Our Leadership
Viaro Energy’s senior management team has over six decades of combined experience in the oil and gas industry, both within the UKCS and internationally. Our board members have held executive positions at various publicly listed companies in the UK and ensure that our operations are conducted in line with industry best practices. This allows Viaro Energy to maintain strong relationships across the UKCS energy space and a steadily growing performance record.
Chief Executive Officer
Francesco
Mazzagatti
Francesco Mazzagatti is a self-made businessman and entrepreneur, who has been operating in the energy sector since 2012. With Viaro Energy, Mazzagatti decided to focus on long-term investments in the North Sea basin, and has since built an upstream brand with a broad portfolio of oil and gas assets in the UK and the Netherlands. As CEO, Mazzagatti has effectively spearheaded the growth of Viaro Energy and all its subsidiaries under his management, through a combination of diversification, acquisitions, and organic growth.
Since its first major acquisition of RockRose Energy in 2020, Viaro Energy has gone on to acquire the entire share capital of HALO BV and SSE E&P UK Limited, as well as Spark Exploration UK Limited’s assets in the West of Shetlands. In 2023, Mazzagatti negotiated a farm-in agreement with Hartshead Resources Ltd…
Chief Financial Officer
Francesco Dixit
Dominus
Francesco Dixit Dominus became CFO of Viaro Energy in 2018. Dixit Dominus started his career in the banking sector as a credit risk manager in 2006. He then moved onto audit roles, having worked as a senior auditor at the European Fund for Business Development (co-financed by the EU) between 2012 and 2018. Dixit Dominus was a senior certifier of a project co-financed by the Interreg Med, a program promoting sustainable growth in the Mediterranean region.
Dixit Dominus is an international tax and IFRS specialist with a Master’s degree from the Milan Business School.
Chief Operating Officer
Alistair
Buchan
Alistair Buchan serves as the COO of Viaro Energy and has over 35 years of experience in senior roles in the oil and gas industry, both within the UK North Sea and internationally. Previously, Buchan served as the general manager of RockRose Energy since its acquisition of Marathon Oil Corporation’s UK business in June 2019. Buchan had spent 12 years with Marathon Oil Corporation, where he was on the board of EG LNG; held corporate positions at the Houston, TX headquarters; served as the VP of Operations in Kurdistan; and had several leadership roles in operations and engineering at the company’s Equatorial Guinea business unit.
Prior to that, Buchan worked for the engineering and consultancy giant John Wood Group, in both the Netherlands and the UK. He started his career with Shell in the UK North Sea. Buchan is an Incorporated Engineer and member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK.
Non-Executive Chairman
Stephen
Jenkins
Steve Jenkins is the non-executive chairman of Viaro Energy, who also serves as chairman of Savannah Energy Plc, the Oil and Gas Independents Association, and Evoterra Ltd. Jenkins was the founder and CEO of Nautical Petroleum, which was sold for £414m to Cairn Energy in 2012. Prior to Nautical Petroleum, Jenkins held a variety of senior roles at Nimir Petroleum, a private Saudi Arabian company with global exploration and production interests.
Jenkins has a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland, as well as a Master of Science in Petroleum Geology from the Imperial College University of London, UK. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of London, UK.
Non-Executive Director
Orlando
Vaca
Orlando Vaca joined Viaro Energy as a non-executive director in 2022, bringing on board a wide-ranging experience in leadership roles at international oil and service companies in the sector. Vaca is also the co-founder and president of Petrolog, a Bolivian-focused oil and gas company. Previously, Vaca served as general manager of Shell’s Bolivian operations, where he was responsible for the company’s strategy in the country. Vaca had also spent over 20 years in numerous roles at BG & Schlumberger, having worked in several countries in the Americas and the West African region.
Non-Executive Director
Lieutenant-General Sir Simon Mayall
Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall, KBE, CB, retired from a long and distinguished career in which he served in a variety of senior military and political advisory roles. Sir Mayall has considerable experience in the UK government, including legislation, geopolitical assessments, and protection of strategic infrastructure. Sir Mayall also maintains long-standing and strong relationships with the senior leadership across the Middle East. He began his career with the British Army in 1978 and held progressively senior roles until his retirement in 2015. Most recently, he had served as Deputy Chief of Defense Staff (Operations) between 2009 and 2011, Defense Senior Adviser (Middle East) between 2011 and 2014, and the Prime Minister’s Security Envoy to Iraq between 2014 and 2015.