Our Team

Hon. Diana McQueen

CHAIR

Diana is the Corporate Chair of ReconAfrica, while continuing her role as Senior Vice President of Recon Africa’s Corporate Communications, Stakeholder Relations, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs. While working directly with the ReconAfrica teams in Namibia, Botswana and corporately, along with the government and various project stakeholders she was able to gain key insights.  She also has experience on various energy companies' corporate boards and is a member and chair on specific board committees for them. 

Diana is highly experienced in governmental affairs, as Diana held various Alberta provincial cabinet roles including Minister of Energy, Minister of Environment & Sustainable Resource Development (including Forestry and Climate Change), and Minister of Municipal Affairs. Diana has extensive energy and environmental public policy experience at regional, provincial, and international levels.

"We value our people and through our ESG program, we are able to implement our operations' activities with our environmental, social and governance approach to business. I am highly motivated to work alongside our Directors and Executive Leadership Team, and I am very proud of our technical team members in North America, Namibia and Botswana, and all we are able to accomplish together as a team. " Diana McQueen

Hon. Diana McQueen

Board Chair, ReconAfrica

Dr. Joseph R. Davis

DIRECTOR

Dr. Joseph R. Davis has 40 years of experience as an oil and gas geologist focused on reserve estimation and understanding exploration risk. Dating back to 2013, Dr. Davis led the technical team in the discovery of the Kavango basin. In 2015 Dr. Davis was a founding partner of a private US based natural gas company, focused on sustainable natural gas production, achieving natural gas production of over 800 mmcf/day. Dr. Davis has a PhD in Geology from the University of Texas and serves as Secretary of the Trustee Associates of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation. He also serves on the AAPG’s Sustainable Development Committee, which provides industry leadership in technology and training for meeting United Nations sustainable development goals, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting ground and surface water supplies, and defining the reservoirs necessary for carbon storage and sequestration.

D. Jeffrey Harder, FCPA, FCA, FCBV, ICD.D.

DIRECTOR

Mr. Harder has more than 40 years’ experience as a financial professional with a focus on the energy and mining sectors. Mr. Harder was previously a partner with Deloitte LLP before his retirement from the firm where he held strategic governance and operational positions including Canada business leader and Americas business leader. Mr. Harder is currently a director of MCF Energy Ltd.

Iman Hill

DIRECTOR

Iman Hill is a Petroleum Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry with extensive global expertise in the technical and commercial aspects of the petroleum business, in particular field development, capital projects and production operations. She also serves as Chair of the Board of Envorem, non-executive Independent Board Director of Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL) and United Oil and Gas.

Iman’s experience has been gained in North and West Africa, the Middle East, South America, the Far East, and the North Sea in a number of diverse settings from onshore to ultra-deep water with companies that include BP, Shell, BG Group, Dana Gas and Sasol where she was responsible for the Company’s African Upstream unit.

Most recently, Iman Hill was the CEO of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP), accountable for driving performance improvement in the industry in Safety, Engineering, Environmental management, including Oceans’ health, as well as supporting and enabling the industry to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions and accelerate plans for decarbonisation and carbon sequestration. She is a champion of sustainability to align business objectives with meeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Brian Reinsborough

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

A visionary executive with an exceptional record of strategic, leadership, and management successes. An industry pioneer whose passion and focused drive inspires companies and individuals to deliver excellence. Brian has an outstanding track record and brings 35 years of successful oil and gas exploration and production experience including over 25 years in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Having worked globally for Mobil Oil, Nexen, Warburg Pincus as an Executive-In-Residence and Venari Resources, Brian has discovered over 2.4 billion of barrels of oil equivalent over the course of his career in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. During his career he has been involved with some of the largest discoveries in the history of the Gulf of Mexico including Appomattox, Anchor, and Shenandoah. He has developed initial business plans and executed two Deepwater businesses into industry-recognized programs, and has drilled 36 Deepwater wells in all play types in the GoM, resulting in a 50% success rate.

Brian has significant experience in attracting financing and talent for exploration-based businesses having raised over $2.4 billion of private equity financing in his previous company.

Brian completed the Program for Management Development from Harvard Business School, a Master of Arts in Geology from University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Mount Allison University, Canada. Brian was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Energy in the US in 2014 and currently serves on the Advisory Board of University of Texas, Jackson School of Geosciences.

Carlos Escribano

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Carlos Escribano was appointed CFO of ReconAfrica in January 2020 and has more than 14 years of experience in senior level financial management. He has served as CFO for publicly traded multi-national corporations in the resource sector, including leadership roles with Vancouver-based precious metals producers operating in Latin America. He has demonstrated his ability in successfully managing key aspects of finance, accounting and administration, including debt and equity financing, financial reporting and compliance, budgeting and treasury.

Carlos is a Chartered Professional Accountant and graduate of the University of British Columbia.

Adam Rubin

GENERAL COUNSEL

Adam brings over 25 years of legal, commercial, strategic and executive experience in the oil and gas industry. He has provided insight and advice to public CEOs, Board Chairs and executive management teams. He has significant experience negotiating successful complex, high-profile, multi-party corporate, financial and international transactions. Adam has represented both public and private companies in a broad range of capacities, including formation, venture capital, financings, initial public offerings, corporate contests, international transactions, and Canadian and U.S. reporting requirements.

He began his career at a national Canadian law firm and has been Assistant General Counsel at Nexen Inc., and General Counsel at Venari Resources as well as a Blackstone portfolio company.

Adam earned his undergraduate degree in economics from McGill University, his MBA in finance from the University of Ottawa and his JD from the University of Calgary. He completed the Executive Leadership Development Program at Harvard Business School and is a member of the Law Society of Alberta.

Chris Sembritzky

SVP, EXPLORATION

Chris is an experienced geologist with an outstanding track record of international exploration, appraisal and development programs with significant business development experience. Over a 20-year career at Anadarko Petroleum, he held senior geologist roles on projects including; Mozambique, Algeria, South Africa, Peru, Colombia, Ghana, Brazil, Iraq and onshore United States. Prior to his retirement from Anadarko, Chris was the Vice President of International Exploration, Business Development and New Ventures. Chris has developed longstanding relationships with various government agencies, national oil companies, and joint venture partners in a multitude of international settings.

Chris holds a Master’s degree in Geology from Baylor University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Geology from Baylor University. Chris has been a company advisor on topics including carbonates, sedimentology, petrophysics and seismic stratigraphy.

Robert Mwanachilenga

VP & COUNTRY GENERAL MANAGER RECONNAISSANCE ENERGY NAMIBIA

Robert, is a Petroleum Engineer with specialisations in Drilling and Production Engineering. He has experience in Project Management, Mining, Renewable Energy and Cost Engineering.

He has over 30 years’ experience in the on andoffshore oil and gas and energy sectors. [and has worked for companies such as: Deutsche Schachtbau und Tiefborgesellschaft; Brasoil (Petrobras); NAMCOR; Chariot Oil and Gas (Enigma); Maurel et Prom and now Reconnaissance Energy Namibia.

He is involved in academia at the University of Namibia and the Namibia University of Science and Technologyin Namibia.

His international oil and gas experience mainly covers West Africa, Brazil, USA, Southern Africa, and Germany.

Robert is a registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of Namibia, and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineers and the Institute Directors Southern Africa. 

Nick Steinsberger

SVP, DRILLING & COMPLETIONS

Nick Steinsberger brings 32 years of experience in petroleum engineering, drilling and completions, production, and surface facilities to ReconAfrica.  Nick began his career with Mitchell Energy in 1988 after graduating from the University of Texas with a B. Sc in Petroleum Engineering.

While with Mitchell Energy, Nick was promoted to Completion Manager for the Barnett Fields (Texas) in 1995 and was responsible for completing the first 25 horizontal wells ever drilled and completed in the play, transforming it into ultimately one of the largest gas fields in the USA, reaching peak production of 5.75 billion cubic feet per day in 2012. Based on its success in the Barnett, Mitchell Energy was sold to Devon Energy for $3.1 billion in 2002.

In July 2003, Nick began Steinsberger Gas Consulting and is considered a world leader in completions and well design, and has supervised more than 1,500 well programs in North American source rock and conventional plays.

Grayson Andersen

VP, INVESTOR RELATIONS

Grayson has over 25 years of global oil and gas and capital markets experience having worked in Canada, the United Kingdom, South America and Africa. Grayson is a CPA-Chartered Accountant having started his career in the assurance practice of KPMG in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Grayson has worked in capital markets roles with companies including; Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSX: CNQ), Frontera Energy (TSX: FEC), and GeoPark Limited (NYSE: GPRK), and held investment banking roles with Credit Suisse, Macquarie Capital and Simmons & Company. 

Grayson holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Co-Op) from Memorial University of Newfoundland. 

Deniz Kuban

CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER

Ms. Kuban is a lawyer with twenty years of international legal experience in compliance and oil and gas projects in ten countries. She has served in legal and compliance roles for international publicly listed companies and advised international oil companies and state oil companies throughout her career. She is a Partner and Head of London office of Park Energy Law since February 2015. Prior to that, she was Head of Legal and Head of Compliance Programs with Genel Energy in London UK and Ankara Turkey from October 2009.