exploration, and since 2010, Founder and director of Acumen Energy Pty Ltd, developing projects in emerging markets such as Botswana and Nepal. In addition, Mr. Fontaine currently serves as a director on the boards of Rhino Energy Pty Ltd (since 2007), Intelligent Fingerprint Pty Ltd (since 2014) and Sobu Energy Pty Ltd (since 2011). Previously, Mr. Fontaine was non-executive director of Advent Energy Ltd (2019–director of GSL Rescue Group Pty Ltd (from 2018—2022), director of Lumira Energy Ltd (from 2019—2021), director of Sure Energy Resources Ltd (from 2009—2022), director of Kinetiko Energy Ltd (from 2021—2023), and director of Magnum Gas & Power Ltd (2010–2016), leading coal seam gas and hybrid energy projects in Africa and Canada. He co-founded Pure Energy Resources Limited (2006–2009), which was acquired for over A$1 billion, and Bounty Oil & Gas N.L. (2002–2006), taking both companies from inception to public listing. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at Focal Software Consulting Inc. (1997–2002). Mr. Fontaine holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Alberta and is recognized for his expertise in energy entrepreneurship, capital markets, and technology commercialization.

David
Wood

Director
Chief Financial Officer
Bio+

David Wood, our Chief Financial Officer and who will serve as a member of our board of directors commencing on the effective date of this prospectus, has spent more than 35 years in corporate finance, with a career spanning investment banking, management consulting, and executive leadership in both public and private companies across the energy, mining, technology, and financial sectors. Mr. Wood has acted as a fractional CFO and consultant for various clients, guiding them through complex financial processes including S-1 preparation, budgeting, and M&A modeling. From February 2023 to December 2023, Mr. Wood served as a financial consultant and fractional CFO of Focused Energy LLC. From February 2022 to December 2022, Mr. Wood served as a financial consultant and fractional CFO of FocusCFO. From February 2021 to February 2022, Mr. Wood served as a financial consultant and fractional CFO of LightJump Capital LLC and C-Suite Support, Inc. From May 2019 to February 2021, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Aloompa, LLC, and from November 2015 to August 2021, he was a non-executive director, investor, and advisor to DigiFabster Inc. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Wood was Chief Financial Officer, Acting Chief Executive Officer, and director of Rose Group International LLC (GB: RGI). In 2011 and 2012, he served as director of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations for RusPetro plc (LSE: RPO), where he played a pivotal role in the company’s $250 million premium listing on the London Stock Exchange. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Wood served as Chief Financial Officer and director of Amur Minerals Corporation (AIM: AMC), a nickel exploration company focused on Russia, where he managed the company’s AIM listing and multiple financings, and from 2004 to 2007, he was Finance director for Concorde Oil & Gas plc, overseeing a $40 million acquisition and related financing. From 1996 to 2002, he was a management consultant and later director at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Moscow and Almaty, where he led the Management Consulting and Corporate Finance practice and advised major oil & gas and industrial clients. He began his career as an Associate at TD Securities Inc. in New York from 1989 to 1992. Mr. Wood holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, cum laude, from New York University and a Master of Business Administration from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

Richard
Lorentz, Jr.

Independent Director
Bio+

Richard Lorentz, Jr. will serve as a member of our board of directors commencing on the effective date of this prospectus. Mr. Lorentz is a petroleum geologist and energy executive with over 40 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. Since July 2017, Mr. Lorentz has served as Chief Executive Director of CKR Resources Pte Ltd, a company he co-founded, where he leads strategic direction and business development. From September 2009 to June 2017, Mr. Lorentz was a co-founder and Executive Director of KrisEnergy Limited, where he was responsible for raising seed capital, securing a US$500 million equity line commitment, and taking the company public on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2013. During his tenure, he led multiple capital raises, including approximately US$330 million in secured bonds and a revolving credit facility, and oversaw a significant financial restructuring. By the end of 2016, KrisEnergy managed a portfolio of 19 contract areas across five countries, with proven and probable reserves exceeding 75 million barrels of oil and gas and daily production of nearly 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Prior to KrisEnergy, Mr. Lorentz served as a co-founder and Director of Business Development at Pearl Energy Ltd from January 2000 to August 2008, where he led the acquisition of 13 contract areas, supervised a technical team of approximately 180 professionals, and was instrumental in taking the company public on the Singapore Exchange in 2005. Pearl Energy was subsequently sold to Aabar Petroleum and later to Mubadala. Mr. Lorentz also held senior roles at Franklin Offshore Pte Ltd (Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director, July 2007 to May 2013), Miclyn Express Offshore (Non-Executive Independent Director, June 2004 to September 2020), and Global Tender Barges Pte Ltd (Non-Executive Independent Director, June 2010 to August 2011). Earlier in his career, Mr. Lorentz held management and technical positions at ELF Aquitaine S.A. (Manager, New Business Development, Asia Pacific, August 1998 to December 1999), Gulf Indonesian Resources Ltd (New Ventures Manager/Exploration Manager, August 1991 to August 1998), Asamera (South Sumatra) Ltd (Senior Production Geologist, October 1988 to July 1991), Anglo-Suisse, Inc. (Senior Explorationist, January 1986 to September 1988), and Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp (Senior Field Geologist, November 1980 to November 1981). Mr. Lorentz holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Science in Geology from the University of the Philippines.

Andrew
Childs

Independent Director
Bio+

Andrew Ross Childs will serve as a member of our board of directors commencing on the effective date of this prospectus. Mr Childs is a seasoned Resource Sector entrepreneur and business executive, has been actively involved in the Australian and International Oil & Gas and Mineral Exploration industries for over three decades. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology & Zoology from Otago University in New Zealand. He is currently a director of Aeramentum Resources Limited (since January 2025), involved in mineral exploration in Chile & Cypress and a NED at Xstate Resources Limited (since April 2020), where he oversees Oil & Gas Exploration and Production. Mr. Childs also serves as a director of Brazell Pty Ltd (since May 2011), a private family company supporting investment initiatives, Goldfellas 2 Pty Ltd (since October 2024), Petroleum Ventures Pty Ltd (since September 2000), and XST Diona Pty Ltd (since December 2024), which is focused on Oil & Gas Exploration in Queensland Australia. Previously, Mr Childs held directorships across a range of resource and energy companies, driving growth and operational excellence. He was a Director and Chairman of Australian Oil Company Limited from November 2008 to April 2024, and he is the founder of Resource Recruitment (since 1995), a firm specializing in Executive Oil & Gas staffing and Consulting Services. His extensive executive and board experience spans Oil & Gas E&P, Mineral Exploration, Resource Investments, and infrastructure enabling sustainable resource development.

Jason
Spittlehouse

Independent Director
Bio+

Jason Spittlehouse will serve as a member of our board of directors commencing on the effective date of this prospectus. Mr. Spittlehouse is an MSc-qualified geoscientist and energy entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in building and monetizing oil and gas ventures. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Radian Partnership, LP, where, since August 2014, he successfully developed, and in 2017 sold, various producing interests in the Illinois Basin. He then moved into the northern area of the Williston Basin, with involvement in numerous recompletions, stimulations and new drilling, across several field areas. From August 2010 to August 2014, Mr. Spittlehouse was a founding director of VistaTex Energy, LLC, where he grew operated production across seven U.S. states, to more than 10 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day and secured a $100 million senior debt facility before selling the company to a Scandinavian-listed acquirer. He also co-founded Neon Energy, serving as a founding director from 2005 to 2009, where he attracted a cornerstone S&P 500 investor and secured competitive offshore exploration licences in Vietnam. Earlier in his career, Mr. Spittlehouse held senior technical and operational roles at Hess Corporation, ARC Energy NL (November 1997 to December 1999), and Dragon Oil plc (December 1993 to October 1997), and founded Oil Hunters, a geoscience consultancy, in January 2000. Mr. Spittlehouse holds an MSc in Petroleum Geology from Imperial College London and a BSc (Hons) in Geology and Economics from the University of Hertfordshire.

David
Whitby

Special Advisor
Bio+

David Whitby will serve as a strategic advisor from the date of this prospectus. Mr. Whitby is a senior executive with a reputation for building companies, creating value and driving performance improvements in the oil and gas industry. His career has been focused on monetizing gas reserves in Indonesia. Mr. Whitby was previously the Managing Director of Nido Petroleum Ltd. (ASX: NDO), where he helped grow the company from a market capitalization of A$1m to A$600m, transitioning the company from a pure explorer to producer in less than 4 years

Mike
Mason

Special Advisor
Bio+

Mike Mason will serve as a strategic advisor from the date of this prospectus. Mr. Mason has 35 years of international oil and gas experience covering projects in Alaska, Colombia, Egypt, Russia, United Kingdom and the Gulf of Mexico. He has a proven track record of successfully leading large technical and operational organizations. He is a former regional operations manager for APA Corp (Nasdaq: APA) in Egypt, a former engineering vice president and the director of petroleum engineering in BP p.l.c.’s (NYSE: BP) upstream technology group.

Gregor
Mawhinney

Special Advisor
Bio+

Gregor Mawhinney will serve as a strategic advisor from the date of this prospectus. Mr. Mawhinney has over 40 years of experience with a reservoir engineering background. During his extensive career with international oil and gas operators he has led operations of various sizes and complexity, both onshore and offshore, as well as conventional and non-conventional projects. He has worked as a Field Manager of the Buzzard Field in the North Sea for Nexen Inc., as an Operations Manager with Encana Corp. in Ecuador and as the Country Manager with Nexen Inc. in Yemen.