Petrosearch Senior Management
The management and directors of Petrosearch are all individuals with histories of distinguished achievement in their respective fields. Management’s expertise in oil and gas includes extensive successful experience both at the “hands-on” operations level and corporate management and finance.
Richard D. Dole, Director, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO
Mr. Dole joined Petrosearch as a Director in July 2004, and assumed the positions of Chairman, President and CEO in December of 2004. Mr. Dole previously served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Burlington Resources International from 1998 to 2000. Since that time he has been active in consulting and financial services. Mr. Dole’s extensive industry experience includes being National Partner-in-Charge of Business Process Solutions at KPMG. Prior to that he was with Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouse Coopers) where he served as Assurance and Business Advisory Partner for nearly 20 years and also served in numerous senior management roles, including National Chairman for the Energy and Natural Resources Industry practices for over 15 years and as the Vice Chairman for the U.S. Process Management business unit. From August 2003 to July 2004, Mr. Dole was also a member of the Board of Directors of Westport Resources Corporation (NYSE: WRC), a member of its Audit Committee and a designated financial expert. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Double Eagle Petroleum Corporation (NASD:DBLE). Mr. Dole graduated from Colorado State University.
Wayne Beninger, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Beninger joined us as Chief Operating Officer in May 2005. Prior to May 2005, Mr. Beninger served as President of Southwest Oil & Gas Management, Inc. (“SOGMI”) which he founded in 1997 to provide oil and gas property evaluation services, geologic prospect review, contract operating services, technical support for initial public offerings and strategic planning solutions for domestic and international projects. SOGMI has provided a significant amount of our engineering and geological services for all projects. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Beninger was the Vice President for Strategic Planning with WRT Energy Corporation. From 1982 to 1995 he was first employed by, and then was a partner in, The Scotia Group, a domestic and international consulting firm where he provided petroleum engineering and geological services for companies and projects in the majority of active petroleum basins in both the U.S. and overseas. He has been active in the oil and gas industry since 1976. Mr. Beninger holds undergraduate degrees in both petroleum engineering and geology from the University of Southern California and has a number of industry publications to his credit. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Pi Epsilon Tau (petroleum engineering honorary fraternity) and Sigma Gamma Epsilon (geologic honorary fraternity).
David Collins, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Collins joined Petrosearch Corporation (Delaware) as a Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer in October 2003. Previously, he served as the Controller of Kazi Management VI, LLC, a diversified investment and management organization actively involved in energy, retail food chains, aquaculture and biotechnology from February 2002 to October 2003. At Kazi Management VI, he was responsible for the financial operations of multiple accounting offices across the United States, as well as fourteen international and domestic Companies. Mr. Collins was also the Chief Financial Officer of ZK Petroleum, an independent oil producer in South Texas. Prior to Kazi Management VI, he served as an independent analyst for The March Group in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. from February 2001 to January 2002. Mr. Collins previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer of Federation Logistics, LLC in the New York metropolitan area from November 1994 to January 2001. Mr. Collins graduated from Villanova University in 1990 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy. He became a Certified Public Accountant and began his career in the Financial Services Division of Ernst and Young in New York City. At Ernst and Young, he performed audits of Fortune 500 Companies.
Gerald N. Agranoff, Director
Gerald N. Agranoff joined us as a Director in May 2004. Mr. Agranoff is currently counsel to the firm of Kupferman & Kupferman, L.L.P. in New York. From 1975 through 1981, Mr. Agranoff was engaged exclusively in the private practice of law in New York and was an adjunct instructor at New York University's Institute of Federal Taxation. Previously, he served as attorney advisor to a Judge of the United States Tax Court. His current activities include being general partner of SES Family Investment and Trading Partnership, L.P., an investment partnership, a member of Inveraray Capital Management L.L.C., the investment manager of Highlander Fund B.V. and Highlander Partners (USA) L.P. He is also a director and the chair of the audit committee of Bull Run Corporation. Active in Wall Street financial transactions for over two decades, his specialties include taxation, investments and corporate finance. He holds an L.L.M. degree in Taxation from New York University and J.D. and B.S. Degrees from Wayne State University.
Richard Majeres, Director
Richard Majeres joined us as a Director in May 2004. Mr. Majeres is one of the founding partners of the Houston public accounting firm of Ubernosky, Passmore & Majeres, L.L.P., which offers tax, audit, accounting and management consulting services. He graduated from Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Upon graduation, he served as a field auditor with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of the Department of Energy. Mr. Majeres became a certified public accountant in 1992. He has extensive experience with oil and gas entities, including exploration and development partnerships and corporations and currently focuses a majority of his efforts on the Firm’s audit practice.
