Executive Management

Ahmed S. Said | President & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Said is a Professional Engineer and his background includes operational and senior management roles in the oil & gas industry both domestically and internationally. His recent focus has included corporate strategy development and host government negotiations. He is concurrently the President & CEO of Longford Energy Inc. and the President Oil & Gas Group of Forbes & Manhattan Inc., a private merchant bank. He is also the director of several public and private companies. Mr. Said holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada.

Fari Goodarzi | Vice President, Exploration

Dr. Goodarzi’s background includes over 40 years of technical and management roles with public, private and government corporations. Fari managed and successfully conducted various regional hydrocarbon evaluation studies in frontier basins such as Arctic Canada. He has extensive experience in the exploration of conventional and unconventional oil, gas & coal resources. Dr. Goodarzi holds a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Geology and Geochemistry from University of Newcastle-Upon Tyne in England and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Gary Lobb | Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Lobb is a Chartered Accountant with over 22 years of petroleum industry financial and tax experience.  Previously, Gary has held management positions in various financial capacities including the Vice President, Finance and CFO of C1 Energy Ltd. and the Vice President, Finance and CFO and Corporate Secretary of Nycan Energy Corp.  Mr. Lobb holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary and obtained his Chartered Accountant designation while articling with Arthur Anderson & Co.

Richard (Dick) Naab | Manager, Corporate Relations - Kurdistan Region

Colonel (U.S. Army, Retired) Dick Naab was the commander of the allied forces in northern Iraq (Kurdistan) in 1991 where he was largely responsible for implementing a humanitarian effort to assist and resettle many of the destroyed villages. In 2003, he was appointed as North Regional Coordinator for the Coalition Provisional Authority, where he was responsible for the administration of seven northern governorates (including Kurdistan) from a military and economic perspective. Richard graduated from the U.S. Army war college and holds a Bachelor of Economics from University of Notre Dame and a  Masters in History from San Jose State University.

Patrick Gleeson | Corporate Secretary

Patrick Gleeson is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Longford Energy Inc. A lawyer in Canada, he joined the Company in April 2007. Prior to joining the Company Mr. Gleeson was a corporate and securities lawyer at a major Canadian law firm. For more then six years, he has counseled companies regarding transactions material to their business, including significant equity and debt financings, transformational acquisitions, defences of hostile take-overs and court approved mergers. In addition, Mr. Gleeson has advised companies in connection with applications to list on stock exchanges in Canada, the United States and England. He has lectured to various audiences on corporate governance and stock exchange guidelines and requirements. Mr. Gleeson is a director of a number of private companies and an officer of several public companies.

Mr. Gleeson obtained a J.D. and a Masters of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University, Canada.