Our Team

Mr. Welch is an international energy executive with over 30 years of industry experience, having worked for Shell Oil Company (15 years) and several large independents, including Hunt Oil Company and Pioneer Natural Resources. Mr. Welch was CEO of AIM-listed explorer Chariot Oil and Gas (2009-2012) and of Sea Dragon Energy (2013-2015). In April 2013, he became the CEO of SDX Energy (2015-2019) following the merger with Madison PetroGas in October 2015. He was subsequently appointed as CEO of Cosimo Holding Ltd in 2019. Mr. Welch was also appointed Chairman of ACP Energy PLC in 2022. Mr. Welch graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with bachelor's and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering. He also holds an MBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas.

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Dr Staley has more than 40 years’ management and technical experience in the European, African and Asian oil, gas and power sectors, including with Conoco and BP. More recently Dr Staley was founding Managing Director of upstream start-ups Upland Resources Ltd, Fastnet Oil & Gas plc and Independent Resources plc and a Non-Executive Director of Cove Energy plc.  He is a Fellow of the Geological Society, holds a BSc (Hons.) in Geophysics from Edinburgh University, a PhD in Petroleum Geology from Sheffield University and an MBA from Warwick University.

Dr Staley has over 40 years' wide-ranging management, technical and commercial experience in the international oil, gas and power sectors. He was until October 2019 the CEO and a director of Upland Resources Limited, a London-listed (Standard Listing) oil & gas company which he co-founded, currently with assets in Sarawak and onshore and offshore UK. He is a non-executive director of 88 Energy Limited, an Australian oil & gas company with assets onshore Alaska. 88 Energy has a dual listing on the ASX and AIM. Dr Staley also co-founded and brought to the AIM market Fastnet Oil & Gas plc (where he was the founding CEO) and Independent Resources plc (where he was the founding managing director). He was also both a technical consultant to, and non-executive director of, Cove Energy plc – the highly successful East Africa focused explorer. Dr Staley is owner and founder of Derwent Resources Limited, an upstream consultancy advising on oil and gas opportunities. Prior to this he has worked for companies including Cinergy Corp. and Conoco.

He holds a BSc (Hons.) in geophysics from Edinburgh University, a PhD in petroleum geology from Sheffield University and an MBA from Warwick University. He is a fellow of the Geological Society and a member of the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers, the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and The Arctic Club.

Mr. Newman is an international energy executive with over 35 years of industry experience in multiple facets of the oil & gas industry, including well abandonment, well intervention, water management, regulatory compliance, vertical and horizontal drilling and completions, and financial management. He started his career at Triple N Services (22 years), which he successfully sold to Basic Energy Services LP, where he served in various positions for 13 years, ultimately as the Executive Vice President of Operations until he stepped down in 2021. He is the managing partner of Clean Rig Power and Dos Hermanos International and the CEO of Aquafortus, a private Equity-backed technology company that has developed sustainable proprietary processes to treat heavy brines in oil & gas, mining, and industrial applications.

He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer in Texas, USA. Jim is active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers, most recently serving on the SPE US Advisory Council. Jim also sits on the Texas Tech Petroleum Advisory Board, is active on the board of the Southwestern Petroleum Short Course and is a board member of the Permian Basin Association. He previously served in a similar role for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association.