Management Team

Gurpreet Sawhney, PEng - Director, President and Chief Executive Officer

Gurpreet Sawhney, PEng - Vice President, Business Development

Mr. Sawhney’s areas of expertise include integrated reservoir characterization, compositional and thermal stimulation, enhanced oil recovery and horizontal well modelling as well as CO2 sequestration. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Sawhney worked with PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., as a reservoir simulation specialist, before leaving to found and manage ResModMan Inc., a consultancy group providing dynamic reservoir flow simulation solutions and reservoir management services to numerous (Canadian) domestic and international clients on over 100 projects.

Mr. Sawhney is a Bachelor of Engineering graduate in Chemical Engineering from Panjab University, India. He obtained an Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and an MBA both from the University of Calgary.

Sean Hayes, PGeol - Chief Operating Officer

Sean Hayes, PGeol - Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Hayes brings 28 years of combined E&P experience in both international and Canadian arenas. Dr. Hayes is a Greenfield/Brownfield development expert and has been involved in numerous projects worldwide. He started his career with Mobil Oil (Canada) before joining BP as a development geologist in the UK. Dr. Hayes was Talisman Energy’s corporate advisor for reservoir modelling from 2001 until 2007.

Dr. Hayes has a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Manchester and received a PhD in Structural Geology from the University of Cardiff, UK. Dr. Hayes obtained an Masters of Science in Hydrogeology and Fluid Flow (1993) from the University of Birmingham before pursuing his current interest in 3D reservoir modelling as Geosciences Manager for Reservoir Management Limited, Aberdeen, UK.

Aaron Thompson, CA - Chief Financial Officer

Aaron Thompson - Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Thompson is a Chartered Accountant, and brings more than 16 years of experience in the North American energy industry from a number of public oil and gas companies which include Perpetual Energy, Paramount Resources, Summit Resources, and Apache Canada Corp. where he held various senior accounting and controller positions. His experience includes financial reporting, tax, management, finance and design and implementation of internal control systems. Mr. Thompson graduated in 1996 from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Management Degree and is a member of the Canadian and Alberta Institutes of Chartered Accountants.

Cody Smith - Vice President, Operations

Cody Smith,Vice President, Operations

Mr. Smith worked the last 25+ years of his professional career with pre merger company AEC on to Encana Corporation. Mr. Smith led teams in Safety, Drilling, Completions, Facilities, Production Engineering and Operations in British Columbia and Alberta. For the last 5 years Mr. Smith held Team Lead positions in the Ft Nelson, Canadian Deep Basin, Cutbank and Bighorn Business Units. He was involved during new play development in the Jean Marie, Horn River, Montney, Alberta Cretaceous stacked plays, and Duvernay. His experience includes liquids rich gas, water, gas storage and heavy oil and participating in internal technical completions and water exchanges for Encana across North America.

Mr. Smith has an Honours Diploma in Petroleum Technology from Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Shelina Hirji, CMA - Vice President, Finance 

Shelina Hirji,Vice President, Finance

Ms. Hirji has over 28 years of experience in the oil and gas industry both in western Canada and the USA. Ms. Hirji has been the Controller for Strategic since December 2011 and Controller for Steen River Oil & Gas Ltd. since January 2010. Ms. Hirji's work experience includes senior accounting roles in both public and private companies with extensive participation in growth opportunities and the design and implementation of financial systems and reporting controls. 

Ms. Hirji has her Certified Management Accountant designation and is an active member of the Society of Management Accountants of Alberta.

Douglas M. Wright - Vice President, Business Development 

Doug Wright,Vice President, Business Development

Mr. Wright has over 29 years of experience in the Western Canada Energy industry, with expertise focused on reserve evaluations for both annual reporting and acquisition/disposition analysis. Mr. Wright has worked for several major international companies including Texaco, Imperial Oil, ConocoPhillips and Anadarko. Most recently, he held a senior management role at Perpetual Energy Inc.

Mr. Wright graduated from the University of Calgary in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering and from Athabasca University’s Centre for Innovative Management in 2005 with a Masters in Business Administration. He is a member of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) and Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Barbara Joy - Vice President, Land

Barbar Joy, Vice President, Land

Ms. Joy has over 13 years of industry experience holding a variety of roles in the Land profession with companies such as Canadian Natural Resources, BP Outsourcing Division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Encana. Ms. Joy's experience includes land strategy and execution, purchase and sale transactions, and negotiations of complex deal structures with Canadian and foreign business entities.  She has experience with unconventional resource properties and joint venture operations.

Ms. Joy holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, with a major in Petroleum Land Management from the University of Calgary and is a member of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen. 

M. (Rooky) Driver - Corporate Secretary and Chief Administration Officer

Rooky Driver, Corporate Secretary and Chief Administration Officer Ms. M. (Rooky) Driver is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia, Canada and is a former Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Ms. Driver has been an officer of the Company since 2005. Ms. Driver is a former Director and Corporate Secretary of Pan-Global Energy Ltd., a TSX listed oil and gas company, which became Pearl Exploration and Production Ltd.
Maxhamish Steen River Ferrier Harmattan Taber Conrad