Les Thomas

Non-Executive Chairman

Les has over 35 years’ experience in the Oil and Gas industry, in various subsurface, engineering, operational and senior management positions. Les was formerly CEO of Ithaca Energy Inc. from 2013 to 2020 and previously served for eight years on the Board of John Wood Group plc, as Chief Executive of its Production Facilities business and the Group Director responsible for HSE. Prior to this, he spent 22 years with Marathon Oil UK Limited in various locations and roles, including four years as European Business Unit Leader.

Les is also an independent director of Repsol Sinopec Resources UK Limited, a joint venture between Repsol and Sinopec with a significant UK North Sea portfolio, as well as serving as a Non-Executive Director of Avingtrans Plc, an AIM quoted engineering and manufacturing business.

Les has a BSc (1st class hons) in Civil Engineering and a Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering, both from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.

Andrew Benitz

Chief Executive Officer

Andrew Benitz was a Founding Director of Jersey Oil and Gas E&P Ltd (now a subsidiary of Jersey Oil and Gas plc) and has over 17 years’ experience in financial markets and company management. Prior to co-founding Jersey Oil and Gas, Andrew was Chief Executive Officer and Director at Longreach Oil and Gas Ltd, a TSX-V listed company. He joined Longreach in 2009 as Chief Operating Officer when it was a small private company and helped oversee the company’s growth, building a significant portfolio of oil and gas assets in Morocco.

Prior to his move into industry, Andrew worked at Deutsche Bank AG as an Analyst within the Oil and Gas Investment Banking Group as well as within the Equity Capital Markets team, where he worked on a broad range of oil and gas M&A transactions, together with equity and equity related financings. Andrew is also founder and Director of Titan Properties SL, a real estate business in Spain. He completed his undergraduate studies at Edinburgh University graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours).

Graham Forbes

Chief Financial Officer

Graham Forbes is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry.  Prior to joining Jersey Oil & Gas in 2021, Graham was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Ithaca Energy from 2010 to 2020. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers before moving to ExxonMobil, where for over five years he worked on a variety of operational and acquisition-based projects. In 2002, Graham joined First Oil Group where, as Finance Director and then Executive Director, he helped develop the business into the UK’s then largest privately owned E&P company.  Following his move to Ithaca Energy in 2010, Graham was instrumental in transforming the company into a major independent UKCS operator through both organic developments and multiple acquisitions. He has extensive quoted company and corporate finance experience, having completed various debt and equity market offerings and the US$1.2 billion sale and subsequent delisting of Ithaca Energy.

Frank Moxon

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Frank Moxon has 23 years’ experience of the oil & gas and mining industries as a Board-level adviser and non-executive director. During this time, he has held a number of senior management roles within the financial services industry and, in addition to being senior independent director at Cove Energy Plc, has been a director of oil & gas and mining companies listed in London, Australia and Canada. Frank is currently also President and non-executive director of East of England Co-operative Society.  He has a BSc in Economics and is an Honorary Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and a member of The Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain. He is chairman of the Jersey Oil and Gas plc Remuneration and Nomination Committees and a member of its Audit Committee.

Marcus Stanton

Non-Executive Director

Marcus Stanton has extensive experience in the oil & gas and banking industries and has been a Non-Executive Chairman and Non-Executive Director of a number of AIM quoted companies over the past 20 years. These have included various oil and gas companies, both in the UK and overseas, covering E&P and oil and gas services.

Marcus qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen, where he worked in the oil and gas division. Previously held banking roles include Chief Operating Officer of Global Capital Markets, Robert Fleming & Co. and Director, Corporate Finance, at Hill Samuel & Co. Marcus also provides expert evidence on banking transactions, both in the UK and overseas.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. Marcus graduated from Oriel College, Oxford.