Board & Team

Peter Nicol

Non-Executive Chairman

Peter has over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry in both industry and investment banking. He was a partner and Head of Oil & Gas at GMP Securities, Executive Managing Director at Tristone Capital, Global Sector Director of Oil Research at ABN Amro and Head of European Oil and Gas at Goldman Sachs.

He has worked with and advised a number of small-medium cap and private-equity financed companies in the UK, Canada and Norway on M&A, financing and as a Director. Peter holds a BSc in Mathematics and Economics from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

External appointments:

• Touchstone Exploration Inc. (Non-executive Director)
• Deltic Energy Plc (Non-executive Director)
• Thorogood Associates (Independent Director)

Eco Committee membership:  

• Audit committee (Chair)
• Compensation committee

Gil Holzman

President & Chief Executive Officer

Gil has 25 years’ experience in the global mining and energy sectors. Gil has successfully managed a portfolio of private and publicly listed resource and energy companies throughout South America and Africa. He brings extensive international negotiation expertise and has completed multiple corporate acquisitions and asset mergers. Prior to co-founding Eco Atlantic, Gil was a co-founder of a private resource investment and development company, and, between 2003 and 2006, he was the Managing Director of Bombardier Inc’s Middle East Region. Gil has also held a variety of strategic consultancy roles, including co-founding the political consultancy, GCS Issue Management Ltd.

Gil has a BA in Business Management and Finance and an LLB in Israeli and International Law from Reichman University (IDC Herzilya). He also has an MBA from The Arison School of Business Reichman University.

Colin Kinley

Chief Operating Officer

Colin is CEO of Kinley Exploration LLC, leading a team of industry experts providing professional, technical and oversight expertise to international resource companies within the upstream sector. With 40 years of international expertise in integrated energy project management and the development of new energy companies, Colin has served as a senior executive to several E&P companies and oilfield service companies, as well as possessing significant experience in frontier resource development.

Colin has extensive experience around the world working in remote and frontier areas and is a specialist in applications of exploration and applied drilling technologies.

External appointments:

• Jet Mining Pty LLC (President and CEO)
• Marimaca Copper (Non-executive Director)
• Gunnison Copper (Non-executive Director)

Selma Usiku

Non-Executive Director

Selma is an experienced exploration geologist with a history of working in South Africa and in both the Namibian Oil & Energy and diamond industries. Selma’s experience is predominantly in exploration geoscience, geophysics, basin modelling, petroleum geology and earth sciences, from almost 10 years as an exploration geologist with Brazilian HRT and Azinam. Selma was directly involved in the wild cat wells that made Namibia’s first technical discovery of hydrocarbons at the Wingat-1 Walvis Basin play opener in 2013. Selma is an active member of the Namibia Petroleum Operators Association and currently Exploration Geologist with Debmarine Namibia.

Selma holds a Master of Science (MSc) focused in Petroleum Geoscience from Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2018, Selma received Global Women Petroleum & Energy Club Award for Excellence in Africa, and she was an Ambassador for the Geoscience Council of Namibia in 2021.

External appointments: 

• Namibian Petroleum Operators Association – NAMPOA (Board Member)

Keith Hill

Non-Executive Director

Keith has over 40 years’ experience in the oil industry including over 20 years with the Lundin Group as well as international new venture management and senior exploration positions at Occidental Petroleum and Shell Oil Company. Keith previously served as President and CEO of Africa Oil Corp., Valkyries Petroleum, BlackPearl Resources and Shamaran Petroleum.  His education includes a MSc in Geology and BSc degree in Geophysics from Michigan State University. Additionally, he also holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

External appointments:

• Africa Energy Corp. (Non-executive Director)
• TAG Oil (Independent Director)

Eco Committee membership:  

• Audit committee
• Compensation committee

Alice Carroll

Executive Director – Head of Corporate Sustainability

Alice is an experienced international stakeholder and external relations professional, with over a decade of experience within the oil & gas industry.

Alice is skilled in marketing strategy and project execution, leading communications, and external relations on country entries, asset acquisitions, and monetisation across a global portfolio. Alice previously worked with Azinor Catalyst, the UK focused Oil and Gas exploration company, before becoming the Global Marketing and Investor Relations Manager for the Seacrest Azimuth Group, managing all external and stakeholder relations across UK, Ireland, Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Honduras and Indonesia. Alice holds a BSc First Class honours in Biology with Science and Society from the University of Manchester.

In 2018, she was recognised by the Tennis Federation of Kosovo for devoting 6 years working to establish a sustainable children’s tennis coaching project.

Gadi Levin

Finance Director

Gadi is a chartered accountant with many years’ of experience in the public and private equity markets. His experience spans multiple jurisdictions including South Africa, the UK and Israel. Gadi has acted as financial controller for Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas on a consultancy basis since November 2014 and was appointed as Finance Director of the company on 28 November 2016.

Gadi has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Information Systems, has received his Chartered Accountant designation in South Africa and has an MBA from Bar Ilan University in Israel.

External appointments:

• Vaxil Bio Ltd. (Chief Financial Officer)
• Briacell Therapeutics Corp.(Chief Financial Officer)

Emily Ferguson

Non-Executive Director

Emily has 22 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, spanning technical, commercial, and senior leadership roles, with a particular focus on exploration assets. Most recently, she spent six years at TotalEnergies, where she served as VP of Exploration for Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia until August 2024. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing exploration activities across multiple regions. Before this, Emily was the lead negotiator for E&P asset divestments and acquisitions across Europe, South America, and Africa, with a particular emphasis on Southern and Eastern Africa. Prior to her time at TotalEnergies, Emily spent 12 years at Maersk Oil, where she held roles as Head of Kurdistan and Kazakhstan Exploration Assets, as well as Head of Kenya Exploration. She began her career at Kerr-McGee in the UK.

Emily holds a BSc in Geology and Petroleum Geology and an MSc in Petroleum Geology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Eco Committee membership:  

• Compensation committee (Chair)

Alan Friedman

Non-Executive Director

Alan, a South African qualified attorney, has been involved in the North American public markets for nearly 25 years’ and has a depth of experience in representing, advising, and assisting companies in acquiring assets, accessing capital, public transactions and advising on M&A, and managing emerging growth businesses.

He is the managing partner and co-founder of Bayline Capital Partners, a Canadian based capital markets advisory boutique, involved in the business of identifying, financing and managing a portfolio of companies across a wide range of sectors. Alan was also the co-founder of Auryx Gold Corp, sold to B2 Gold for $200m; Osino Resources and Enthusiast Gaming.

External appointments:

• Bayline Capital Partners (Managing partner)
• Osino Resources (Chair)

Eco Committee membership:  

• Audit committee

Kampta Persaud

Country Manager, Guyana

Kampta has an extensive career in the energy and minerals sector, and having joined Eco in 2016, supports the Company’s operations in Guyana and is responsible for overseeing asset and corporate activities.

Kampta has over thirty years of experience working in government for the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) as a Senior Geologist, before serving as Manager and Deputy Commissioner for the Geological Services Division and the Mines Geological, Land Management and Environmental Division of the GGMC, respectively. This has enabled Kampta to possess expertise in both the energy and commodities sectors, with extensive knowledge in strategizing and leading drilling projects and establish strong relationships with the government.

Kampta was awarded a BSc in Geology from Queen Mary, University of London, and also possesses specialist diplomas in Remote Sensing and the Uranium Fuel Cycle.

Tironenn Kauluma

Country Manager, Namibia

Tironenn has worked with Eco since 2011, supporting Eco’s first activities in Namibia. Tironenn now oversees Eco’s operations in Namibia, ensuring that asset and corporate activities run smoothly and efficiently.

Tironenn has extensive experience in both the energy and commodities industry, having worked as Managing Director of a diamond advisory company, advising the Government on a maximisation strategy for the economic value of the country’s rough diamonds. Tironenn is highly regarded within the energy industry, having also worked as a developer and strategic equity investor in renewable energy.

Tironenn holds a Bachelor of Law, awarded by the University of Namibia (2015), in addition to a Bachelor of Juris (2012) and in Business Administration (2004) by the same institution.

Helmut Angula

Senior Advisor

Helmut has served as the Finance Minister and Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy, as well as five other cabinet portfolios within the Government of Namibia for a period spanning over 20 years. Since leaving the Government of Namibia, Helmut has focused on private business opportunities and is a consultant to the mining, energy, infrastructure and real estate industries in Namibia.