Management

Mike Belenkie

Mike Belenkie
President & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Belenkie joined Advantage in October 2018 as Chief Operating Officer, and was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in October 2019 and then to President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2022. He has over 20 years of diverse experience in the oil and gas industry. Between 2012 and 2018, Mr. Belenkie founded and helped lead Modern Resources to become a highly efficient Deep Basin producer which included oversight on all aspects of the Corporation. From September 2008 to December 2011, Mr. Belenkie held roles of increasing responsibility at Painted Pony including Vice President of Reservoir Engineering and Corporate Development. Prior thereto, Mr. Belenkie held various roles at Talisman Energy (1995-2008) within their North American assets, including Team Lead of Montney and Northeast British Columbia.

During 2006 and 2007, Mr. Belenkie was a management consultant with RLG International, working with leadership teams in two major producers in Alaska and Canada, while on secondment from Talisman. Mr. Belenkie received his BSc. In Mechanical Engineering from University of Calgary in 1997 and is a registered professional engineer with APEGA.

Craig Blackwood
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Blackwood has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry. Mr. Blackwood joined Advantage in November 2004 progressing through positions of increasing responsibility from Director of Finance, Vice President, Finance to Chief Financial Officer. Prior thereto, Mr. Blackwood was employed with Calpine Canada Natural Gas Company and Calpine Power Income Fund as Controller from October 2003 to November 2004 and Manager, Financial Reporting from March 2002 to October 2003. From December 1999 to March 2002, Mr. Blackwood was employed with Engage Energy Canada, L.P. as Manager, Financial Accounting and Treasury. Mr. Blackwood has worked in various financial roles with diverse experience throughout the resource sector including upstream oil and gas, power generation and energy trading. Mr. Blackwood has had extensive experience with capital markets, strategic planning and development, financial reporting and management, business processes and controls, mergers and acquisitions, governance and taxation.

Mr. Blackwood is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta (CPA Alberta), and previously served on the Board of Governors of The Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC) from March 2016 to January 2018.

Neil Bokenfohr
Senior Vice President

Mr. Bokenfohr has over 30 years of oil and gas experience in petroleum exploration, development and operations. Mr. Bokenfohr has significant experience in all facets of the upstream Canadian oil and gas industry and has worked on international projects during his time with Talisman Energy. Mr. Bokenfohr has been with Advantage since 2006. Prior thereto, he was Vice President Exploitation and Operations of Ketch Resources Ltd. from 2005 to 2006; Vice President, Engineering of Bear Creek Energy Ltd. (and Crossfield Gas Corp. prior thereto) from 2002 to 2005; Director of Exploitation for Calpine Canada Natural Gas Company from December 2000 to March 2002. Mr. Bokenfohr received his BSc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alberta in 1989 and is a registered professional engineer with APEGA.

John Quaife
Vice President, Finance

Mr. Quaife is Vice President of Finance of Advantage and oversees the finance, treasury, accounting and tax functions. Mr. Quaife has over 20 years of energy industry experience with upstream and integrated energy producers, midstream companies and an accounting and audit firm. Mr. Quaife joined Advantage in 2008 as Manager of Taxation progressing through positions of increasing responsibility from Manager of Finance and Taxation, Controller and Director of Finance. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta.

Darren Tisdale
Vice President, Geosciences

Darren Tisdale joined Advantage in August 2019 as Chief Geologist and was promoted to Vice President, Geosciences in January 2022. Prior to this he was a founding member and Vice President Geosciences of Modern Resources, a Deep Basin produce. Mr. Tisdale has over 20 years of experience as a geologist including an extensive knowledge of the Montney. Mr. Tisdale led the initial development of Painted Pony’s Montney Assets in NEBC leading to the corporate shift to a Montney focused company.  Earlier experiences included a range of unconventional resource exploration and development and international base metal exploration. He received his BSc. in Geology from the University of Saskatchewan and is a registered professional Geologist with APEGA.

Geoff Keyser
Vice President, Corporate Development

Geoff Keyser is the Vice President, Corporate Development at Advantage Energy Ltd and the Director of Development Engineering at Entropy Inc. Mr. Keyser has 18+ years of experience in the oil and gas industry over a variety of engineering roles – most recently Vice President Engineering at Modern Resources. Prior to this, he has held business development, reservoir, exploitation, completions and facility engineering roles at Painted Pony Energy, Cenovus, and EnCana. He is graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University and a licensed member of APEGA.

Brian Bagnell
Vice President, Commodities and Capital Markets

Mr. Bagnell has over 15 years of experience in energy and financial markets. Mr. Bagnell joined Advantage in October 2023 as Director, Commodities and Capital Markets and was promoted to Vice President in June 2024. Prior thereto, he was a Senior Vice President at Macquarie Group, spanning roles in equity research and commodities.

Mr. Bagnell has a Bachelor of Business Administration from University of New Brunswick. He is also a CFA Charterholder and an FRM Certified Professional.