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Executive Team

USA Energy LNG's innovative financial and commercial structures are delivered by a small, high caliber team delivering accelerated  value to our resource owners and LNG customers.​

USA Energy LNG’s Executive Management, offer years of expertise and execution in: ​​

 

  • LNG business development

  • natural gas transportation

  • processing, storage and marketing

  • marine transportation

  • pipeline and processing facility construction

  • finance, management and operations

Christopher DeClaire
President and Chief Executive Officer (Board Member)

35 years in executive management, including 10 years in the international contract drilling industry. Chris was Co-founder of Vantage Drilling in 2006. Served as CFO to take the company operational and IPO and then served as Vice President and Chief Administration Officer of Vantage Drilling until March 2016 overseeing the company’s compliance, IT and legal functions. Prior to Vantage Chris was CEO Skillmaster, purchased and grew to the largest provider of nuclear engineers and contract services to all the major nuclear power facilities in the U.S. Chris also served 6 years in the United States Coast Guard.

Jay Marqua
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer (Board Member)

 

30 years Executive Management in Energy and Financial Industries. Jay served 9 years as CIO and CSO for Vantage Drilling International. Prior to Vantage Jay was an Energy Industry Consultant providing Board Advisory Services on Technology, Cyber Governance, Information Systems and SAP ERP. Jay’s Chief Financial Officer positions include SunRay Park and Casino, Syndicom and most recently Chief Financial Officer for RegSmart, a Financial Industry consulting firm providing Board Advisory Services on Anti-money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act. Jay was Managing Director of a professional services group that served in fractional and Executive in Residence (EIR) roles for Private Equity Groups specializing in new development and transformation projects.

Vidal G. Martinez
General Counsel (Board Member)

35 years in Private Practice handling primarily International Commercial Business transactions.  Vidal began his career in 1978 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Houston with the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. He has experience in litigation and transactional matters and has managed complex client matters in numerous foreign jurisdictions. He is also a nationally recognized expert in the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and has handled numerous worldwide investigations for clients and the subsequent negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. Vidal was admitted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Allan Bounds
LNG Marketing and Trading

Allan Bounds has had a 40-year career in the energy industry, culminating in his role as a sales and trading LNG executive. Overseeing areas such as feedgas, liquefaction, shipping, LNG re-gas, master sales and purchase agreements, and more, Allan specialized in Natural Gas Transmission, Distribution, Marketing, Trading, and Risk Management. He was responsible for full P&L oversight of National Marketing Departments and Project Teams and was sought-after for his expertise in LNG Transactions, Fuel Acquisition, LNG Shipping and other structured products. Allan joins USA Energy LNG after retiring from Macquarie Commodity and Global Markets Group, a top-tier international energy trading firm. Allan's expertise is fortified by an MBA in Management and Finance, coupled with disciplined leadership skills honed during his military service in the United States Navy.

Joseph C. Yeh
Managing Director Asia, Head of Products and Marketing 

More than 20 years Government liaison specialist with regulatory agencies throughout Asia. Experience includes roles of Managing Director, Chairman, Head of Asia Equities/Products, Head of Asia Sales, Global Product Manager for Companies such as BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Baring Brothers. Functions included Asia oversight (China, HK, Taiwan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan’s DMA) for equity markets, global sales and building new operations in China, Taiwan, India and Korea.

Jim Kizer

Project Advisor

Oil and Gas industry professional with over 30 years of experience in Project Development, Project Management, Engineering, Construction, Commissioning and Operations & Maintenance, Extensive operational readiness expertise in all project phases including; Conceptual, Pre-FEED/FEED, EPC/Detailed Design, facility installation, pre-commissioning, commissioning and start-up, to long-term operations and maintenance of the facilities.  International project experience includes projects in North and South America, Russia, CIS, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Middle East.  Recent experience in supporting new LNG project development includes; Cameron LNG, Cheniere, Next Decade, Peru LNG and Venture Global.

Project Specific

Senior Vice President Operations

Senior Vice President Operations roles are dedicated positions to each project. Information on the background of the individual Senior Vice President Operations can be found in the respective secure project sites.

 

Dave Boutelle
Senior Vice President Human Resources

35 years of executive management in the energy industry. Dave’s executive roles include Human Resources, Shared Services, International Operations and Engineering and Construction for Global Marine, Global SantaFe, Transocean group of companies and Vantage Drilling International. Dave’s Director and Executive level HCM roles include extensive international experience in South East Asia, the Middle East, the UK, West Africa and Europe.  Dave has extensive professional services experience in HCMS and HRIS systems design, development and implementation including PeopleSoft, Oracle HRMS and SAP SuccessFactors.

Bob Beardsley
Chief Accounting Officer

More than 35 years executive experience in tax, finance and accounting. Bob was in Silicon Valley with PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young during the tech boom working with companies such as Apple, Intel. Hewlett Packard and Genentech as well as many other IPOs. Bob later became a practice lead in Ernst & Young's International Tax Group serving as a client consultant and a firm-wide resource. Bob was Director of Treasury for Benetton Sportsystem and his experience also includes several CFO roles in the private sector.

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