International and independent operator

Jean-Michel Jacoulot co-founded Trident Energy in 2016. He is the Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director on the Board of Directors. Prior to this role, he served as Chief Executive Officer at Perenco from 1995 to 2016, completing successful acquisitions and development projects and doubling the Group’s reserves and production. 

Jean-Michel has over 25 years’ senior management experience in the oil and gas industry. He is a graduate of engineering from INSA Lyon, the French National Institute of Applied Sciences, and holds a Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the French Institute of Petroleum. 

Eric Descourtieux co-founded Trident Energy in 2016. He is the Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Director on the Board of Directors.

Eric has over 25 years senior management and finance experience and has held roles at operational and corporate level in three international companies, including as CFO of Perenco from 2008 to 2016, leading capital allocation decision making and managing multi-billion-dollar financing facilities. Previously, he was a Financial Controller for the KFC division PepsiCo in France.

He holds a Masters in Business Administration from the French Business School ESCP Europe, where he is a visiting lecturer. He also lectures at the French Institute of Petroleum – an engineering school for energy innovation and sustainable mobility.

Enrique Valero-Torrentera has 30+ years of project management experience within multinational service and operating companies around the world. He has hands-on experience from concept to EPCIC delivery of brownfield and greenfield developments. Enrique started at Trident Energy as Technical Manager in December 2020. He has a BSA from Texas Wesleyan University, USA.

Edwin brings a blend of experience to Trident Energy in the fields of geoscience, reserves and business planning. He played a key role as Geoscience Manager at Perenco in Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela and the UK, as well as serving as Group Planning Manager and Group Reserves Manager.

Edwin holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University del Valle in Guatemala.

Paul brings with him more than 20 years’ experience in the field of Safety, Environment and Sustainability with a proven track record of driving positive change from the Board level to Operational levels, delivering practical, transformative, and sustained cultural and performance shifts in organisations. He has held positions at Petrofac and Tullow Oil leading the delivery of functional expertise in Safety, Environment, Asset Protection and Social Performance.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Aberdeen University.

Julien brings over 20 years of international experience to the Trident Energy team.  

He was previously CEO at Hades E&P Holding SA and has held several senior managerial positions at Perenco and Total.   

Julien has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Science from the University of Grenoble and an Engineering degree in mechanical engineering from ENSTA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées) in Paris. 

With 34 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Didier joins Trident Energy having previously been Group Well Engineering Manager & Deputy Group Drilling Manager at Perenco. 

Prior to this, he held several leadership roles with Tullow Oil, Sonatrach, and Halliburton International and has a strong background in well engineering disciplines and operations.

Before embarking on his corporate career, Didier completed military service in the French Navy, serving as a Navigation Officer in the Caribbean Sea.  

Didier holds a BSc Engineering from École Polytechnique and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from ENSAM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers) in Paris.

Hugues brings over 25 years of experience with a proven track record of multi-disciplinary project management within the oil & gas industry, particularly focusing on the Brazilian and West African markets.   

Prior to joining Trident Energy, Hugues served as the Country Manager at Wood, a multinational engineering and consulting organization. He began his career at Technip, undertaking several technical roles in the twelve years he worked there before moving to BG Group (part of Royal Dutch Shell plc) where he was a Senior Manager in technology.   

Hugues holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Université de Rennes (Brittany) and a master’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Nantes. 

Ryan Dalton is based in Houston and focuses on energy investments.

He worked at Warburg Pincus from 2008 to 2010 and, following the completion of an MBA, rejoined Warburg Pincus in 2012.

Previously Ryan worked at the financial institution’s investment banking group Merrill Lynch in New York.

He received a B.A. and B.S. cum laude in Computer Science and Economics, respectively, from Southern Methodist University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Ryan is a Director of Tall City Exploration III, Ensign Natural Resources, Chisholm Energy Partners, and WildFire Energy.

Chuck is a Venture Partner at Quantum Capital Group (QCP) and a member of QCP’s Investment Committee. He has been a member of the team since 2015. Prior to joining Quantum, Chuck served as CEO of Noble Energy from 2000 to 2014 and its Chairman until his retirement in May of 2015. Under his leadership, Noble Energy was transformed into one of the largest and best performing E&P companies with world-class positions in resource plays such as the Niobrara and Marcellus, as well as multiple international concessions. Before joining Noble Energy, Chuck was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vastar Resources, Inc. Prior to Vastar, he held a number of engineering, operations, and executive assignments at ARCO. He is currently an independent director of Loews Corporation (NYSE: L), a director of Koda Resources and QB
Energy and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the All-American Wildcatters.

Chuck holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Tom is a Partner at Quantum Capital Group (QCP) and a member of QCP’s Investment Committee. He has been a member of the team since 2011. Prior to joining Quantum, Tom was a Director with BAML Capital Partners, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s private equity investment group in New York, where he focused on investments in the energy sector. Prior to joining BAML Capital Partners’ predecessor, Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, he was an Associate in mergers and acquisitions . He is currently a director Koda Resources, Vickery Energy Partners, Stone Hill Minerals and QB Energy.

Tom holds a B.B.A. from Baylor University, where he graduated Cum Laude, and an M.B.A., with honors, from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Zac is based in Houston, joined Warburg Pincus in 2021 and is a Vice President in the Energy Group. Previously, Zac was a Vice President at Denham Capital where he focused on Energy investments. Prior to that, he held roles in the Energy Investment Banking Groups at Evercore and Raymond James. Zac is a Director of Tall City Exploration III LLC.

Zac received a B.S. Magna Cum Laude in Mechanical Engineering and second major in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jake Siewert is based in New York as a Managing Director and the Head of Global Public Policy and Political Risk at Warburg Pincus, where he also oversees environmental, social, and governance strategy. Jake joined Warburg Pincus in 2021 from Goldman Sachs where he was a Partner and directed the firm’s global communications, content, and marketing efforts.

Before he joined Goldman Sachs in 2012, Jake worked as a Counselor to Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner during the global financial crisis and its aftermath. Prior to his service in the Obama Administration, he was an Executive at Alcoa where he served on the Management Committee and had oversight of business development, sustainability, environment, health and safety, government affairs, and communications during his eight years there.

Prior to that, Jake worked for eight years in the White House during the Clinton Administration in a variety of posts including an Advisor to the Director of the National Economic Council and as the White House Press Secretary. Jake currently serves as a Trustee at the Mystic Seaport Museum and Grace Church School.

He graduated from Yale College with a BA summa cum laude in Humanities.

Brandon is a Director at Quantum Capital Group. Prior to joining Quantum, Brandon was an analyst in the Energy Investment Banking Group of the BMO Capital Markets, where he was involved in a wide variety of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets financings and strategic advisory assignments for clients across the upstream and midstream oil and gas sectors. Brandon holds a B.S.M, summa cum laude, from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business. 

Anelise has 35+ years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy industry including the development and operations of large offshore Exploration & Production projects, transportation logistics, refining, natural gas, and thermal plants.

She has held several managerial positions at Petrobras including General Manager for Pre-salt Production Development Projects, Joint Project Team Director for Libra Block, Head of M&A, and Chief Refining, Gas, and Power Officer.

Anelise also served as a board member of SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers). She is currently a board member of IBP (Brazilian Petroleum Institute) and a board member of WILL (Women Leadership in Latin America).

Anelise holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, an M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the Federal University of Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1986, and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6), France, 1994.

Arnaud has 40 years’ experience in the Oil and Gas industry. He joined TotalEnergies SE in 1982 and has served in various positions in the Exploration & Production Division, including Abu Dhabi, the UK, Indonesia, Angola, and Iran as well as in the Refining Division in France.  In 2006, he was appointed to the Management Committee of the EP Division, as Senior VP, Continental Europe & Central Asia.

In July 2010, he was appointed President, Exploration & Production, Middle East and in January 2011, he became a member of the Company’s Management Committee. In 2014 he became a Member of the Executive Committee and President Exploration & Production, responsible for the increasingly diverse portfolio around the world. He retired from TotalEnergies in January 2022.

Arnaud holds directorships with Géosel Manosque SAS and Woodside Energy Ltd since March 2023. He is also Chair of Centrale Lyon Endowment Fund and member of the Board of Association des Diplômés de l’Ecole Centrale de Lyon (ACL).

Arnaud graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon (ECL 1981) and is an INSEAD alumni (YMP 1990).

Thierry Pilenko has 39 years of technology and leadership experience in the energy sector and is currently an Advisor to Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm.

From 2017 to 2019 he was the Executive Chairman of TechnipFMC plc, a project management and equipment company resulting from the merger of Technip and FMC Technologies. Prior to this Thierry was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Technip, a world leader in engineering, technologies and project management for the oil and gas industry.

Before joining Technip in 2007, Thierry was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Veritas DGC, a seismic services company based in Houston. While at Veritas DGC he successfully managed its merger with Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG).

Prior to this appointment, Thierry held various management and executive positions with Schlumberger where he started in 1984 as a Geologist. He held several international positions in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia before becoming President of Schlumberger GeoQuest in Houston and subsequently Managing Director of SchlumbergerSema in Paris until 2004.

He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Arkema S.A, Ensign Natural Resources and Rely. Previously Thierry was a Director of Veritas DGC, CGGVeritas, Technip SA, Peugeot SA, Hercules Offshore and TechnipFMC.

He is the founder of Pil & Co LLC and C&S Partners, two consulting firms in strategy and leadership.

Thierry holds Engineering degrees from France’s Nancy School of Geology (1981) and the IFP School (1982).