Leadership
Leadership Team
Scott Southward
President & Chief Executive Officer
As co-founder of Steel Reef, Scott has an accomplished background as a developer of both midstream and downstream projects throughout the WCSB. Prior to joining Steel Reef, Scott spent 12 years establishing a diverse set of commercial, financial and business development skills for managing capital in the midstream sector as evidenced by his previously held senior development roles at Keyera Corp., BG International LTD., and SemCams. During this time, Scott was responsible for midstream growth and commercial investment in central Alberta and North East British Columbia. Throughout his tenure at these top, publicly traded organizations, Scott successfully built, maintained and negotiated a large portfolio of commercial midstream deals and developed strategies for midstream involvement in emerging plays throughout the WCSB.
Austin Voss
Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Austin Voss holds a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta, is a professional member of the APEGA and serves as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President at Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp. Over the past 20 years, Austin has established a broad range of experience in the midstream industry including operating major midstream facilities, asset management, pipeline and plant due diligence assessments, and managing all classes of midstream projects in their construction phase. Prior to co-founding Steel Reef, Austin held a senior role at Keyera Corp., as a facilities engineer, managing the construction—and completion—of a number of small to large midstream projects. Austin has also held roles as an asset integrity engineer for Skystone Engineering Inc. and a project engineer at Chevron Canada Resources.
William Champion
Chief Financial Officer
William Champion joined Steel Reef in 2019 and brings over 18 years of energy industry financial management to the leadership team at Steel Reef. Prior to Steel Reef, he served as Vice President, Finance and Treasurer at Meritage Midstream where he managed capitalization strategies, corporate development and M&A processes. He has served in senior financial positions for several private and public energy companies and has broad experience managing acquisition and divestiture processes. William began his career as a corporate lender working at CoBank and Wells Fargo advising energy companies with leverage capitalization, acquisition financings and risk management practices. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University with emphases on Finance and Management.
Scott Allen
Vice President, Commercial
Scott Allen has over 19 years of experience in the oil and gas sector. His experience consists of finance, analysis, corporate development, strategy development, management, project management, acquisitions and divestitures and commercial development. He held leadership roles at Keyera from 2011 to 2016 including Director of Gas Gathering and Processing and Director of NGL Infrastructure, Fort Saskatchewan and Edmonton. In December of 2016, Scott accepted the appointment of Manager, Business Development at Steel Reef. Scott holds a Finance degree from the University of Lethbridge as well as a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Calgary.
Don Boll
Vice President, Engineering
Mr. Boll graduated with distinction from the University of Calgary’s Mechanical Engineering program and brings over 17 years of oil and gas experience to Steel Reef. His Bachelor’s degree has led him thus far through a successful career in the Oil & Gas industry. Don completed his introductory Facility Engineer training at HZ Projects before starting at Keyera Corp. where he held two positions; Facilities Engineer and Business Development Manager. Don worked on capital, operational and infrastructure projects from inception through to commissioning. Don’s track record showcases an impressive knowledge of oil and gas infrastructure engineering along with an accomplished track-record of business development projects.
Al Eggum
Vice President, Operations
Al has over 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry and has extensive experience with all aspects of midstream operations. He began his oil and gas career in 1995 with Amoco Canada (which later merged with BP in 1998) and spent the next 19 years in various roles with BP throughout North America. The roles Al held with BP involved operations engineering, engineering supervisor, operations management, project management, strategic planning, and engineering management. Al concluded his tenure with BP, serving as the Engineering Services Manager, leading the team that coordinated the central delivery of all engineering services, including discipline engineering, project engineering and project management, integrity management and inspection, turnaround planning and quality management for all of BP’s Canadian assets (which included several related assets situated in the northern United States).
Lisa MacLeod
Vice President, Controller
Lisa brings over 14 years of experience as a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Management (Accounting) from the University of Lethbridge. Lisa has worked in the oil and gas industry since 2011, holding roles with Long Run Exploration Ltd. and WestFire Energy Ltd. Prior to 2011, she was a senior accountant at MNP LLP.
Scott Megaffin
Vice President, Treasurer
Scott Megaffin joined Steel Reef as Manager, Corporate Planning in 2018 overseeing corporate budgeting, forecasting and valuation. In 2019 he was promoted to Treasurer and his responsibilities expanded to include risk and insurance, capital markets, cash management, corporate development, and investor relations.
Scott brings a diverse financial background comprised of corporate reporting, capital markets and A&D experience to Steel Reef, spanning over 20 years focused in the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining Steel Reef, Scott spent over 8 years managing the business development team at Pengrowth Energy Corporation, a publicly traded oil and gas company and before that, with Peters & Co. and Ernst & Young, LLP in Calgary, working in equity research and financial assurance.
Scott holds a degree from the University of Saskatchewan (Bachelor of Commerce – Finance) as well as a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Jodi Wilson
Vice President, General Counsel
Jodi joined Steel Reef as Corporate Counsel in 2021 and since that time her portfolio has grown to include legal, sustainability, government relations, environment, regulatory, and compliance. Jodi is also responsible for the corporate secretarial function and overseeing both the internal and external communications.
Jodi brings a broad range of legal and commercial experience to Steel Reef, having spent over 13 years working as inhouse counsel in the oil and gas industry and practicing law for 20 years. Prior to joining Steel Reef, Jodi spent 9 years managing the inhouse legal function at ARC Resources Ltd., a publicly traded oil and gas company and before that, with Keyera Corp., a publicly traded midstream company.
Jodi holds degrees from the University of Calgary (Bachelor of Arts), the University of Alberta (Bachelor of Laws) and a Certified In House Counsel (CIC.C) Certificate from the University of Toronto. Ms. Wilson continues to hold various community and volunteer positions.
Board of Directors
Greg Pollard
Chair of the Board
Greg brings more than 40 years’ experience in multiple industry sectors. From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Pollard was the interim Chief Financial Officer of Eguana Technologies Inc., a TSX Venture Exchange listed developer and manufacturer of advanced power inverters for the emerging alternative and renewable energy industry. Following his retirement from Ernst & Young LLP, from 2012 to 2015, Mr. Pollard was the Chief Financial Officer of Connacher Oil and Gas Limited, an in-situ oil sands developer, producer and marketer of bitumen in Alberta. He led Ernst & Young LLP’s Transaction Advisory Services practice in Calgary from 2008 to 2012 following his return from Ernst & Young’s Houston, Texas office where he served as Gulf Coast Transaction Advisory Services practice and market leader, as well as oil and gas industry sector leader in the Americas. He also serves as a director of Quorum Information Technologies Inc., a TSX Venture Exchange listed SaaS software and services company and as a director for several legal entities within the Walton Group of Companies. He is a Chartered Accountant (1979), a Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional (CAIRP – 1992) (ret.), and a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management Executive Program (2007). In 2012, he received his ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Sarah Borg-Olivier
Sarah is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for Instar where she is responsible for overseeing fund administration activities and non-investment operations, including investor relations, business development, brand, environmental, social and governance initiatives, and human resources and professional development strategies. Ms. Borg-Olivier has more than 20 years of experience in designing and executing initiatives to drive business growth and brand leadership and create value for investors, corporate and community partners. She formerly held executive roles with Capstone Infrastructure Corporation, a publicly traded diversified infrastructure company, as well as Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Canada Ltd. Ms. Borg-Olivier also previously led the investor relations practice of a Toronto-based consulting firm where she provided strategic counsel to a diverse North American client base and managed a team of consultants. Ms. Borg-Olivier holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto. She served for a number of years on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute’s Ontario chapter. She is a frequent speaker in industry and ESG forums.
Rob Duguid
Rob is a founding partner of SaskWorks Venture Fund and a partner in PFM Capital (2010) Inc. Mr. Duguid holds the position of Chief Executive Officer and founding partner for PFM Capital (2010) Inc., Vice President, Investments of Apex Investment Fund and CEO of Apex II Investment Fund, Apex III Investment Fund, and Apex IV Investment Fund. Mr. Duguid is CEO, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of SaskWorks Venture Fund Inc. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Duguid was a partner with Crown Capital Partners Inc. From 1994 to 2000, he held the position of Vice President, Investments with the Saskatchewan Government Growth Fund Management Corporation. Prior to this, Mr. Duguid was Vice President Finance and Investments with the International Centre for Agricultural Science and Technology (ICAST) from 1992 to 1994. Before joining ICAST, Mr. Duguid was a Manager with KPMG Management Consultants where he was responsible for the Regina practice. Mr. Duguid currently holds several directorships in investee companies, including, All-Fab Building Components Ltd., I.M.Wireless Communications Inc., Avalon Oil & Gas Ltd., Auctus Property Fund LP, HiTec Profiles Inc., James Hill Road Villa LP, the Sexton Family of Companies and Prairie Soil Services Inc. Mr. Duguid holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Regina.
Steve Magus
Steve has 33 years of experience in the Canadian oil and gas sector in drilling management, engineering, completions, abandonment and construction. Mr. Magus is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Magus Engineering Limited, a leading privately held engineering and consulting firm, with over 40 employees and well site consultants. Mr. Magus focuses on assisting upstream oil and gas companies design all types of drilling projects, including horizontal wells with multi-stage completion systems, vertical and directional wells, shallow gas wells and oil sands delineation wells. Mr. Magus holds a diploma in Petroleum Technology from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Gregory J. Smith
Gregory brings nearly 30 years of experience in the investment, operation, acquisition and financing of private equity investments, including public and private infrastructure, real estate, power and utility businesses. He is founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Instar Asset Management Inc. Mr. Smith was previously Managing Partner and head of Brookfield Financials’ Global Infrastructure Advisory Group and also served as the President of Macquarie Capital Funds Canada Ltd., President and Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund, a fund listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and as a Director and Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Essential Assets Partnership, a private fund. Prior to Macquarie, Mr. Smith was Managing Director and Co-Head of RBC Capital Partners – Mezzanine Fund and a Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance. Mr. Smith is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator and holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University.
Laryssa Topolnytsky
Laryssa is the Head of the CEO and Board Effectiveness Practice, Americas for Heidrick Consulting. Ms. Topolnytsky specializes in CEO succession and executive team performance. She also advises boards on CEO effectiveness, HR strategy, and succession issues. Before joining Heidrick Consulting, Ms. Topolnytsky was a Senior Partner and member of Korn Ferry’s CEO and Board Effectiveness Practice. Prior to Korn Ferry, Ms. Topolnytsky worked with Mercer Delta Consulting as a founding member of the firm’s first international office. She has also worked for Enbridge, Inc. supporting various organizational development initiatives and as a consultant in Ernst & Young’s Change Management Practice. Ms. Topolnytsky is an accomplished author and has co-authored a book on employee retention and numerous peer-reviewed articles on employee commitment and organizational change. She regularly speaks at conferences and client events as a keynote speaker on these topics, as well as topics related to leading in times of change and advancing women. Ms. Topolnytsky holds a Doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a Master’s degree in the same field. Both degrees are from Western University in Ontario, Canada. She also holds an ICD.D from The Rotman School of Business.
Special Advisors
Ryan Kopseng
Ryan was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a Bachelors of Business Administration. Currently, he is the Executive Vice President of United Energy Corporation (UEC). UEC has four primary subsidiaries – Missouri River Royalty Corporation, Rainbow Gas Company, Rainbow Energy Marketing Corporation, and United Energy Trading, LLC. UEC, through its subsidiaries, owns an interest in over 4,000 wells in the Williston Basin. Further, it is a purchaser and trader of crude oil, electric power, and natural gas in the Bakken, and throughout North America. Ryan is a Director of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, and is the Chairman of the North Dakota Oil and Gas Research Council. Ryan and his wife Stephanie and their three kids reside in Bismarck, ND.
Dean Potter
Dean holds a Masters of Science in Geology and is a proven and successful oil and gas exploration oriented geologist with over 28 years of experience in the upstream energy sector. Dean is currently the President and CEO of Burgess Creek Exploration Inc. and has founded a number of successful private upstream oil and gas companies, including Elkhorn Resources Inc., Medora Resources Inc., DPX Inc., and SITO Geo-Consulting Ltd. Dean brings to the advisory group strong geological experience and opinion drawing upon a diverse technical background across a wide variety of petroleum reservoirs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
Neil Roszell
Neil has over 20 years of industry experience in the upstream energy sector and is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Headwater Exploration Inc. He has founded a number of successful public upstream oil and gas companies including Raging River Exploration Inc., Wild Stream Exploration Inc. (formerly Eagle Rock Exploration Ltd.), Wild River Resources, Prairie Schooner Petroleum Ltd. And Point North Energy Ltd.