The Team
Board of Directors
Kevin Bailey AM
Chairman
Kevin was appointed as a director on 22 April 2016 and chairman on 29 April 2022. He has been a shareholder of the Company since April 2008 and brings significant business acumen and experience to the Board. Kevin is a highly successful businessman with a range of business interests, both local and overseas. He has served as a director of numerous various entities including the Investment Advisory Board of the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund, the $17bn sovereign wealth fund of Timor-Leste.
Previously, Kevin worked for 28 years as a Certified Financial Planner and was a founding director of the Shadforth Financial Group Limited. Until recently he was a member of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership and devotes considerable time to philanthropic interests. In the 2017 Australia Day Honours he was made a member of the Order of Australia for significant service to Australia-Timor-Leste relations, to philanthropic organisations, to the financial planning sector, and to the community.
Sara Melinda Edmonson
Non-Executive Director
Sara was appointed as a director on 23 December 2019. Sara has extensive experience in natural gas, the critical transition fuel for a low carbon future, having led PVE from July 2010 to 2017. She is currently the President at Associazione Energia Nazionale, an Italian association created to promote sustainable production, transportation and use of domestic energy and is fluent in Italian, having previously worked both in Italy and internationally for Ernst & Young Transaction Advisory Services.
During her tenure at EY Sara advised numerous blue-chip corporate clients on transactions in Russia, Romania, Turkey and the US including the US$5 billion acquisition of DRS Technologies by Finmeccanica in 2008. She holds an MBA from St John’s University in New York City. Sara served on the board of Coro Energy plc from November 2017 to October 2018 and as executive until March 2019.
Joseph Constable
Non-Executive Director
Joseph was appointed as a director on 30 November 2021. Joseph is an executive director of Hancock & Gore (ASX: HNG), and portfolio manager at H&G Investment Management Limited.
He has been a long-term shareholder of PVE personally as well as professionaly via the H&G High Conviction Fund (formerly The Supervised Fund). Joseph has a detailed understanding of the Company and its assets and brings his significant financial skills to PVE and the board of directors.
Katrina O'Leary
Non-Executive Director
Katrina was appointed as a director on 2 May 2022. Katrina is an Intellectual Property (IP) and Information Technology (IT) lawyer with experience in both commercial and litigious matters.
She has 10 years of experience in top tier law firms in Australia, eight years consulting for international organisations and non-government organisations (NGOs) in Italy, and 15 years providing in-house specialist IP/IT advice to Australian government entities, large public companies and small private companies. Katrina is strategic adviser with international experience, and has significant experience in governance roles including serving as non executive board director on several boards.
Management
Mr Giorgio Bertuzzi
Exploration & New Projects Manager
Giorgio has 31 years’ experience with ENI/Agip, covering numerous roles: Exploration Manager in northern Italy, Prefeasibility Studies Manager, in Italy; Exploration, Planning and Control in Western and Eastern Africa.
Gianluca De Rosa
Senior Geophysicist & Team Leader
Gianluca joined the Company in 2008. He has over 18 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. Formerly employed for 10 years at Eni in the exploration department, Gianluca acquired an expert knowledge of all frameworks of upstream activities, working on onshore/offshore, gas and deep oil prospects
Pier Paolo Ponica
Senior Geophysicist
Pier Paolo originally joined the Company in 2010. He is a geologist with 25 years experience in structural engineering monitoring, cartography and oil and gas exploration & development, GIS and cartography.
Before joining Po Valley Operations, Pier Paolo worked for engineering companies, specifically in structural monitoring in the largest Italian transportation infrastructures.
Diego Balistreri
Development and Production Manager
Diego Balistreri graduated with a qualification in Petroleum Engineering from the Politecnico di Turin. His oil and gas career started in 1978 with Italian major ENI, before joining Elf Aquitaine and Enterprise Oil. Diego has extensive experience in the development and production of several oil and gas fields in Italy, Norway and France. In 2011 he joined Po Valley and has been responsible for the development of the Sillaro, Bezzecca and Vitalba gas fields. He is presently acting as ‘Development and Production Manager’ for the Podere Maiar gas field in the Selva Malvezzi Production Concession.
Daria Fortunati
Geologist Production Manager
An experienced Geologist & Production Manager that is experienced with Italian compliance reporting, external and government relations.