Executive Committee

As the founding shareholder and CEO of Energean, Mathios has led the company since its inception in 2007. A Petroleum Engineer with a background in investment banking, Mathios has been instrumental in transforming Energean from a single-asset operator in Greece, into a leading hydrocarbons exploration and production company across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Under his leadership, Energean has executed landmark transactions that reshaped its portfolio and scale, including the development of Karish in Israel and the acquisition of Edison E&P’s Italian and Egyptian assets.

Since founding the company in 2007, Mathios has played a vital role in turning Energean into a multi-country, cash-generative platform with over 1 billion boe of reserves and over 150,000 boe/d of production (2025) - up from just 1 million boe and 1,000 bbl/d at inception. This trajectory reflects not only operational execution, but consistent strategic foresight and disciplined capital allocation.

The company has since secured a 20-year commercial position in Israel backed by ~$20 billion in contracted gas sales, providing long-term cash flow visibility, energy security and durable competitive positioning.

He successfully led Energean’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, its subsequent dual listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and multiple capital market transactions that strengthened the company’s balance sheet and enabled sustainable shareholder distributions.

A Petroleum Engineer by training, he previously structured more than $5 billion in mainly oil & gas financing at Chase Manhattan Bank in London, later leading private equity investments as Managing Partner of Capital Connect Venture Partners and heading Piraeus Bank’s shipping division.

A pioneer in sustainability within the E&P sector, he became the first upstream CEO to commit to a net-zero strategy in 2019, positioning Energean as a European ESG leader. The company has since earned multiple awards for sustainability and environmental responsibility.

His leadership has been internationally recognised, including CEO of the Year in London (2018), Independent of the Year for Energean, and Deal of the Year for the company’s IPO by the World Energy Council.

Mathios holds a degree in Mining & Metallurgical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MSc/DIC in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College London.

Panos Benos, Energean CFO, has over 25 years of international experience in the oil and gas sector, spanning both investment banking and industry, with extensive expertise in upstream financing across emerging markets.

Panos joined Energean in 2011 from Standard Chartered Bank, where he served as Director in the Oil & Gas team in London, leading a number of award-winning project finance and acquisition transactions across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Prior to that, he worked at ConocoPhillips between 2002 and 2006, holding roles in European Treasury, North Sea Economics and International Downstream, with a regional focus on the North Sea, Central Europe and the Middle East. He began his career at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Panos is a Chartered Accountant (ICAS) and holds an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Bayes Business School in London.

Shaul Zemach is a leading Israeli Energy and Infrastructure expert, who joined Energean Israel when it was established.

Mr. Zemach served as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources from 2009 to 2013 after acting as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.

Following the discovery of significant Israeli Natural Gas volumes in 2011, Mr. Zemach was appointed as Chairman of an inter-ministerial committee to examine government policy on the natural gas industry by the Israeli Prime Minister and the Minister of Energy. The Committee’s final report was approved by the Cabinet inJune 2013.

Mr. Zemach has served on Boards of Directors for several leading Energy and Financial corporations in Israel and numerous government-owned companies, including Israel Electric Corporation. He served as Acting Chairman of Israel Airport Authority Council (2006).

Mr. Zemach holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from the Hebrew University and a Masters in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University.

Nicolas Katcharov is CEO and Chairman of Energean International E&P SpA, Energean's, Country Manager in Egypt and Head of Energy Transition. He is also CEO and Chairman of EEES Ltd., an Energean subsidiary based in Cairo and specializing in energy efficiency and downstream developments, and well as Board Director at AbuQir Petroleum and Rashpetco . 

Nicolas has over 30 years of extensive international experience in the energy sector, most of which as executive officer and board director in various companies operating in the fields of power and heat generation, distribution, services and, since 2017, in oil and gas exploration and production. He holds a degree in Electronics Engineering and is a Doctor of Science in Applied Physics (Hons) from the State University of Limoges, France.

He started his carrier in Gaz de France in Paris, before joining in succession EDF (France), Budapest Power Plants ZRt. (Hungary), Fenice SpA and Edison SpA (Italy).

Working with fellow Executive Committee colleagues, Israel Country Manager and the broader technical team across Energean, Thomas’s objective is to ensure optimal operational performance across Energean’s Israeli production, development and exploration portfolio.  

Thomas has more than forty years experience in the Upstream Oil and Gas Sector working for BP, OMV and MOL. His primary career focuses have been technology, capital projects, and operations. He has held Vice President and Chief Operating Officer roles responsible for exploration, subsurface, wells, surface facilities development, and production operations. Thomas has broad international experience, having worked in the Americas, Europe, Russia, and Asia.

Thomas holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Oxford University, UK and an Executive MBA from Stanford University, USA.

As Group Technical Director, Luc van Son is responsible for technical and operational excellence across the Energean Group of Companies, heading the corporate technical team in Athens and working closely with the technical teams across Energean’s assets.

Starting as a reservoir engineer, Luc has over 35 years of experience in the Oil & Gas industry with executive and technical management assignments in major oil provinces. He holds a MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Delft. Luc worked until 2021 in Shell, mostly in Upstream Development and Asset Management, followed by a position as COO in Prime Oil & Gas in the Netherlands.

Ciaran Boyle is Energean’s Group General Counsel, leading its legal, compliance and corporate governance functions.

A natural resources lawyer with two decades of experience in the Oil & Gas, LNG, Petrochemical and Renewables industries. Prior to joining Energean Ciaran served as the General Counsel of First Quantum Minerals Ltd, a multi-billion dollar international mining company. Over the course of his career, Ciaran has specialised in M&A, debt and equity capital markets, joint ventures, project development and finance, and dispute resolution. Ciaran has broad international experience having worked extensively in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. In his private practice career Ciaran held roles at Dentons, King & Spalding and Baker Botts in London and the Middle East.

He holds an LLB degree from University College London and is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales.