The Underground Energy team has extensive and successful experience in resource evaluation and acquisition, development of underground projects and oil production operations.
Below you will find the education and related experience of our corporate officers, board of directors and engineering staff. Underground Energy also relies heavily upon the work of qualified consultants to permit, plan and design these projects. Using the link to the left you can find more information about our experienced consulting team.
Corporate Officers:
Michael H. Kobler
Chief Executive Officer, Director, Founder
BS Mining Engineering, U. of Montana
30 years international experience in tunneling and underground construction, shaft sinking, horizontal drilling and site reclamation
Experienced in identification and acquisition of unconventional hydrocarbon resources
Founder of OSUM Oil Sands Corp. of Calgary, former Director, CEO and Vice-President
Mike Kobler has over 30 years
experience in the management of tunneling and underground construction projects
and the identification and acquisition of mineral and hydrocarbon
resources. He has been actively involved in the exploration and
production (E&P) of ultra-heavy oil (bitumen) deposits in the oil sands of
Alberta, Canada and has lead the development as CEO of a successful private
junior oil sands company in Canada. As the initial CEO of OSUM, Mike
helped build a company with well defined assets with identifiable projects and
a management and technical team to de-risk their commercial development.
He has been successful at raising capital for start-up companies and securing
the financing necessary for resource acquisition and development. Mike
has lead technical innovations in the oil industry and has participated in the
patent development for several technologies.
Mike is a recognized expert in
tunneling and underground construction and has demonstrated successful projects
in soft and hard ground tunneling, shaft sinking, site reclamation, and
horizontal drilling including the use of innovative horizontal drilling methods
from a shaft in Northern California.
Peter M. Ballachey, CA, CIA
Chief Financial Officer, Founder
B Comm., U of Toronto, MBA Finance and Marketing, York University, Chartered Accountant
30 years financial experience in many industries including public accounting, retail pharmacy management, financial analysis and reporting groups for CPR and BC Rail
Former CFO OSUM Oil Sands Corp, Former CFO of Railpower Technologies
Current CFO and financial advisor of several emerging and start up enterprises in USA and Canada
Peter's 30 years of financial experience spans many
industries. A Chartered Accountant, with an MBA in Finance and Marketing, Peter
spent eight years in public accounting, three years direct management
experience in retail pharmacy and fourteen years with CPR and BC Rail where he
led financial analysis and reporting groups, commercial development, passenger
services and internal audit at CPR, before becoming CFO for BC Rail. For two years, Peter served as CFO for Railpower
Technologies before he resigned to become CFO of OSUM Oil Sands Corp in
2006. Peter is at present financial
advisor to enterprises ranging from health care to food processing.
Independent Directors:
Simon P. Clarke
Non Executive Director
LLP & Dip, LP, Aberdeen University, Scotland
Former Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development, RailPower Technologies
Former Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development, VRB Power Systems, Inc.
Founder and former Director of OSUM Oil Sands Corp
Former Director, Doublestar Resources - Canadian mineral resource company
Mr. Clarke has 17 years
of corporate finance experience. He
qualified as a corporate and securities lawyer in 1990 and then spent four
years with City of London law firm Simmons & Simmons (including two years
seconded to the Listing Department of the London Stock Exchange). Thereafter,
he moved into investment banking joining the London-based investment bank,
West LB Panmure in September 1994 where he became an Associate Director of
Corporate Finance. Mr. Clarke joined Williams de Broe Plc in November, 1997 where he
was Head of their Edinburgh office and a Director of Corporate Finance. In
September 2000, he joined Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance in
Vancouver as Vice President & Director before joining RailPower
Technologies as EVP of Corporate Development in early 2002. He spent over
three years with RailPower and was instrumental in the implementation and
execution of RailPower's successful capital markets strategy which included
raising close to $150 million in equity finance over that timeframe.
Since
January, 2006, Mr. Clarke has been EVP of Corporate Development of VRB Power Systems
Inc. Until its recent takeover by Selkirk Metals Corp., Mr. Clarke
served as a Director on the
Board of Doublestar Resources Ltd., the Canadian mineral resource company. Mr. Clarke was also a Founder of and remains one of the Directors of OSUM, Oil Sands Corp.,
the Calgary based oil sands company.
Harland E. Johnson
Non Executive Director
BSc (Honors) Chemistry, University of Alberta, PhD. Metallurgy, University of Alberta
Registered Professional Engineer (retired), Province of Alberta, Canada
40 years international technical and management experience in the upstream petroleum industry
Materials Engineering manager in production research company in charge of technology development dealing with metallurgy, corrosion, arctic completion technology and design of offshore and subsea production systems
Broad experience in regulatory and environmental compliance on domestic and international major projects with difficult technological and political challenges
Former President, Exploration & Production Division, Esso Brazil; Former President, Exxon Trinidad
Professional advisor and technical consultant in the oil & gas industry
Mr. Johnson has extensive experience in
management of upstream petroleum groups, including onshore and offshore
exploration, production, processing, and transportation. He has experience on domestic and
international major projects with difficult technological and political
challenges. Harland has a broad
background in environmental/ regulatory affairs and is accustomed to dealing with
senior government representatives, joint venture partners, environmental and
public interest groups.
Harland has been active in a number of industry organizations: Past Member and Certification, NACE
International;
Past Member, American Petroleum
Institute (API) and Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE);
Past Chairman, Offshore
Environmental Committee, Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (MCOGA);
Past Chairman, Subcommittee on
Alabama Discharge Regulations, OOC;
Past Chairman, Environmental Impact
Statement Review Committee, MCOGA;
Past Chairman, Clean Atlantic
Associates (CAA);
Past Chairman, Engineering &
Development Committee, United Kingdom Offshore Operators'
Association (UKOOA);
Past Chairman, Personnel Competence
Subcommittee, Oil Companies International Exploration
& Production Forum (E&P
Forum); Past Chairman and Member, various
NACE Technical Subcommittees.
He has also served on the Board of the Children's Bureau of New Orleans and various other Lutheran Church organizations, and is Past President of the Canadian Club of New Orleans.
Randolph C. Aldridge
Non Executive Director, member of audit committee
BS Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M, MS International Business, University of Texas
35 years international petroleum business experience
Extensive management and corporate governance experience
Other current boards include Abraxas Energy Partners (where he chairs the audit committee) and Husky/BP Toledo Joint Refining Venture
Mr. Aldridge brings extensive military, business
and leadership experience to the Underground Energy Board. He began his
oil business career with Gulf Oil Chemicals in Houston. He joined Koch
Industries, one the of largest privately held companies in North
America, where he served in various project management, marketing and
leadership positions of increasing responsibility in both the US and
Canada. He was President of Koch Petroleum Canada and Chairman of Koch
Oil Pipelines and True North Energy. Mr. Aldridge played key roles in
Koch's growth in Canada and its involvement in the oilsands and other
heavy oil businesses. He currently serves as an energy business
consultant and advisor to a number of companies.
His civic and non-profit services has included the
Boards of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Alberta
Chamber of Resources, Salvation Army (San Antonio), Texas A&M
Chemical Engineering advisory council, and the Texas A&M Research
Foundation advisory board.
Technical Staff:
Bruce Berwager
Director of Oil and Gas Operations
30 years of international oil, gas and biofuels experience in engineering and management roles with Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Unocal and independents
Former COO and Board Member of Venoco and SVP & California GM of Warren Resources (US Independent E&P companies)
Experienced in exploration and development, acquisitions and mergers, reserve valuation, organizational development, and California operations
BS & MS degrees in Petroleum Engineering. Licensed Professional Petroleum Engineer
Dana J. Brock
Director of Underground Operations
BS Civil Engineering, BS Geology, University of California, Davis
California Registered Civil Engineer and Registered Geologist
32 years international experience in design and construction management for energy industries
Specialty in horizontal and tunnel-based drilling
Kim K. Wolfe
Land & Regulatory Affairs Manager
BA Law & Society, University of California, Santa Barbara
12 years in petroleum industry for various independent oil, gas and refining companies
3 years consulting to independent oil and gas companies in permitting and regulatory compliance within the following counties: Santa Barbara, San Joaquin, Monterey and San Luis Obispo
Member of various Spill and Incident Response Teams within the industry
Contracted trainer for both onshore and offshore facilities in the area of hazardous waste minimization techniques, Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Plans, Contractor Safety, OSHA compliance and reporting
Project Manager and Safety Advisor for various oilfield construction projects
