People

Simon was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Sound Oil in February 2014, and has over 30 years experience of investment management. He is also currently Chairman of the JP Morgan Overseas Investment Trust plc, a Non-Executive Director of Grainger plc, and a Director of a number of subsidiaries of Old Mutual Wealth Management Limited. He began his investment career in 1981 with Rothschild Asset Management, and has held various positions in the City of London, including Chairman and Chief Executive of Threadneedle Asset Management Limited, and Chairman of Thames Water Pension Trustees.

Simon holds various professional and academic qualifications, including a degree in Economics.

James Parsons has 23 years’ experience in the fields of strategy, management, finance and corporate development in the energy industry. James Parsons was appointed Chief Executive Officer in October 2012.

James started his career with the Royal Dutch Shell group in 1994 and spent 12 years with Shell working in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Scandinavia, Holland and London. Leading up to 2006 (when he left Shell to join Inter Pipeline Fund), James held various positions in Shell's exploration and production business, latterly as Vice President, Finance, of New Business.

James joined Sound Oil as Chief Financial Officer in 2011 from the European division of Inter Pipeline Fund, a Toronto-listed resources business, where he held the position of Finance and Corporate Development Director of Inter Pipeline Europe.

James is a qualified accountant and has a BA Honours in Business Economics.

Luca has over 25 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas industry with ENI, the major integrated energy company. Luca is a reservoir geologist by background and has extensive experience in hydrocarbon production, field development, petroleum engineering, supply chain management and reservoir engineering. He has managed large teams in complex operations in sensitive onshore and offshore environments and has worked in Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia, UK, Congo and Italy.

Luca holds a degree in Geology from Milan University, and has been a Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) since 1995.

Leonardo has over 25 years upstream experience with ENI, Petrobel, KPO and GSA, with extensive experience of working in Italy, Northern Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.

Prior to joining Sound Oil in 2013 he was the District Manager for all Northern Italian Assets at ENI, managing a portfolio of onshore fields, offshore platforms and gas and oil treatment plants.

Leonardo has a BSc in Geological Science and is a Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Marco Fumagalli joined Sound Oil as a non-executive Director in July 2014. Marco is Managing Partner at Continental Investment Partners SA, a Swiss based fund and cornerstone shareholder in Sound Oil. Marco is a well known Italian businessman who was previously a Group Partner at 3i. Marco is a qualified accountant and holds a degree in Business Administration from the University “Bocconi” of Milan.

Andrew Hockey has been a non executive director of Sound Oil since May 2011 and has 30 years technical and managerial experience in the upstream oil and gas industry. Andrew is a co-founder of Fairfield Energy Limited where he is General Manager, Joint Ventures and New Business. Andrew's previous roles include senior positions in Eni, Lasmo, Monument and Petrofina with responsibilities across Italy, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Greece and the UK North Sea. Andrew has a BA Honours in Geology from Oxford University and an MSc in Petroleum Geology from Imperial College, London.

Gerry Orbell retired as Chairman and CEO of Sound Oil in 2012 after founding the company in 2005, and running it for seven years. He was reappointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in February 2014. He is a petroleum geologist with over 40 years international experience – including Board positions at Premier Oil and Fina.

Gerry holds a PhD in Geology from University College London, and has been a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists since 1975.