Richard A. Walls, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Walls has served as President and CEO of C&C Energia Ltd. since February 2010. He has had a distinguished career in the Canadian and U.S oil and gas industries for over thirty-three years, having founded and built five companies. Since the early 1980’s he has been a recognized entrepreneurial leader in the industry and has been responsible for significant oil and gas discoveries in Canada and the Texas Gulf Coast. Dr. Walls also currently serves as president of RAW Energy Ltd., a private investment firm, and Chairman of Fairborne Energy Ltd. Dr. Walls holds a B.Sc. ’71 from Morehead State University, Kentucky, a M.Sc. in Geology from University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, and a Ph.D. in Geology from McGill University.
Randy P. McLeod, P. Eng., Chief Operating Officer
Mr. McLeod is a Professional Engineer with over thirty years of experience in the oil and gas industry and has been the Chief Operating Officer of C&C Energia Ltd. since April 2010. His career spans over thirty years starting as a process engineer with Dome Petroleum in Sarnia, Ontario. He later moved to Amoco Canada as a Production Engineer and Operations Manager and in 1998 to British Petroleum. At BP, Mr. McLeod served in various roles including Business Unit Resource Manager of BP Alaska, President of Production of BP Trinidad and Tobago, and more recently as President and CEO of BP Canada Energy. Mr. McLeod earned his B.Sc. Engineering in 1980 from the University of Western Ontario.
Kenneth D. Hillier, CA, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Hillier is a Chartered Accountant and has served as Chief Financial Officer of C&C Energia Ltd. since May 2010. Most recently Mr. Hillier was Chief Financial Officer of Verenex Energy Inc., a public oil and gas company, from January 2005 to December 2009. Prior thereto, he was the Controller of the International Division of Nexen Inc. and was responsible for operations in Yemen, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia. Mr. Hillier started his career with the accounting firm Ernst & Young in 1982 before moving to Nexen Inc. 1991. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba in 1982.
Messieurs Walls, McLeod and Hillier joined C&C early 2010 as part of a senior management reorganization prior to the corporation’s IPO.
Tomas Villamil, Ph.D., P.Doc. Executive Vice President, Exploration
Mr. Villamil is a Petroleum Geologist with more than fifteen years of industry experience and is one of the founders of C&C. Prior to joining C&C Energia Ltd. in 2005, Mr. Villamil was an Exploration Manager with Lukoil Overseas Colombia from April 2003 to May 2005, where he was responsible for exploration in Colombia and new ventures in Latin America. Mr. Villamil has also held positions with Ecopetrol and Conoco Colombia as an Exploration Vice President. Mr. Villamil holds a degree in Geology from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2004, he was the recipient of the OC Wheeler award, the highest award granted to petroleum professionals in Colombia.
Victor Hugo Franco Tamayo, P. Eng., General Manager — Colombia
Mr. Franco is a Reservoir Engineer with more than twenty-five years of industry experience and is the General Manager of C&C Energia Ltd. Prior to joining C&C in 2006, Mr. Franco worked as an Engineering Manager, Engineering and Operations Manager, and finally a General Manager with Argosy Energy International (later Gran Tierra Energy Inc.) from September 1996 to April 2006. He also previously gained experience with Ecopetrol and Texas Petroleum Company of Colombia. Mr. Franco received a degree in Petroleum Engineering from University of America in Bogotá, Colombia in 1983 and a M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1993.
Daniel McLeod, Corporate Secretary
Mr. McLeod (no relation to Randy McLeod, the Chief Operating Officer), is a lawyer and has been a partner at the law firm Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP since 2006. Mr. McLeod practices primarily in the areas of business law, corporate finance and securities transactions and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. McLeod received a B.Comm from the University of Alberta in 1991 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia in 1996.