SIERRACOL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- People and Corporate Affairs VP
On 15 October 2021, Alejandra Castaño was appointed People and Corporate Affairs VP of SierraCol Energy.
Alejandra has more than 20 years of experience in human resources at a national and international level.
Before this appointment, Alejandra had a successful professional career with Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), performing positions of increasing responsibilities such as HR Director for International and Gulf of Mexico, HR Manager for International Operations, Human Resources Consultant for Permian EOR Operations, Expat Relations and Services Manager for OXY Oman, Head of Human Resources and Administration for OXY Bahrain, Employee and Organisational Development Consultant for OXY Corporate in Houston, Libya and the United Arab Emirates, and Human Resources Co-ordinator for OXY Colombia. Prior to that, Alejandra worked for Unisys, Sun Microsystems and Quala SA in Colombia.
Alejandra Castaño holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Universidad De Los Andes in Colombia and a master's degree in International Management from Oxford Brooks University in the UK.
After 3 years of successfully leading the operation of one of the Colombia's largest oilfield as District Field Manager of Caño Limón, Alejandra Castillo was appointed Chief of Staff to provide high-level support and ensure efficient management of the CEO's office and his executive team.
Alejandra joined the company in 2018 and have performed positions of increasing responsibility in Drilling and RMT in Llanos and Mid Mag assets such as, Drilling Engineer, Engineering Supervisor and Reservoir Engineer Advisor. She also has previous experience on Directional Drilling Planning with Weatherford and Precision Drilling.
Alejandra has a BS on Petroleum Engineering from Universidad de América.
On August 15, 2022, Alejandro Piñeros Ospina was appointed Chief Financial Officer of SierraCol Energy.
Before this appointment, Alejandro held CFO and other Financial and Planning positions in multiple organizations, including: Frontera Energy where Alejandro was CFO, VP of Planning, and Finance Director; Banco Credifinanciera (CFO), Puerto Bahia (CFO), Summum (CFO), and Essentia (CFO). Alejandro also worked as a consultant in McKinsey & Company and Booz Allen & Hamilton.
Alejandro holds a B. Sc. In Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogotá and a MBA in Finance from Columbia University in New York.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director at CIEP
- Associate Director for Carlyle
Alix Borch is an Associate Director for Carlyle's international energy platform, CIEP, and is based in London.
Prior to joining Carlyle in 2014, Ms Borch worked at Perella Weinberg Partners in their energy team.
Ms. Borch received her BSc in Mathematics from the University of Warwick.
On 18 December 2020, Bernardo Ortiz was appointed Chief Executive Officer of SierraCol Energy.
Before this appointment, Bernardo Ortiz completed more than 15 years of successful professional career with Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), performing different positions: Vice-President Business Development for Latin America, Vice-President Planning and Evaluation for OXY USA and OXY Long Beach and Operations Manager of Worldwide Engineering and Technical Services Vice-Presidency.
Bernardo Ortiz completed a BS in Economics at Universidad Externado de Colombia, a Master of Science in Public Policy at the University of London, Queen Mary College, and a Master of Science in Management at the London School of Economics.
In addition, he specialised in Petroleum at the Colorado School of Mines.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director for CIEP, Is Focused on Further Developing and Growing Carlyle 's International Energy Platform. He Is Based in London
Bob Maguire, Managing Director for CIEP, is focused on further developing and growing Carlyle's international energy platform. He is based in London.
Recently, Mr Maguire was a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, but prior to that worked as an Investment Banker for over 21 years at Morgan Stanley and was involved in many of the largest transactions within the sector.
Mr Maguire holds an AB from Princeton University, an MA from Oxford University, and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.
On June 20, 2023, Carlos Velasco was appointed Sustainability Vice President at SierraCol Energy.
Carlos has more than 40 years of career experience, both in the public and private sector, including close to 20 years in the oil and gas sector.
Before this appointment, Carlos was managing partner of Axia Colombia for 9 years, a firm specialized in supporting organizations in managing and developing their social responsibility and external environment strategy, and in generating their crisis management and business continuity capabilities. Between 2004 and 2014 he was the Security and Business Continuity Manager and Corporate Affairs Vice President at BP Colombia and Equión Energía.
Carlos holds a B. Sc. in Naval Engineering - Electronics from the Colombian Naval Academy as well as a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Management from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
Felipe joined the Board of SierraCol Energy in 2020. He also served as CEO of COG Energy, a Colombian oil and gas operator, and Carlyle portfolio company acquired by SierraCol in 2021.
Felipe has extensive experience in the oil and gas sector having worked with BP for 23 years in multiple leadership roles including Regional President for BP Colombia, Commercial Director for BP E&P worldwide, Regional President for BP North Africa, and Senior VP for Regions.
He is also a former senior advisor to Bain and Co and holds an MSc in Management from Stanford University (Sloan Program), and Law Degree from the Universidad de los Andes.
Job Titles:
- Joint Venture and Business Development Manager
On December 2023, Fernando was appointed as Joint Venture and Business Development Manager to represent and safeguard the Company commercial interests with key stakeholders, including the national oil company Ecopetrol, ensure the evacuation and commercialization of SierraCol's production, and lead the definition and implementation of growth and new business alternatives.
Fernando is originally from the department of Arauca and joined the Company in 2005. Since then, he has held various positions of responsibility as Chief of Staff, being part of the Management Team, other positions in the operations of Northern Llanos and LCI. Among his positions are Well Support Eng., Production Eng., Business Planning, Reservoir Eng., Business Development and RMT Leader.
He also has international experience as Business Planning and Reservoir Eng. in Bakersfield, California. Fernando is a Petroleum Engineer from Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) and has an MBA O&G from Robert Gordon University in Scotland.
Job Titles:
- Exploration and Business Development VP
On 5 May 2021, Fred Watchorn was appointed Exploration and Business Development VP of SierraCol Energy.
Fred has more than 25 years' upstream energy experience, predominantly in Colombia, the Middle East and SE Asia.
He joined SierraCol Energy as part of the merger with COG Energy where he was COO and in charge of BD and exploration.
He has previously held key roles in Colombia with OXY, Canacol and Platino and worldwide with Tullow Oil, OXY and Nexen. He has a degree in Geology from University College Dublin, an MSc in Geophysics from the University of Durham and a PhD from the University of London.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Partner
- Partner, Managing Director and General Counsel for Investments
Heather Mitchell is a Partner and Managing Director and Carlyle's Chief Risk Officer, chairing the firm's Risk Committee. She is also global General Counsel for Investments and Head of the firm's EMEA region. She is based in London.
In November 2020, Ms Mitchell was included in Financial News' list of 50 Most Influential in European Private Equity. In 2019, and again in 2020, Ms Mitchell was named in the 100 Most Influential Women in European Finance by Financial News. In 2019, Ms Mitchell was named in the inaugural Chambers GC Influencers Global 100.
This prestigious list highlights the top 100 most influential in-house lawyers globally, and Ms Mitchell was singled out as an industry pioneer. In 2018 she was named Individual General Counsel of the Year by Legal 500. Ms Mitchell was named in the GC Powerlist for 2018 and 2019 whilst also being selected for The Hot 100 list in 2019.
Ms Mitchell received her JD from the Cornell School of Law and her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Ms Mitchell currently sits as a board member of the Cornell Law School.
Job Titles:
- Vice President Operations
- Northern Llanos Operations VP
Jorge Trujillo is currently the Vice President Operations Northern Llanos (LLN) of SierraCol Energy, responsible for the operation and development of one of Colombia's largest oil fields.
Jorge has over 30 years of local and international experience with BP, Equion, Anadarko and Occidental. He joined OXY in 2019 as part of Anadarko's merger with Oxy as the Drilling Manager for operations in Colombia, and prior to this assignment oversaw the Caribbean Deepwater exploration drilling in Colombia which resulted in important gas discoveries for the country, Jorge had a successful professional career performing positions of increasing responsibilities and held several leadership positions in drilling and field development projects in Colombia, Alaska, United Kingdom, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and Houston.
Jorge received his BS in Petroleum Engineering from the Universidad de America and completed an Executive MBA in Universidad de los Andes.
Job Titles:
- Business Strategy Advisor
On 1 March 2023, Rafael was appointed as Business Strategy Advisor to provide high-level support and ensure efficient management of the CEO's office and his executive team.
Rafael Joined the company in 2009, since then, he has held various positions of responsibility in Northern Llanos, Teca and LCI as Reservoir Eng. and RMT leader.
Rafael has worked in multiples projects IOR, EOR including waterflooding and steamflood and has a Strong background is reservoir characterization, development, and optimization.
Rafael is a Petroleum Engineer from UIS and has a Master in Reservoir Engineering from Universidad de America
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- Attorney - at - Law
On 18 December 2020, Juliana Hoyos was appointed General Counsel of SierraCol Energy.
Juliana is a licensed Colombian lawyer. She joined the Company in 2011 and has since supported the Legal department as an Attorney. Prior to joining SierraCol, Juliana was an Associate at a leading Colombian law firm, where she practised in mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.
Juliana is an attorney-at-law (JD equivalent), graduated from Universidad de los Andes, with a minor in Finance, and has a Corporate Social Responsibility specialisation from Universidad Externado de Colombia.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director and Head of CIEP
- Poecke Is a Managing Director for Carlyle International Energy Partners ( CIEP ) and Is Head of the CIEP
Marcel van Poecke is a Managing Director for Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP) and is Head of the CIEP.
Having more than 25 years of experience in the energy sector, Marcel van Poecke is primarily an entrepreneur, investor and executive manager. He is Chairman of AtlasInvest, a private holding company he founded in 2007. AtlasInvest is engaged in investments across the broad energy spectrum.
Mr van Poecke has a degree in Agricultural Business Administration from the University of Wageningen and an MBA from the William E. Simon School of Management of the University of Rochester.
Job Titles:
- Corporate Affairs VP
- Journalist
On August 16, 2022, Mábel Lara was appointed Corporate Affairs VP of SierraCol Energy.
Mábel is a journalist. She has been recognized eight times as the best news anchor in Colombia and deserving of the prestigious Simón Bolívar Journalism Award. She has a recognition by the Swiss government and the United Nations as a Latin American leader who inspires "First Generation".
She has extensive experience in several Colombian media such as Cadena Caracol Televisión, Noticias Uno and Caracol radio. She has been a columnist for the newspaper El País and has been a Washington correspondent for the group Prisa Radio.
She has a specialization in Social Development Management from the Javeriana University, a Master's degree in Political Science and International Relations from the El Rosario University and a scholarship holder of the Innovation & Leadership in Government Program of Georgetown University (ILG).
She was a Senate candidate for the New Liberalism. She is a Senior Advisor to international cooperation agencies such as USAID, Government of Sweden, International Colombian Chamber and Plan Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Senior Operations VP for Occidental De Colombia
In 2019 Ricardo Álvarez was appointed Senior Operations VP for Occidental de Colombia, today SierraCol Energy, LLC, being responsible for the complete operation of the company in the country.
Ricardo joined Occidental de Colombia in 1982 as an intern and during his 39 years of successful professional career he has played important roles in both onshore and offshore operations in Colombia, Ecuador and Qatar, in areas such as project management, artificial lifting, production surveillance, completions engineering, stimulation technologies and sand control techniques.
In 2006 Ricardo assumed the challenge to maximise production while counteracting the natural decline of the Northern Llanos field as Operations VP and in 2010 he was also designated to lead the operations team for the Middle Magdalena Valley.
Ricardo holds a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Universidad Industrial de Santander.
Job Titles:
- Executive Chairman
- First Chairman of SierraCol Energy since the Beginning
Tony Hayward is the first Chairman of SierraCol Energy since the beginning of the Company in 2020. He is an experienced energy executive and Chairman of Glencore, a Managing Partner of St James's Asset Management LLP, and Chairman of a number of private companies.
Tony was Group Chief Executive of BP from 2007 to 2010 having joined BP in 1982 as a rig geologist in the North Sea. Following a series of roles overseas he joined the Exploration and Production Executive Committee in 1997. He became Group Treasurer in 2000, Chief Executive for BP's E&P business and a member of the Main Board of BP in 2003.
Tony studied Geology at Aston University in Birmingham and completed a PhD at Edinburgh University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a visiting Professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, and holds honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, Aston University, the University of Birmingham and Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University.