Leadership and Board

Mr. Wright has been the Chair of the Board of Directors of Touchstone Exploration Inc. since 2012 and has been the President of Analogy Capital Advisors Inc. since March 2017. He is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors, Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee and member of the Reserves Committee of Grounded Lithium Corp., positions he has held since August 2022. He also currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Alvopetro Energy Ltd. and is a member of the company’s Compensation and Reserves Committees. Mr. Wright was previously the President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., Touchstone’s predecessor company, from 2000 to 2012.

From January 2017 to June 2017, Mr. Wright was a director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ridgeback Resources Inc. Prior thereto, Mr. Wright was a director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lightstream Resources Ltd. from May 2011 to December 2016. From June 2006 to December 2010, Mr. Wright was a director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Petrominerales Ltd. and was the Chair of the Board of Directors from December 2010 until December 2013. Previously, Mr. Wright served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacalta Resources Ltd. from May 1996 to June 1999; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Hydrocarbons Inc. from December 1993 to April 1996; and Vice President Production of Morgan Hydrocarbons Inc. from 1989 to 1993.

Mr. Wright began his career in the oil industry after he graduated from the University of Alberta in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering. Mr. Wright is a Professional Engineer and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Mr. Wright is a past Chair of the World Petroleum Council-Canada, past Governor of CAPP and founder of Fundación Ñan Paz in Ecuador and of Fundación Vichituni in Colombia.

Mr. Baay has over thirty years of experience leading oil and gas exploration and production companies and is currently our President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Baay established Touchstone Energy Inc. and was the former Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer from July 2010 to May 2014. Prior thereto, Mr. Baay was Managing Director of Abacus Energy, part of Abacus Private Equity from 2007 through 2010 and was a senior officer of True Energy Inc. from 2000 through 2007. From 2005 to 2012 he was the Chair of the Board of Directors of Vero Energy Inc. From 1998 to 2000 he was the Chair of the Board of Directors of Request Seismic Surveys Ltd. and served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and director of Remington Energy Ltd. from 1991 to 1999.

Mr. Baay serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts since March 2023. Mr. Baay was a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery of Canada from June 2006 to December 2022. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, with a Bachelor of Arts in administrative and commercial studies.

Ms. Alfandary is a Board Governor of the Mackenzie Institute since 2021 and Chair of the Advisory Board at HMG Strategy, CIOs, CISOs, CDOs Association since 2017. Ms. Alfandary has been the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science at the Toronto Metropolitan University since 2017. In addition, Ms. Alfandary is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a Greater Toronto Area Chapter Executive.

Ms. Alfandary was formerly the President and Chief Executive Officer of Westario Power Inc. from 2020 to December 2022 and the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Metrolinx from 2019 to 2020. Ms. Alfandary has previously served on various energy industry boards of directors.

Ms. Alfandary holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science and statistics as well as a Master of Science in management information systems and technology from Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Priya Marajh is currently the Vice President – Advocacy and Member Engagement at the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago since 2018 and a consultant and technical lead for the United Nations Development Programme since July 2021. Dr. Marajh is also a part-time lecturer at The University of the West Indies since 2008. She has experience in both corporate and academia in the energy sector and in the areas of international business development, relations and law, diplomacy, advocacy, local content development, and social and economic policy development.

Dr. Marajh was the Manager of Research and Communications at the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago from September 2014 to 2018 and previously served as International Relations Officer for the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Marajh holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London, a Master of Science in international relations from the University of the West Indies and a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from the University of the West Indies.

Mr. McKinnon has been an independent consultant since July 2020. Prior thereto, he was a Partner at Citrus Capital Partners Ltd. (advisory and consulting firm) from January 2014 to June 2020. Mr. McKinnon previously held various executive positions with Critical Mass (a digital experience design agency) over a period of 18 years, most recently as Senior Vice-President and General Counsel.

Mr. McKinnon has been a director of Touchstone Exploration Inc. (formerly Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd.) since 2012. Mr. McKinnon is a director, Chair of the Compensation Committee and member of the Audit Committee of Alvopetro Energy Ltd., positions he has held since November 2013. Previously, Mr. McKinnon was a director, the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee of the Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. from March 2019 to June 2021. Mr. McKinnon was formerly a director of Lightstream Resources Ltd. from October 2009 to December 2016 and held the position of Chair of the Board of Directors from May 2011 through December 2016.

Mr. McKinnon previously served on the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary and as a director of Alberta Innovates, holding positions on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committees in each organization. Mr. McKinnon is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Mr. Nicol has over forty years of experience in the international oil and gas sector in both industry and investment banking. He founded and has been the Chief Executive Officer of Locin Energy Ltd. (energy consulting firm) since March 2012. Mr. Nicol is currently the Chair of the Board and Chair of the Audit Committee and Compensation Committees of Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd., a public company dual listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and AIM. Further, Mr. Nicol is a director, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Compensation Committee of AIM quoted Deltic Energy Plc. He also serves as a director of ERC Equipoise Limited and Thorogood Associates Ltd., both private companies.

He has worked with and advised a number of small-medium cap and private-equity financed companies in the United Kingdom, Canada and Norway on mergers and acquisitions, financing and as a director. Mr. Nicol was formerly a partner in GMP Securities Europe as the Head of the Oil and Gas Research, researching and raising capital for international oil and gas exploration and production companies. Mr. Nicol also previously held positions with Tristone Capital as Executive Managing Director for International Oil and Gas Research, ABN AMRO as Global Sector Director of Oil and Gas Research, as Head of European Oil and Gas Research at Goldman Sachs and participated in the flotations of Petrobras, PetroChina, Repsol and ENI. Mr. Nicol started his career with British National Oil Corporation in a variety of commercial roles, and holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and economics. 

Mr. Smith is a designated accountant with over thirty-nine years of public accountant experience. Mr. Smith has been an independent consultant since October 2016. Prior thereto, he was a Partner at KPMG LLP from March 1981 until his retirement in September 2016. Mr. Smith’s focus of practice was public company auditing and advising, primarily in the oil and gas exploration, production and service industries.

Mr. Smith was formerly a director of Toscana Energy Income Corporation, Razor Energy Corp. and Savanna Energy Services Corp. Mr. Smith is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and Institute of Corporate Directors and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University.

Ms. Smith is a chartered geologist and an accomplished business leader with over thirty years of experience in the oil and gas sector, having delivered a portfolio of achievements in a successful international career with BG Group, most recently as the Vice President Exploration and Growth for Europe from March 2015 to December 2016. Ms. Smith has been an independent consultant since January 2017 and is currently a director of Rex International Holdings, a Singapore-listed company with production in Norway and Oman.

Ms. Smith has a background in development and production geology and subsurface management, notably in Trinidad (Hibiscus, Poinsettia and Ixora fields), Tunisia and various operated and non-operated developments in the United Kingdom. Ms. Smith brings further corporate governance expertise to the Board with a proven history of improving risk management capabilities, safety frameworks, and ensuring accountability and transparency.

Ms. Smith was formerly a director of Hurricane Energy Plc from December 2019 to June 2021 and was the former Interim Chief Executive Officer of the company from June to September 2020. Ms. Smith was a former President of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology and a Master of Science degree in petroleum geology.

Dr. Vredenburg is the Faculty Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the Haskayne School of Business and Research Fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, where he has been on faculty since 1989. He is also an International Research Fellow at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Vredenburg was formerly Professor and Suncor Chair in Strategy and Sustainability at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of business for twenty years. He founded the Haskayne School of Business’s Global Energy Executive MBA program and served as its Academic Director from 2010 through 2018 and co-founded the MSc program in Sustainable Energy Development and served as its Academic Director from 1996 through 2006. 

Dr. Vredenburg is a leading scholar in the areas of competitive strategy, innovation, sustainable development and corporate governance in the global energy and natural resource industries. He has authored and coauthored more than sixty frequently cited articles in leading international journals including Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, MIT Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Technovation, Energy Policy, Energies, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, International Journal of Economics and Business Research and Global Business and Economics Review. He has also coauthored government reports on industry regulation, innovation and competitiveness and on nuclear energy and consults to industry. His publications have been cited more than 9,300 times according to Google Scholar.

Dr. Vredenburg was founding Chair of the Board of Directors of TERIC Power Ltd. for seven years until the company’s shares were acquired in 2022. He is a director of Prairie Thunder Resources Ltd. and a member of the advisory board of Proton Technologies Canada Inc., both private companies. He was previously a director of Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. from 2006 to 2012 and of Kainji Resources Ltd. from 2010 to 2020.

Dr. Vredenburg holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in history from the University of Toronto, a Master of Business Administration in international business and finance from McMaster University and a Doctor of Philosophy in strategic management from the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Vredenburg is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds dual Canadian and Dutch (EU) nationalities.