Leadership Team
Steve Spence, P. Eng., President and Chief Executive Officer
B.A.Sc. (Honours), Chemical Engineering, University of British Columbia
Mr Spence brings over 18 years of conventional and heavy oil experience to Osum. Over the past 7 years he has managed exploration and development of a number of oil sands projects for Shell Canada. Specific thermal oil sands experience includes leading the development and project management for Shell's proposed 100,000 barrel per day Peace River project, and leading the implementation of the Orion SAGD Project in Cold Lake. Mr Spence is an active member of APEGGA, the Canadian Heavy Oil Association, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Dr. Peter Putnam, P.Geol, Sr. Vice President, Geoscience
B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., Geology, University of Calgary
Dr. Putnam is the Chairman of Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd. (PRCL), one of Canada's pre-eminent petroleum geoscience firms. Prior to his 21 years at PRCL, he spent nearly 6 years in Husky Oil's heavy oil department. Over his career, he has worked on several aspects of the heavy oil/bitumen business including strategic planning, prospect generation, operations, cold production and thermal recovery development, reservoir modeling and simulation, research, and reserves reporting. Dr. Putnam has worked on heavy oil and bitumen properties found on four continents, including the world's deepest and shallowest thermal projects. He has published widely on the geology of Canada's heavy oil and bitumen deposits and has been an invited speaker to several domestic and international forums dealing with issues surrounding thermal recovery.
Dr. Putnam is a past-president of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Canada's largest earth science organization, and he has served as a Councilor for APEGGA and as an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary. He currently serves on the board of directors of PRCL, Saxony Petroleum Ltd. and Central European Petroleum Ltd.
Andrew Squires, P. Eng., Sr. Vice President, Engineering and Operations
B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta
Mr. Squires is currently Vice President, Engineering for Osum and has over 20 years of conventional oil, heavy oil, and oil sands experience. He started his career in heavy oil at AMOCO and his field work and paper on cold heavy oil sand production mechanisms resulted in a fundamental change in the understanding of the primary heavy oil production and recovery process. After leaving Amoco he consulted to numerous major oil companies on new heavy oil recovery technology, production optimization and commercial play development. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Squires was Area Manager N.E. for Paramount Resources. Mr. Squires is a member of the Canadian Heavy Oil Association, Petroleum Society of the CIM and is a practicing member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.
Rick Walsh, P.Eng, Vice President, Projects
B.Sc., Chemical Engineering, University of Alberta
Mr. Walsh brings over 20 years of oil sands and conventional oil & gas experience to Osum. Most recently, he was a Project Director for Suncor Energy where over his 14 year career there, he led projects up to $3B. He was involved in Firebag Stages 5 & 6, the MNU Project and the MCU Upgrader expansion projects. Before joining Suncor, he was with Amoco Canada for 6 years in their Grande Prairie operation. Mr. Walsh is a member of the Canadian Heavy Oil Association and is a practicing member of APEGGA.