TAG Oil Executive Leadership

Our leadership team has deep expertise in guiding the development and growth of financial and international oil and gas companies.

Alex P. Guidi, Director
Mr. Guidi is highly experienced international oil and gas entrepreneur and the founder of TAG Oil. Mr. Guidi began his journey into the oil business as a drilling roughneck in Alberta at age 18. Since then, he has founded and led a number of successful Canadian-based growth companies. Mr. Guidi has also led the funding, development and growth strategy of several companies that pioneered exploration onshore and offshore in Australasia and China throughout the early 1990s to the present, which has resulted in the discovery of several wildcat oil and gas discoveries in New Zealand and major gas reserves in Papua New Guinea's Foreland, key parts of which were recently acquired by Talisman Energy. In the 1980s, Mr. Guidi introduced new horizontal drilling technology to mature fields in South East Saskatchewan, transforming Walking Stick Oil and Gas Ltd. into a significant entity that later merged with Bonavista Petroleum.

Garth Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Director
Mr. Johnson's perseverance, strategic planning skills, and ability to execute complex transactions have been key to TAG Oil's transformation from a start-up to prominent international production and development-stage company. Over the past 15 years, he has developed a deep expertise in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea oil and gas activities, as well as a wealth of diverse business experience in North America and Australasia. His strong leadership is critical to TAG's continued growth and success.

Drew Cadenhead, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Cadenhead received world-class technical training and in-depth knowledge of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin during his 24 years based in Calgary. Thirteen of those years were with Canadian Hunter Exploration. He also worked in various leadership capacities for a number of other Canadian-based companies including Ulster Petroleum, Selkirk Energy and Summit Resources. At Summit he was responsible for identifying and leading the company into the Gunnell area of BC to test the Upper Devonian Jean Marie Formation where multi-TCF gas deposits were subsequently discovered. Mr. Cadenhead gained his New Zealand experience with Fletcher Challenge Energy Taranaki, leading a team of geoscientists, engineers and technical support staff into a successful multi-well drilling program and secondary recovery implementation before joining TAG Oil in 2003. Drew holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology from the University of Calgary, and is a member of APEGGA.

Blair Johnson, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Johnson, who holds a Bachelor of Management Studies with First Class Honors in Accounting and Marketing, has worked with the Company for the last four years. His responsibilities have included corporate governance and accounting functions for TAG's New Zealand subsidiaries. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand. Prior to joining TAG, Mr. Johnson was Finance Director for Bridge Petroleum Limited (NZ) and has an exceptional track record of managing operational risk in highly regulated industries.

Giuseppe (Pino) Perone, Secretary/Treasurer
Mr. Perone is an active member of the Law Society of British Columbia and is currently practicing as a corporate lawyer for a group of public companies. He obtained a B.A. with distinction in Sociology from the University of Victoria in 2001 and an LL.B. from the University of Alberta in 2005, and has previously articled at the law firm of Lang Michener LLP in their Vancouver, British Columbia office.

Ken Vidalin, Director
Mr. Vidalin, P.Eng. is the founder of two significant global corporations, Methanex and Acetex, and has more than 20 years' experience as a board member of public and private companies. As the founder, former director, and former COO of Canadian-based Methanex Corporation - the world's leading methanol producer with major infrastructure in New Zealand and the country's largest commercial user of natural gas - Ken brings strong technical and business qualifications to TAG's Board. He holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of North Dakota.

Keith Hill, Director
Mr. Hill is the Chairman of Black Pearl Resources Inc. (TSX: PXX) and ShaMaran Petroleum Corp. (TSX-V: SNM), and is the CEO of Africa Oil Corp. (TSX-V: AOI). Prior to this, Mr. Hill was instrumental in developing Valkyries Petroleum Corp. and Tanganyika Oil Company Ltd., both highly successful international oil and gas producers which were acquired by major oil companies. Mr. Hill holds a Master of Science degree in Geology and Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysics from Michigan State University, as well as an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

Ronald Bertuzzi, Director
Mr. Bertuzzi holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of British Columbia and he has more than 20 years of executive, board and committee experience with US and Canadian junior listed companies focused primarily in the oil and gas industry doing business in Australasia. Ron’s experience covers various stages of company development beginning with initial start-up and initial public offerings, acquiring and exploring significant exploration acreages and ending in discovery, facility development and commercial production of oil and gas.