Board of Directors

Mr. Brian Paes-Braga is a Canadian-born entrepreneur, merchant banking executive, and author. Currently, he serves as Managing Partner at SAF Group, a leading structured credit and merchant banking group which builds, invests, finances, and advises high growth companies as well as provides flexible and long-term capital solutions to public and private corporations while providing stable returns for investors through its structured credit arm. As an executive, Mr. Paes-Braga was Founder and CEO of Lithium X Energy Corp., a lithium resource company which, within 2.5 years, raised approximately CDN$53 million and was acquired in an all-cash deal for CDN$265 million. Mr. Paes-Braga was formerly Chair of the board of directors of Thunderbird Entertainment, and a former board member of DeepGreen Metals (now TMC the metals company Inc.), which closed a >US$2 billion go-public transaction on the NASDAQ in September 2021 and aims to supply the world with ethical, clean metals harvested from the deep ocean floor.

Mr. Ronald Pantin was the co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Pacific Exploration & Production from 2007 until 2016. He led the company during its intensive growth period. Prior to that Mr. Pantin worked in the Venezuelan oil industry for twenty-three years where he held several technical and senior managerial positions in Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), including Vice President of Corpoven, Vice President of PDVSA E&P, President of PDVSA Exploration, President of PDVSA Servicios, and Executive Vice President of PDVSA Oil & Gas. Mr. Pantin holds degrees in Petroleum Engineering and Management Science from Mississippi State University, and Master degrees in Petroleum Engineering and Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.

Mr. Calderon Berti is a Venezuelan geologist, petroleum engineer, former president of PDVSA (Venezuela’s state-owned petroleum company), and the country’s former Minister of Energy and Mines, as well as former Minister, he is also a former OPEC president. His undergraduate degree was from the Central University of Venezuela, and he has a Master’s in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2003, he and other former PDVSA petroleum executives founded the Colombian company, Vetra Energia, S.L.

Mrs. Patricia Paba is the Founder and CEO of Estudios y Consultorías SAS, a firm specializing in financial consulting and regulatory advisory in natural gas and energy across Colombia and Latin America. Patricia also serves as the CFO for Caribbean Resources and has past work experience at Promigas and Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Mr. Don Sewell is a private and public company finance executive and former energy investment banker. Mr. Sewell currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of a private global energy transition-focused royalty company in addition to leading energy transition investments for SAF Group. Prior to, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of a TSX-listed consumer-packaged goods company and spent several years in the energy investment banking groups of a big six Canadian bank and an independent energy investment dealer. Mr. Sewell brings a broad range of experience in corporate finance, capital markets, governance and securities regulatory matters given his public company leadership experience, in addition to advising on the completion of several billion dollars in energy sector M&A transactions and capital raises. Don holds a BSc degree from McGill University and is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Brian O’Neill is Vice President of SAF Growth at the SAF Group. He is a former director of Gold-X Mining which was sold to Gran Colombia Gold (now Aris Gold). He spent nearly a decade in the practice of law with leading Canadian law firm, McCarthy Tétrault LLP. His practice began in the areas of corporate and commercial law, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, corporate finance, intellectual property, and commercial transactions. He then shifted his practice to focus on corporate tax matters, with a particular emphasis on the tax-related aspects of mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganizations. Mr. O’Neill received his B.Sc. Honours in Molecular Genetics, with first-class standing, and his LL.B., with distinction, from the University of Alberta. He is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and has completed CPA Canada’s In-Depth Tax Course.