Board & Team

Gil Holzman

President & Chief Executive Officer

Gil has over 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.

Keith Hill

Non-Executive Director

Keith Hill is a seasoned oil and gas executive with more than 40 years of industry experience, including over 25 years with the Lundin Group. He brings extensive expertise in international exploration, development, and new venture management, having held senior leadership and exploration roles with Occidental Petroleum and Shell Oil Company. Throughout his career, Mr. Hill has served as President and CEO of several public and private energy companies, including Africa Oil Corp., ShaMaran Petroleum, Valkyries Petroleum and BlackPearl Resources. His deep experience in identifying and advancing high-impact projects provides valuable strategic oversight and guidance for the Company’s growth initiatives. Mr. Hill holds a B.Sc. in Geophysics and an M.Sc. in Geology from Michigan State University, as well as an MBA in International Finance from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

External appointments:

• Africa Energy Corp. (Non-executive Director)
• TAG Oil (Independent Director)
• NG Energy International Corp. (Non-Executive Chairman)

Eco Committee membership: 

• Audit committee
• Compensation committee

Peter Nicol

Non-Executive Director

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 Research 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

Emily Ferguson

Non-Executive Director

Emily has 25 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 is a South African-trained attorney based in Canada with more than 25 years of experience in North American and international capital markets. As Co-Founder and Director of Eco Atlantic, which he established in 2011 alongside Gil Holzman and the late Colin Kinley, Alan has played a pivotal role in the Company’s growth, financing, strategic transactions, and corporate development.

Throughout his career, Alan has advised and assisted public and private companies in asset acquisitions, capital raising, public listings, mergers and acquisitions, and the management of emerging growth businesses across multiple sectors. He is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Bayline Capital Partners, a Canadian-based capital markets advisory firm focused on identifying, financing, and supporting growth companies.

Alan has a strong track record of founding and building successful public companies, including Auryx Gold Corp., which was acquired by B2Gold Corp., Osino Resources Corp., and Enthusiast Gaming. He has served as a director of numerous companies listed on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange, AIM, and NASDAQ, and has been actively involved in financings, go-public transactions, and corporate exits across the resource sector and beyond.

Alan holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) and a Bachelor of Laws (B.Proc.) from the University of South Africa and is an admitted attorney in South Africa.

External appointments:

• Bayline Capital Partners (Managing partner)
• Osino Resources Corp. (Chairman)
• Koryx Copper Inc. (Lead Independent Director)

Eco Committee membership:  

• Audit committee

Gadi Levin

Chief Financial Officer

Gadi Levin is a Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years of international finance, accounting, and capital markets experience across South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North America. As Chief Financial Officer of Eco Atlantic, he is responsible for the Company’s financial management, reporting, governance, and capital markets activities, having first served as Financial Controller to Eco in 2014 before being appointed Finance Director in 2016.

Throughout his career, Gadi has held senior financial leadership positions across the public and private markets, including roles in private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and biotechnology. He has served as Chief Financial Officer of several publicly listed companies and has extensive experience in corporate finance, financial reporting, strategic planning, and regulatory compliance. Earlier in his career, he spent nine years with Arthur Andersen, working in the firm’s Cape Town, London, and Tel Aviv offices.

In addition to his role at Eco, Gadi serves as Chief Financial Officer of BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. and Vaxil Bio Ltd. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of Cape Town, a postgraduate diploma in Accounting from the University of South Africa, is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa), and earned an MBA from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Alice Carroll

Vice President, Business Development & Corporate Affairs

Alice is an experienced international stakeholder and external relations professional, with nearly 15 years of experience within the oil and gas industry.  At Eco Atlantic, she leads business development, corporate affairs, communications, and external stakeholder engagement, supporting the Company’s strategic growth initiatives across its global portfolio.

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.

Alongside her corporate career, she is actively involved in charitable and community initiatives, including serving as a Non-Executive Director of Transport for Sick Children, a UK-based children’s charity.  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.

Keely (Harris) Pearce

Vice President, Operations

Keely (Harris) Pearce is an upstream oil and gas executive with over 30 years of experience spanning exploration, seismic and drilling operations, asset and licence management, joint ventures, and strategic planning and M&A. She has held senior leadership roles at Impact Oil & Gas Limited and Shell plc, working across international portfolios in Europe, Africa, and frontier exploration jurisdictions. Her background integrates exploration geoscience, asset management, and commercial leadership, including oversight of operated and non-operated exploration licences and leadership of seismic acquisition and processing programmes supporting major offshore discoveries. She was part of the team that discovered the Venus field offshore Namibia and has extensive experience operating within the regulatory and operational environments of Namibia and South Africa.

She holds an MSc in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics from Imperial College London and a BSc (Hons) in Natural Sciences from the University of Durham.

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.

Analene Enslin

Country Manager, South Africa

Analene is a petroleum engineer with more than 14 years of experience across Africa’s upstream energy sector, including offshore production operations, asset evaluation, fiscal advisory, and energy investment strategy. Most recently, she served as an Upstream Energy Specialist for Africa at S&P Global.

She brings deep expertise in the evaluation of frontier and emerging basins, with a particular focus on Namibia and South Africa, including detailed analysis of offshore acreage and upstream asset valuation. Analene has extensive experience engaging with governments, national oil companies, and industry stakeholders across the continent, supporting strategic decision-making and investment assessment in complex upstream environments.

Recently, she has played a leading role in advising on South Africa’s gas development strategy and national master planning initiatives. She brings a rare combination of technical, commercial, and strategic expertise to Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas, supporting the Company as it advances its portfolio in South Africa.

Analene holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Stellenbosch University.

Kampta Persaud

Country Representative, 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.

Joachim Vogt

Operations Manager, Guyana

Joachim is an experienced upstream operations and regulatory specialist with 20 years of expertise in exploration license management, permitting, regulatory compliance, operations planning, reporting, and stakeholder and environmental management.

He has supported multiple large-scale offshore exploration campaigns, including five seismic acquisition programmes and seven deepwater exploration wells across the Suriname–Guyana Basin and Jamaica, maintaining strong operational performance with zero regulatory rig standby events.

Joachim brings extensive international experience in coordinating complex exploration operations within highly regulated offshore environments. He holds a Master’s degree in Foreign Affairs from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

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.

Selma Usiku

Senior Advisor

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. Selma is currently Vice Chair of the Namibian Petroleum Operators Association – NAMPOA.