Pharos Energy is guided by a board with diverse experience, knowledge, skills and backgrounds.

This diversity gives us a wide and well-informed global outlook, and drives our strategy based on business efficiency and increasingly valuable new ventures.

Board of Directors

Experienced leaders guiding our future

John

John Martin

Non-Executive Chair

Appointed: October 2019

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John has more than 30 years’ experience in international banking in the oil and gas industry and was a Senior Managing Director in the Oil and Gas team at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to joining Standard Chartered in 2007, John worked for ABN Amro for 26 years, specialising in the energy sector. John has served as the Senior Vice President of the World Petroleum Council, and as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Rockhopper Exploration plc. He was previously Chairman of Falkland Oil and Gas Limited, an Independent Non-Executive Director on the board of Bowleven plc and, an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Total E&P UK Limited.

Jann

Jann Brown

Chief Executive Officer

Appointed: 23 March 2022

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Jann was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer with effect from 21 March 2022 following a period as CFO from 2017 to 2021. Jann currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of RHI Magnesita N.V. and previously served as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Troy Income & Growth Trust plc and of John Wood Group P.L.C. She was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Cairn Energy plc from 2006 to 2014. Jann is also a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Sue Rivett

Sue Rivett

Chief Financial Officer

Appointed: 1 July 2021

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Sue, previously Group Head of Finance and UK General Manager, has been with the Company for over seven years. Prior to joining Pharos, Sue held senior finance roles with Conoco, ARCO British (subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Company), JKX Oil & Gas plc and Seven Energy. Sue's various roles have included heading up full FTSE finance functions including finance, taxation, treasury, IT, corporate planning and Company Secretary. She was Head of ARCO British trading arm's back office and mid office and has considerable joint venture experience and numerous years M&A experience. Sue is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ("FCMA") with international experience and nearly 40 years in the energy business.

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Geoffrey Green

Non-Executive Director, Senior Independent Director

Appointed: 20 May 2020

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Geoffrey has many years of legal and commercial experience in advising major UK listed companies on corporate and governance issues, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Geoffrey retired as a partner of Ashurst LLP in 2013, a leading international law firm, after 30 years as a partner and 10 years of service as the senior partner and chair of its management board. He served as head of Ashurst’s Asia practice from 2009 to 2013, based in Hong Kong, and was responsible for leading the firm’s strategy and business development for the region. He served on the Board of Vedanta Resources Limited, (formerly Vedanta Resources plc, a London Stock Exchange listed company) from 2012 to 2021 and was Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Geoffrey was the non-executive Chair of the Financial Reporting Review Panel, one of the main subsidiary bodies of the Financial Reporting Council, from 2015 to 2022, and is also a non-executive director of a Hong Kong based investment fund. He has a degree in law from Cambridge University and qualified as a solicitor at Ashurst LLP.

Marianne

Marianne Daryabegui

Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 15 March 2019

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Marianne is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Lithium de France, an energy transition company focused on geothermal energy and lithium extraction. She was Head of Natural Resources at BNP Paribas and then Managing Director at Natixis in the Energy and Natural Resources sector. She has extensive experience in corporate transactions and capital markets and has advised majors, independent E&Ps and national oil companies. Prior to leading the Oil and Gas Corporate Finance Team in 2006 at BNP Paribas, Marianne headed the Commodity Structure Finance team for the Middle East and Africa. Before joining the banking sector Marianne spent eight years at TOTAL. Marianne has a Master’s degree in Finance and Capital Markets from Sciences Po University, Paris and a Masters in Tax and Corporate Law.

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Lisa Mitchell

Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 1 April 2020

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Lisa is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Orca Energy Group Inc. a TSX-V listed company. Lisa is an experienced CFO with over 25 years’ international experience, across the oil and gas, mining and the pharmaceutical industries. She was most recently CFO of San Leon Energy plc and was previously CFO and Executive Director of Lekoil Limited, the African-focused oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in Nigeria. Prior to this, Lisa was CFO and Executive Director at Ophir Energy plc, formerly a FTSE 250 company where she was responsible for contributing to the overall business strategy of Ophir; leading the finance function including all financial, taxation, treasury and funding requirements and investor relations. Lisa’s previous roles include CSL Limited, and Mobil Oil Australia. Lisa is a Certified Practicing Accountant (FCPA Australia) and holds a Bachelor of Economics (major in Accounting) from La Trobe University, Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance from the Governance Institute of Australia.

Bill Higgs Headshot Website

Bill Higgs

Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 16 January 2024

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Bill has over 30 years of global exploration, development and operations experience, including more than 10 years in executive roles for listed independent exploration and production companies. He is a qualified geologist with extensive expertise in all engineering and other technical and commercial aspects of hydrocarbon exploration, development and production. Most recently, Bill was Chief Executive Officer of Genel Energy between 2019 and 2022, having served as Chief Operating Officer from 2017. Preceding his roles at Genel, Bill was Chief Operating Officer for Ophir Energy plc, responsible for managing the global asset portfolio. Before that he served as Chief Executive Officer of Mediterranean Oil and Gas, overseeing the successful sale of the company in 2014. Bill began his industry career at Chevron, spending 23 years across a number of global roles. Bill is also serving as Chairman of Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited, a West Africa-focussed energy company that has recently embarked on building a portfolio of upstream assets.

Management team

Our management team works across every part of the company, bringing their experience and perspective to the strategic development of the business.

Mohamed Sayed

Group Head of Technical & General Manager - Middle East

Vincent Duignan

Group Exploration Manager & General Manager - South East Asia

John Caldwell

General Counsel