Karl Johnson: Vice President Business Development and Operations (Age 52)

Mr. Johnson joined the Company on January 1, 2010 as VP of Business Development and Operations. He has 30 years of experience in the petroleum industry, and was with Marathon for over 27 years. He started with Marathon as a reservoir/production engineer and has worked primarily on international projects. In 1991 he coordinated the preparation of a feasibility study for the development of a field in Western Siberia. In 1992, he lead the economic analysis of the Sakhalin II Project during the feasibility study, and later became part of the negotiating team that negotiated the first Production Sharing Agreement in Russia. Mr. Johnson was then seconded to Sakhalin Energy Investment Company and held positions of Approvals Manager in Moscow, and Russian Content Manager in Sakhalin. After Marathon left the Sakhalin II Project, he headed up Marathon’s Moscow office as VP of Business Development.

He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN). He has a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering from Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, USA, and recently completed an Executive MBA degree from Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.

Alexey Balyasnikov – General Director of Stimul-T (Age 64)

Mr Balyasnikov has over 32 years experience in the Russian oil and gas industry. He worked for Marathon in various capacities, including as head of Marathon’s representative office in Moscow, from 1990 to 2004. Most recently he has worked for Petroneft LLC on numerous projects including under contract to Foster Wheeler Energy LTD as Russian Project Manager of a large due diligence project for TNK-BP in Western Siberia. Prior to joining Marathon, Mr Balyasnikov was a senior geophysical researcher for the Moscow Research Institute. Mr Balyasnikov has a degree in geophysics from St. Petersburg University. He is a native Russian speaker who is fluent in English.

Alexander Frenovsky – Managing Director of Stimul-T (Age 61) 

Mr Frenovsky, a former general director and chief engineer of JSC Tomskneftegazgeologia, the former Russian state enterprise that discovered and delineated essentially all of the oil and gas fields in the Tomsk Region. Mr Frenovsky has over 34 years experience in the oil industry and has received a state medal ‘‘For Development of the Subsurface and Oil and Gas Complex of West Siberia’’ and the ‘‘Merited Worker of Geological Exploration’’ badge of honour. He participated in the discovery of fields in the Tomsk Region and took part in the development of over 15 of the oil fields. Mr Frenovsky graduated in 1971 from the Oil University in Ufa, with a specialisation in ‘‘drilling of oil and gas wells’’.

Dr Nikolay Karapuzov – Chief Geologist and Geophysicist of Stimul-T (Age 64)

Dr Karapuzov was chief geophysicist/chief geologist of JSC Tomskneftegazgeologia. He worked for  JSC Tomskneftegazgeologia for 35 years and directly participated in the discovery of 17 oil fields in the area and has been awarded the title ‘‘Honourable Geologist of Russia’’ by the Russian government for his contribution to the development of the subsurface in Tomsk Region. Dr Karapuzov graduated from Voronezh State University in 1970 with specialisation in ‘‘geophysical methods of prospecting and exploration of hydrocarbons’’.

Valery Solovyev — Chief Engineer of Stimul-T (Age 55)

Mr. Solovyev has over 32 years experience in the Russian oil and gas industry. He worked for such companies as Lukoil, Gazprom, Rosneft, Imperial Energy in engineering and executive positions. Within his work Mr. Solovyev took part in development and commissioning of 14 fields, including 2 gas fields. He has extensive experience in the sphere of facilities construction and development of oil and gas fields and has been awarded the titles “Merited Oilman of Russia” and “Honorable Worker of Oil and Gas Industry of Russia” for professionalism and high achievements. He is a graduate of Perm Polytechnic University with specialization in “Development of Oil and Gas fields”.