Executive Committee
Mr. Rigas is a founding shareholder of Energean Oil & Gas. He is a Petroleum Engineer with a combination of oil & gas and investment banking experience.
Prior to setting up Energean Oil & Gas, Mr. Rigas spent 18 years in investment banking and has experience in Private Equity investments in oil & gas, project finance and shipping. Between 2001 and 2007 Mr. Rigas set up, and became the Managing Partner of, Capital Connect Venture Partners, a Greek investment fund. From 1999 until 2001, Mr. Rigas managed Piraeus Bank’s Shipping Investment Banking division.
As Vice President of Shipping, Energy & Project Finance at Chase Manhattan Bank in London (1993-1999), Mr. Rigas arranged financing in excess of US$5 billion, mainly in the oil & gas sector.
He holds a Degree in Mining and Metallurgical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MSc / DIC Degree in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College.
Mr. Benos has extensive experience of working on international projects in the oil & gas sector, both in banking and industry, with a long track record of upstream financings in emerging markets.
He joined Energean from Standard Chartered Bank, where he worked as a Director in their London Oil & Gas team to deliver a number of significant projects and acquisitions in Africa, Asia and Middle East.
Mr. Benos previously worked for ConocoPhillips, where he held positions in European Treasury, North Sea Economics and International Downstream, with a focus on the North Sea, Central Europe and Middle East business. Mr. Benos began his career with Royal Bank of Scotland.
He is a Chartered Accountant (ICAS) and holds an MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance from Cass Business School.
Lily is Energean’s Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, heading its legal, compliance and corporate governance functions.
Prior to joining Energean, Lily held a senior role at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, specialising in cross border M&A, joint ventures and equity capital markets transactions, with a particular focus on the energy sector and a strong track record in the Greek and Israeli markets.
Lily has extensive experience in the industry, having previously advised major corporates, including BP, on several large-scale transactions.
She holds a Magister Juris degree from the University of Oxford, and is a qualified Solicitor in England and Wales.
Shaul Zemach is a leading Israeli Energy and Infrastructure expert, who joined Energean Israel when it was established.
Mr. Zemach served as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources from 2009 to 2013 after acting as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
Following the discovery of significant Israeli Natural Gas volumes in 2011, Mr. Zemach was appointed as Chairman of an inter-ministerial committee to examine government policy on the natural gas industry by the Israeli Prime Minister and the Minister of Energy. The Committee’s final report was approved by the Cabinet inJune 2013.
Mr. Zemach has served on Boards of Directors for several leading Energy and Financial corporations in Israel and numerous government-owned companies, including Israel Electric Corporation. He served as Acting Chairman of Israel Airport Authority Council (2006).
Mr. Zemach holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from the Hebrew University and a Masters in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University.
Nicolas Katcharov is CEO and Chairman of Energean International E&P SpA, Energean's, Country Manager in Egypt and Head of Energy Transition. He is also CEO and Chairman of EEES Ltd., an Energean subsidiary based in Cairo and specializing in energy efficiency and downstream developments, and well as Board Director at AbuQir Petroleum and Rashpetco .
Nicolas has over 30 years of extensive international experience in the energy sector, most of which as executive officer and board director in various companies operating in the fields of power and heat generation, distribution, services and, since 2017, in oil and gas exploration and production. He holds a degree in Electronics Engineering and is a Doctor of Science in Applied Physics (Hons) from the State University of Limoges, France.
He started his carrier in Gaz de France in Paris, before joining in succession EDF (France), Budapest Power Plants ZRt. (Hungary), Fenice SpA and Edison SpA (Italy).
Paddy has worked for 20+ years at the nexus of energy, resources, geopolitics and capital markets – in reputation management, communications and public affairs, with additional relevant experience in both global investment banking and also as a counterinsurgency researcher.
Since 2003 he has worked across the energy value chain, with a strong focus on natural gas, advising producing states including Saudi Arabia, Russia and Qatar, in addition to large producers such as Gazprom, KazMunaiGas and multiple IOCs. He has advised on over $50bn of international transactions across the globe in public and private capital markets, working on corporate and sovereign financing projects.
Paddy holds a BA in modern history from the University of East Anglia and a MA in War Studies from Kings College, London. He speaks English, French, German & Russian in descending order of competence.
Working with fellow Executive Committee colleagues, Country Managers and the broader technical team across all of Energean’s operations, Thomas’s objective is to ensure optimal operational performance across Energean’s production, development and exploration portfolio.
Thomas has more that forty years experience in the Upstream Oil and Gas Sector working for BP, OMV and MOL. His primary career focuses have been technology, capital projects, and operations. He has held Vice President and Chief Operating Officer roles responsible for exploration, subsurface, wells, surface facilities development, and production operations. Thomas has broad international experience, having worked in the Americas, Europe, Russia, and Asia.
Thomas holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Oxford University, UK and an Executive MBA from Stanford University, USA.