Senior Management

Sveinung Svarte, MBA, MSc.

Mr. Svarte started his career with Conoco working on projects in Norway and the United Kingdom. From 1989 to 2006 he was with Total SA where he held various positions throughout the world until his transfer to Canada as Vice President, Oil Sands for Total E&P Canada. After Total acquired Deer Creek Ltd in 2005, he assumed the position as Vice President, Corporate Development, overseeing four departments: Exploration, Business Development, Planning and Development and Research.

In 2006 Mr. Svarte joined Athabasca Oil Sands as President and CEO and has led the company through its growth and expansion.

Mr. Svarte was born and raised in Norway. He attended the Norwegian Institute of Technology where he obtained a Master of Science (Petroleum Technology) and received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Mr. Svarte is married with one son and the family is fluent in Norwegian, French and English.

Don Verdonck, PEng.

Responsibilities: Operations

Mr. Verdonck joined the Athabasca team in February 2007 as one of the first Athabasca employees hired. He has more than 35 years of management, operational and field experience in conventional oil and gas, heavy oil and thermal operations. Mr. Verdonck started his career with Total E&P Canada/Deer Creek Energy as the General Manager, Operations. Previous to that assignment, he was Manager, Development and Optimization at Pengrowth Corp. and held various management positions at Murphy Oil Company Ltd. earlier in his career.

Mr. Verdonck earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba and is a member of APEGGA. He is passionate about community service and is a former member of the Tryzub Ukrainian Dance Ensemble Board of Directors, and is currently vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Mary’s University College. He remains an officer of Athabasca. He is married with two grown children.

Rob Harding, CMA, MBA

Responsibilities: Finance, Tax, Risk Management, Treasury, IT, HR & Corporate Services.

Mr. Harding joined the Athabasca team in September, 2007 having had more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience. He started his career with the Royal Bank of Canada’s Customer Service group and three years later moved to Trimac Transportation where he held a variety of management positions. After his time at Trimac, Mr. Harding managed the planning and analysis group until he was promoted to be Assistant Controller at Flour. Mr. Harding was recruited for Ras Laffan LNG in Qatar where he spent three years in progressively senior roles before moving to Cuba with Sherritt International as that division’s in-country Controller. Returning to Canada in 2004, he was Controller with Total E&P Canada before joining Athabasca.

Mr. Harding received his CMA from the Society of Management Accountants of Alberta then subsequently achieved his Master of Business Administration from the University of Manchester. He is married and has one grown son.

Anne Schenkenberger, BSc. LLB

Responsibilities: Legal

Ms. Schenkenberger joined Athabasca in 2008 as general counsel and corporate secretary and was promoted to the newly created position of Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary in 2010. In 2009, she was nominated and shortlisted for the Western Canada General Counsel Awards, Commodities Deal of the Year, for her work with the Petro-China/Athabasca Joint Venture, worth $1.9 billion.

Ms. Schenkenberger previously worked for a number of information technology companies in Australia. She also worked as in-house counsel for Gulf Canada and ConocoPhillips Canada.

Ms. Schenkenberger earned her Bachelor Science from the University of Portland and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary. She articled and practiced with Ballem MacInnes LLP and was called to the Alberta Bar in 1998. Ms. Schenkenberger is married and resides in Calgary.

Ian Atkinson, MSc. P Eng.

Responsibilities: Exploration through to developing asset exploration plans.

Mr. Atkinson started his career as a Development Engineer with Talisman Energy and joined Renaissance Energy as an Exploitation Engineer. Following that, he worked as a Senior Engineer for Northrock Resources and was appointed Manager, Engineering at Quarry Oil & Gas. He accepted the position of Vice President at Morpheus Energy Corporation then joined Athabasca in November 2006.

Mr. Atkinson obtained a Bachelor of Science (petroleum engineering) from the University of Alberta in 1994, a Professional Engineer designation from the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta in 1996, and a Master of Science (chemical engineering) from the University of Calgary in 2004. Mr. Atkinson is married with two young sons.

Bryan Gould, MASc, P Eng.

Responsibilities: Corporate Planning, New Ventures, Commercial Negotiations.

Mr. Gould joined Athabasca in October, 2009 as Vice President New Ventures and Business Development. In this role, he was involved in strategic transactions including the PetroChina joint venture, the corporate acquisition of Excelsior and Athabasca’s strategic entry into the Light Oil business. Previous to his role at Athabasca, Mr. Gould spent 28 years at Shell Canada/Royal Dutch Shell. In his Shell career, he held a number of technical and managerial assignments with a focus on oil sands and business development. Prior to his retirement from Shell, Mr. Gould was Vice President Business Development.

Mr. Gould’s role has evolved at Athabasca as Vice President Business Development which includes strategy, business planning, land functions, and business development.

Mr. Gould attended the University of Toronto where he obtained both a Bachelor of Science, Hon. (chemical engineering and applied science) and a Master of Applied Science (chemical engineering). After graduation he joined Shell as a reservoir engineer and moved to Calgary. Mr. Gould is married with two children.

Heather Douglas

Responsibilities: Communications, Government/Media Relations.

Ms. Douglas was a journalist covering energy for almost a decade and then joined Mobil Oil Canada in the Public Affairs department. She was promoted to Manager, Public Affairs and was accountable for several of Canada’s largest public consultation programs. She also worked for Mobil in Norway, Scotland and the U.K. She was appointed Vice President, Public & Government Affairs with Atomic Energy of Canada.

Ms. Douglas was executive director for the Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (SEPAC) and accepted the appointment to President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. She joined Athabasca in July 2010.

Ms. Douglas was named Business Woman of the Year in 2008 and was nominated as one of Canada’s most original thinkers in 2008, 2009, 2010. She has won numerous awards for her writing, public affairs programs and international government relations strategies.

Rick Koshman, MBA, P.Eng.

Responsibilities: Project Execution, Construction, Facilities Engineering, Thermal Operations, Supply Chain.

Mr. Koshman has more than 15 years of progressive project and leadership experience both domestically and internationally, including SAGD/CSS Oil Sands and power generation projects. Most recently he held position of Manager, Thermal Oil Sands Projects, with Canadian Natural Resources and previously was also employed with PetroKazakhstan as the Sr. Manager of Projects and by Colt Engineering as a Project Engineer.

Mr. Koshman holds an MBA from IMD (Switzerland), Mechanical Engineering Degree from Lakehead University, and is registered with APEGGA as a Professional Engineer. Mr. Koshman is married with two young children.