Management & Directors

The Great Plains management team has personal experience in pursuing – and achieving – our planned growth model. In previous ventures, we attained timely, profitable growth in production, reserves, cash flow and net asset value. This experience was gained through more than one corporate cycle of company formation, acquisitions, rationalization, internal growth and monetization, and through more than one commodity price cycle. We are confident of this model’s ability to maximize shareholder value. Our track record suggests we can execute it successfully at Great Plains.

Officers

Stephen P. Gibson
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Gibson is the President and CEO of Great Plains. Mr. Gibson was the past President and CEO of Rider Resources Inc. from December 2000 to February 2003, leading the company's growth until its takeover. Prior to joining Rider, he was a principal with a New York-based investment banking firm specializing in energy investments. Prior to these positions, he was President and CEO of Probe Exploration Inc. from 1994 to 2000. Mr. Gibson started his career as a landman and has over 25 years of business experience, specializing in acquisitions, capital structuring and corporate finance.

Grant H. Grimsrud, P.Eng., M.Sc.
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Grimsrud has over 28 years of industry experience, including senior management positoins with both public and private oil and gas companies.  Prior to joining Great Plains, Mr. Grimsrud was President and Chief Operating Officer of Northpoint Energy Inc., and previously President and Chief Executive Officer of Scimitar Hydrocarbons Corporation and Manager Exploration Developement for Home Oil Company Limited.  In addition, Mr. Grimsrud was a co-founder of three successful privately held oil and gas industry companies.  Mr. Grimsrud holds a B.Sc. in Engineering (with Distinction) from the University of Alberta and a M.Sc. in Natural Gas Engineering and Management from the College of Petroleum Studies (Oxford) and Salford University (Manchester).

Sean Bovingdon 
Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Bovingdon, ACA, has over 19 years financial and executive experience, most recently as the CFO of a private international E & P company.  He has held senior financial positions with various companies listed on the TSX and the TSX-V, including Controller of Western Oil Sands Inc. from June 2001 until June 2004, and VP Finance & CFO of Electronics Manufacturing Group Inc. from October 1998 until June 2001.  Mr. Bovingdon commenced his career with KPMG in August 1989 and spent over seven years with them in London, England and Calgary, engaged in the audits of companies in a variety of industries, notably oil and gas exploration & production, oilfield services and financial services.  He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.  

Alan D. Gourlay, P. Eng.
Vice President Engineering

Mr. Gourlay has over 23 years of varied petroleum industry experience, including business development, reservoir engineering, field operations, property development and optimization.  Most recently, Mr. Gourlay was a Senior Consulting Engineer with Breaker Energy and prior thereto was a Group Leader with AEC/EnCana and a co-founder and manager at Northpoint Energy, a private oil and gas company.  He spent several years as an independent consultant to several majors including Renaissance, Ranger Oil and Petro-Canada after starting his career for eight years at Home Oil.  Mr. Gourlay graduated in 1987 from the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering. 

Mr. Ostrom joined Great Plains as Chief Geologist as a result of the takeover of Rock Creek Resources in July 2005. Mr. Ostrom, a geologist with 25 years of experience, has a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of British Columbia and was Vice President Exploration of Rock Creek Resources Ltd. Prior to joining Rock Creek, Mr. Ostrom was Exploration Manager for BXL Energy Ltd., a Senior Geologist with Shell Canada Ltd. and co-founder of a private oil and gas company.  He is a member of CSPG, AAPG and APEGGA.

Wayne Smith
Vice President Land

Mr. Smith has over 29 years of mineral land and business development experience in the oil and gas industry.  Prior to joining Great Plains, Mr. Smith was Team Lead Land/Business Development at EnCana Corporation from 1993-2007 and Gas Marketer/Land at Shell Canada from 1980-1993.  As of June 2007, he had consulted for several junior oil and gas companies. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen (CAPL).

Directors

Mr. Connolly is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Redcliffe Exploration Inc. An engineer by training, Mr. Connolly has over 39 years of experience in the oil and gas industry throughout Canada, the United States, Australia and the North Sea. Mr. Connolly founded or co-founded five public oil and gas companies: Triton Energy Corp., HCO Energy Ltd., Tikal Resources Corp., Rock Creek Resources Inc. and Aquest Energy Ltd.