Our Team
Energy Transition Innovators
Experience & Innovation
Leadership Team
Nico Duursema
President and CEO
Nico Duursema has been a
leader in the global energy industry for over 25 years. His expansive
international experience includes roles in North and South America, Africa, and
the Middle and Far East within the petrochemical, transportation, mining, and
oil and gas sectors. Nico is the CEO of
the Cerilon group of companies, which includes Cerilon GTL, ND Ventures and
other emerging lines of business. Cerilon contributes to global energy security
while supporting the transition towards a lower-carbon future.
In addition to purpose-driven leadership, Nico’s key area of expertise lies in furthering energy transition solutions, including lower-carbon technologies such as gas-to-liquid (GTL), renewables, bio-to-liquids (BTL), ammonia, and downstream petrochemicals. He also specializes in integrating new technologies into business models and operations.
He has a BSc (Industrial
Eng) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and Honours in Business. He
also holds an MBA from Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and concluded an
Executive Leadership Development Program at Daniels College of Business,
Denver, Colorado, USA.
Nico serves on Cerilon’s
corporate boards and as Chairman of the Cerilon Kingdom Fund, the group’s philanthropic
arm. He is also a member of the Canadian Energy Executive Association (CEEA) where he has served for three years as CEEA
board governor. Additionally, Nico is the founder of the Global XTL Summit,
enabling the growth of anything to liquids (XTL) as a meaningful part of the
energy future.
Nico’s core philosophy has been built into Cerilon’s foundations as the company’s pillars – ownership, leadership, stewardship and excellence.
Ron Opperman
CEO Cerilon GTL
Ron has more than 35 years of industry experience in managing and leading complex businesses at the executive level. Ron is skilled in managing a wide range of business functions including sales and marketing; supply chain; health, safety, environment; research and development and project management.
Ron has managed international businesses in real Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA) environments. He was based in the Middle East for 11 years leading diverse, multicultural teams. As CEO, Ron managed a petrochemical business with annual revenues of USD $800 million.
Ron has broad experience in various chemical industries including gas, petrochemicals, metallurgy, and water treatment. He was also responsible for the development of business strategies, supply chain design and enterprise resource planning business systems for a multi-billion project based in the US. Ron has also served as the COO of ND Ventures, Cerilon’s project management and execution arm.
He holds an MBA from North-West University in South Africa.
Peter Farkas
CFO & EVP Finance and Legal
Peter is a Calgary native and University of British Columbia commerce and law graduate and has spent more than 35 years in senior executive financial, operations and legal roles throughout western Canada.
Peter is a strategic executive with practical executive leadership and business development work experience in various industries: oil and gas, mining, energy services, manufacturing, investment, real estate, pipelines, petrochemicals, transportation, and food production. Often advising businesses through critical growth stages, including through corporate mergers and acquisitions, his knowledge from CFO, operational and legal perspectives guide significant decisions.
Peter is an active member of the Alberta Bar and is an entrepreneur. Peter brings a synthesis of analysis and effective execution for truly unique solutions. He is the quintessential corporate problem solver who controls legal risk while ushering complex projects, business development, and growth scenarios to successful completion.
Jacques Botha
VP Project & Business Services
Jacques has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of project development and implementation, with a specific focus on project services. This includes estimating, project controls, document management, human resources, and information technology both from the corporate office and field
locations working within various cultures.
Jacques has executed projects in South Africa, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and Canada with values up to USD $14 billion. He has experience in oil refining, mining and ore processing, in-situ heavy oil facilities, LNG, and oil pipelines. Jacques has extensive coal- and gas-to-liquids and oilsands experience working in both owner and engineering firms.
Jacques has a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering, a Master’s in Industrial Engineering, and an Honours in Business Administration.
Rochelle Harding
Director Sustainability & Engagement
Rochelle has more than 20 years of experience as a regulatory affairs and environmental assessment specialist. Her work includes permitting in multiple jurisdictions and industries; developing and implementing strategies to manage regulatory, stakeholder, and environmental issues; stakeholder engagement; and Indigenous consultation. Rochelle has experience in major energy projects from concept development through to operations.
Rochelle has experience working on projects that require extensive environmental and socio-economic issues management due to their location in sensitive environments, potential risks or specific stakeholder concerns including work on multiple in-situ oil sands developments, large pipeline projects, LNG facilities, flood mitigation structures, and carbon capture and sequestration projects. Rochelle also has experience as an air quality assessment specialist.
Rochelle has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and an M.Sc. in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.
Charlotte Collett
Director, Human Resources
Charlotte is an experienced leader in CHRO and VP roles, with 25 years’ experience in a breadth of industries with significant experience in multiple segments of the energy industry. Charlotte’s career has been uniquely balanced between specialized skills in the areas of talent management, leadership development and compensation, complemented by practice and application as a generalist and HR business partner.
Charlotte has an established track record of delivering results in challenging environments including start up environments as well as financially distressed organizations. In her role as a senior executive of a start-up organization in an early high growth industry, she led the accelerated talent strategy and workforce enablement ahead of the company’s Initial Public Offering.
Charlotte has a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources.
Renelle Bryden
VP Finance, Planning & Analysis
Renelle is an accomplished finance executive, with over 25 years of experience in the energy sector, including for a large multi-national corporation. She has held accountability for a foreign exchange program of over $1 billion annually as well as investments averaging $300 million. She is adept at providing senior-level analysis to enhance decision making and skillfully navigating significant corporate change.
Since joining Cerilon in 2019, Renelle has provided deep insight and expertise to help shape the company’s strategy. She has also built the finance function from the ground up, including insurance, corporate risk, accounting, strategic tax planning, foreign exchange and treasury. She is known for her Ethic of Care, ability to build strong teams to help the company achieve its objectives and her effective collaboration across divisions and teams.
Renelle holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Regina and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan. She is also a Chartered Professional Accountant of Canada.
Jeff Pendrel
General Counsel
Jeff brings over 20 years of energy experience in upstream and downstream areas. Prior to joining Cerilon in February 2023, he served as VP of Legal and Commercial for a large international energy company with assets under management in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the North Sea, and West Africa.
In addition to Jeff’s legal background, he brings broad commercial experience, having led an international energy marketing business unit that managed over 250K bpd in production.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Management from the University of Lethbridge, a J.D. from the University of Saskatchewan, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.
Jeanne Mather
Director, Corporate Finance
Jeanne Mather has 15 years of experience in fundraising and project finance, from small new ventures to large and complex projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors. She brings expertise in structuring financing solutions along with practical experience in investment banking and fundraising.
Her previous roles included financial advisory, origination and execution of Structured Finance transactions in the natural resources and energy sector including Project Financing of power, renewable and LNG projects in the Asia Pacific region, and Reserve Based Finance (upstream oil & gas) in EMEA. She also acted as financial advisor to both public and private clients for major French infrastructure projects. Over the past few years, Jeanne has been advising new projects and ventures on fundraising and capital structure.
Jeanne holds a Master’s degree in Management and Master’s of Science in Finance from EDHEC Business School, France. She is also a CFA charter holder.
Advisory Board
Cerilon’s Leadership Team is supported by an Advisory Board comprised of distinguished leaders from business, finance, government and global industry. The Advisory Board meets with Cerilon’s Leadership Team regularly to provide strategic advice and direction.