Mr. Stewart Ahmed

Chief Technical Officer

Mr Stewart Ahmed has 32 years oil industry technical, commercial and management experience, most recently as Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of AIM Listed Madagascar Oil in Antananarivo from 2013-2016. Operating the Tsimiroro Field steam flood pilot, he gained the first Field Development License in Madagascar’s history.

As General Manager of Dove Energy in Sana’a, Yemen, Mr Ahmed discovered, developed and operated a number of onshore oil-fields peaking at 25,000 BOPD. Subsequently he managed the exploration license seismic and drilling work programmes as General Manager of Dove Energy in Damascus, Syria and Midas Oil and Gas in Yemen.

He performed the position of Petroleum Engineering Manager for RDS Resource, a leading Aberdeen based Subsurface Consultancy from 1997-2000. Prior to that Mr Ahmed worked for 12 years for Chevron in the UK North Sea and Gulf of Mexico as a Petroleum Engineer and Commercial Analyst.
Mr Ahmed has a BSc in Mining and Petroleum Engineering and is a Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Mr. Geoffrey Leid

Managing Director - Trinidad

Geoffrey Leid is a corporate consultant/adviser with a particular focus on oil and gas development projects. His extensive experience in the acquisition and funding of resource projects in Trinidad spans ten years. An attorney by profession, Mr. Leid has specialised in real estate, corporate mergers and acquisitions and he sat on numerous boards in the real estate, telecommunications and energy sectors throughout the Caribbean. Mr. Leid holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Administrative Studies from York University, Canada and obtained his LLB in the United Kingdom. As a member of Grays Inn, he was called to the Bar in England. Mr. Leid is also a member of the Certified Public Accountants in Canada.

Mr. Anthony Hawkins

Legal and M&A Director

Tony Hawkins is a commercial adviser and qualified lawyer of over 20 years' experience.  His experience is in advising on and implementing large scale M&A and project developments.  He also has experience in asset management and Legal & Regulatory compliance.   These skills have been predominately in oil and gas but also in power, LNG and renewables.  

Prior to Columbus, Mr Hawkins was General Counsel & Head of Commercial for Sterling Energy plc, a London listed oil & gas company.  He was also the company secretary.   Prior to Sterling Energy, he spent 6 years at the upstream division of Centrica plc (a FTSE 100 listed utility).  

He holds a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts and is and English and Australian qualified lawyer.   He is an active member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.  Previously, he sat on the legal committee of Oil & Gas UK and was instrumental in helping develop the standard DES LNG Master Sale Agreement for the European Federation of Energy Traders.