About Us
Fueling Growth through Energy
In 2013, a new chapter began: the creation of Maha, an independent international oil company, focusing on recovering oil and gas reserves and operating productive assets. With a team of industry experts and a defined purpose, Maha began the journey of building a solid base of oil and gas assets and growing strategy.
Our first major acquisition was in the first year of operation (2013), when we acquired Lak Ranch, in the USA, and, immediately, three wells were drilled to increase the production. In the following years, after successful operations, Maha AB was created and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm First North Growth Market. With new plans defined and investments made, Maha completes acquisition in Brazil and reaches 100% of operational interest in Tie Field and in six additional concession contracts onshore in Brazil.
In 2019, Maha received an invitation to participate in the bidding process for Block 70, a highly promising area located in Oman. The company responded with a competitive proposal, engaging in negotiations with the government, ultimately securing the rights to operate in the Block.
With an exploration and appraisal drilling campaign at Block 70 in Oman, 2022 was a year of great results for Maha, and the beginning of a significant financial and operational transformation. Furthermore, three new members of our Board have joined us, together with new members of our management team, enhancing our existing governance structure and bringing a new vision and experience to our leadership. We also conquered a highly renowned reference shareholder through the investment fund managed by Starboard Private Equity, and announced a business combination with DBO, reinforcing the construction of a diversified and balanced portfolio between mature onshore and offshore oil and gas assets.
In the year of 2023, we have made many accomplishments. In the first quarter, the sale of the onshore assets in Brazil was completed and, in the second quarter, offshore assets were added in the same territory, upon the conclusion of our business combination with DBO. Through the transaction, we increased our reserves by 18.8 MMBOE – about the same level as before the sale of the onshore assets – at the same time as our cash balance increased substantially. We announced that 5 out of 8 wells drilled at Block 70 in Oman produced oil at an initial estimated average rate of 300 barrels of oil per day per well. These fundamental changes have meant that certain stakeholders have started talking about a “new Maha”. New or not – Maha Energy is in a strong financial position, ready to embark on a promising growth journey. That’s why we said that we had a promising start and there’s still more to come!
Strategy
Maha Energy focuses on leading the oil and gas recovery industry by developing and operating productive fields, maximizing value, driving profitability, and working ethically and responsibly to benefit all stakeholders. Our strategy is outlined according to three important pillars:
Opportunistic and Accretive Transactions
With the changes and transactions advanced by Maha during 2022, the Company has reinvented its journey, evolved to become an innovative and progressive energy platform designed to grow by profitably acquiring and developing producing oil and gas assets. Building on our industry expertise, capital discipline and local partnerships, we will target mature assets globally, focusing on fields with existing production but offering sizeable growth potential in production, reserves and cash flow with relatively low-capital expenditures, stable cash flow generation and with attractive entry acquisition prices.
Meet our Board
The Board is responsible for the strategy and organization of Maha and its affairs.
Paulo Thiago Mendonça
Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2023
Paulo Thiago Mendonça
Born 1988
Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2023 and member of the Board of Directors since 2022. Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Reserves & HSE Committee.
Education: Degree in Mechanical Engineering (cum laude) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
Other assignments: Managing Director of the Starboard Group
Prior assignments (last five years): Chairman of 3R Petroleum.
Experience: Paulo Thiago Mendonça is currently a Managing Director at Starboard, responsible for private equity investments and advisory in special situations transactions. Paulo has previously been the Head of Investment Banking at Brasil Plural’s Investment Banking division, responsible for M&A, equity and capital market transactions and worked at the Asset Management in Brasil Plural. Paulo has extensive experience in the oil and gas industry and has led important transactions in the sector.
Independent of the Company and the senior management: No.
Independent of major shareholders: No.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 0
Warrants in Maha Energy AB: 952,035 (LTIP 9)
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Enrique Peña
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022
Enrique Peña
Born 1974
Member of the Board of Directors since May 2022. Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Education: Master in Infrastructure Management and Public Services and Master in Civil Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Master in Sustainability and Social Corporate Responsibility from Universidad UNED-UJI.
Other assignments: Executive Director of the IE Negotiation and Mediation Centre and Professor of Strategy in IE University in Madrid, Spain. Director of the Starboard Group.
Prior assignments (last five years): Senior International Manager in Renfe, board member of the Mecca-Medinah High-Speed Train Saudi-Spanish Consortium.
Experience: Enrique Peña has over 23 years’ experience in business development and strategic management in large corporations such as Shell, Boston Consulting Group, Orange and Renfe.
Independent of the Company and the senior management: Yes.
Independent of major shareholders: No.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 0
Warrants in Maha Energy AB: 476,018 (LTIP 9)
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Fabio Vassel
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022
Fabio Vassel
Born 1976
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022
Education: MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. BA from the University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
Other assignments: Managing Director of the Starboard Group.
Previous assignments: Chairman of 3R Petroleum and Board Member of Gemini Energy.
Experience: Fabio Vassel has over 25 years of experience working on Private Equity buy-side and Restructuring Advisory in Latin America, North America and Europe. Fabio was previously Partner and Head of Restructuring & Private Equity at Brasil Plural. Fabio has experience from Jefferies (Zurich and London), Nomura (London) and UBS Investment Bank (New York and London).
Independent of the Company and the senior management: Yes.
Independent of major shareholders: No.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 0
Warrants in Maha Energy AB: 476,018 (LTIP 9)
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Halvard Idland
Member of the Board of Directors since 2023
Halvard Idland
Born 1975
Member of the Board of Directors since March 2023. Member of the Audit Committee.
Education: M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).
Other assignments: Co-founder and Director at DBO Invest and Janeiro Energy. Board member at Prosafe SE and 3R Offshore. Chairman of DreamLearnWork.
Previous assignments (last five years): Co-founder and CFO at DBO Energy and DBO 2.0 S.A (re-named Maha Energy Offshore (Brasil) Ltda.). Audit committee member at 3R Petroleum.
Experience: Halvard Idland has more than 20 years of industrial and financial investment experience in the oil and gas industry in Norway and Brazil. Previous experience includes DNB, Pareto and Aker Yards prior to co-founding DBO Energy.
Independent of the Company and the senior management: Yes.
Independent of major shareholders: No. Halvard is Director at DBO Invest which is a major shareholder in the Company.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 116,337 shares held directly and 7,312,199.33 shares held indirectly through ownership of one third of the shares of DBO Invest S.A.
Warrants in Maha Energy AB: 0
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Richard Norris
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022
Richard Norris
Born 1966
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022. Chairman of the HSE Reserve Committee and Member of the Audit Committee.
Education: PhD in Petroleum Engineering and an MSc in Petroleum Geology from Imperial College in London and a BSc in Geology.
Other assignments: Richard is currently Managing Director of Pandreco Energy Advisors Inc
Previous assignments (last five years): –
Experience: Richard Norris has over 30 years energy related experience in both industry and finance, including roles with large and small oil companies, as well as roles in debt and equity financing. Richard has worked in engineering, management and board roles covering Africa, Europe, Former Soviet Union and South America with BP, Elf Aquitaine/Total, Geopetrol, Candax Energy and Eland Oil and Gas. In finance Richard was instrumental in building the European oil and gas structured finance group at BNP Paribas. As a Partner at Helios Investment Partners, Richard co-managed Helios’s Private Equity energy investments throughout Africa. Richard is a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Independent of the Company and the senior management: Yes.
Independent of major shareholders: Yes.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 0
Warrants in Maha Energy AB: 476,018 (LTIP 9)
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Svein Harald Øygard
Member of the Board of Directors since September 2023
Born 1960
Member of the Board of Directors since September 2023. Member of the Remuneration Committee.
Education: Cand. Oecon from the University of Oslo, Economist.
Other assignments: Chairman of Norwegian Air Shuttle and DOF. Board member of TGS-NOPEC.
Previous assignments (last five years): Global Knowledge Leader Oil & Gas at McKinsey 2010-2014 and as leader of Oil & Gas in Latin America, based in Brazil, 2013-2016. Senior Partner Corporate Finance in Sparebank1 Markets until mid-2021.
Experience: Svein Harald Øygard has served as economist in the Ministry of Finance of Norway, as a secretary of the Committee of Fiscal affairs in the Norwegian Parliament, as economic advisor for the Labor Party and then as Deputy Minister of Finance of Norway, 1990-1994. Thereafter McKinsey Company for 21 years, largely in oil & gas, finance and industry, among others advising oil & gas companies in the North Sea, North America, the Mid-East, South-East Asia and West Africa. He also served as Country Manager Norway, as interim Central Bank Governor of Iceland after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and as Chair of the Execution Committee for the Icelandic bank restructuring. Co-founder of DBO Energy 2017 and in 2020 he co-founded Janeiro Energy, a venture fund investing into businesses in the renewables sector.
Independent in relation to the Company and the Company management: Yes.
Independent in relation to the major shareholders: No.
Holdings of shares in Maha: Svein Harald holds 2,748,840 shares in Maha directly or through company (out of which 40,000 shares are currently lent out), and 7,312,199.33 shares in Maha indirectly through ownership of 1/3 of the shares in DBO Invest S.A.
Warrants in Maha: 0
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Viktor Modigh
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022
Viktor Modigh
Born 1980
Member of the Board of Directors since 2022. Member of the Audit Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Reserve & HSE Committee.
Education: Master of Law from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden with a specialization in Petroleum Law and Petroleum Contracts from the University of Oslo, Norway.
Other assignments:Chairman of Jumpgate AB, Transition Energy International AB, Klash AB, Minotaurus Energi AS and Urtiven AS. Managing Director of Tiveden AS and Infundo AB.
Prior assignments (last five years): –
Experience: Viktor has worked as a lawyer advising primarily oil and gas companies on regulatory and contractual matters, transactions and general corporate law. He has more than 20 years´ experience of investments across different sectors and has held management positions with Tethys Oil in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Viktor is a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators.
Independent of the Company and the senior management: Yes.
Independent of major shareholders: Yes.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 0
Warrants in Maha Energy AB:476,018 (LTIP 9)
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Roberto Marchiori
CFO
Born 1988
Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) since 2024.
Education: BSc in Industrial Engineering from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Prior assignments (last five years): New Business Development and M&A Director at Maha Energy, Executive Director at Starboard
Experience: Roberto has most recently held the position of New Business Development and M&A Director at Maha Energy, co-leading Maha’s Mergers and Acquisitions since 2022. Roberto has broad experience in investment banking and restructuring. During his 14 years of tenure, he has assisted top management of several companies in a diverse array of industries such as oil & gas, mining, metals, insurance and reinsurance, utilities and transmission lines, retail, and financial services. Before joining Maha, Roberto held the position of Executive Director leading Private Equity investments at Starboard.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: –
Options in Maha Energy AB: 761,628 (LTIP 8)
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Kjetil Solbraekke
CEO
Kjetil Solbraekke
Born 1962
Cand. Oecon from the University of Oslo, Economist.
CEO since September 2023
Previous assignments: CEO in Sintef do Brasil. Co-founder and CEO at DBO Energy and DBO 2.0. Board Member of 3R Petroleum.
Experience: Kjetil Solbraekke has over 30 years of experience from the Norwegian Oil and gas sector in various positions as Assistant director general in the Ministry of Petroleum in Norway, SVP and CFO in Norsk Hydro, CEO in Panoro Energy and Sintef do Brazil, Founder and CEO in DBO Energy. He has lived in Brazil since 2006.
Independent of the Company and the senior management: No.
Independent of major shareholders: No
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: Holdings: 216,337 shares held directly and 7,312,199.33 shares held indirectly through ownership of one third of the shares of DBO Invest S.A.
Warrants in Maha Energy AB:952,035 (LTIP 8)
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Barbara Bittencourt
Chief Legal Officer
Barbara Bittencourt
Born 1985
Specialization in Maritime Regulation and Ocean Management, Harvard University, Boston, USA (2018); LL.M in Oil and Gas from the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland (2012); Bachelor of Laws from Universidade Milton Campos Law School, Brazil (2007).
Chief Legal Officer since 2023
Other current assignments: None
Prior assignments (last five years): Partner of Demarest Advogados (Brazilian top tier law firm); Senior Associate at Campos Mello Advogados in Cooperation with DLA Piper.
Experience: Ms. Bittencourt has over 15 years of experience within energy and natural resources, focusing her career on transactions and regulatory issues in the oil and gas industry. Before joining Maha, Barbara was a partner of the Brazilian law firm Demarest Advogados at their Energy and Natural Resources practice. Previously, Barbara was a Senior Associate of DLA Piper/Campos Mello Advogados. She holds a master’s degree in Oil and Gas from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Universidade Milton Campos (Brazil), and specialization in Maritime Regulation and Ocean Management from Harvard University.
Shareholding in Maha Energy AB: 0
Options in Maha Energy AB: 761,628 (LTIP 8)
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