Our People
Our highly qualified team combines project experience and technical expertise across a range of technical, operational and engineering disciplines.
At Benthic, the quality of our people underpins our industry-leading service. When you engage us, you’ll be supported by a carefully selected team of highly qualified technical specialists, with decades of combined experience in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Together, we offer a unique combination of technical expertise, project execution experience and broad industry knowledge. That allows us to intelligently support your project objectives, promptly and efficiently.
Our Leadership Team
Stephen Pywell
Managing Director
Appointed CEO of Benthic in 2012, Steve has more than 30 years experience in the global oil and gas industry, including extensive experience in subsea and deepwater developments. He has held senior positions with Brown & Root Energy Services, Rockwater, ABB Floating Production Systems and Wellstream International.
Greg Fyffe MBA BE (Hons)
VP Operations
With 15 years in roles spanning the oil industry supply chain, Greg combines extensive field experience with a highly developed understanding of the financial complexities of managing large scale oil and gas developments.
As a Corporate Planning Analyst with Roc Oil, a mid-cap Australian independent, he played a central role in capital raisings, new ventures and acquisitions, crude marketing, and oilfield development.
Andy Smith, CPA
Chief Financial Officer & Executive Director
Andy joined Benthic in 2012 as Chief Financial Officer. Previously, he held the position of Senior Vice President and CFO at Global Industries Ltd, with responsibility for financial reporting, accounting, tax planning, treasury management, internal audit and investor relations. He also spent 10 years at NATCO Group, a leading provider of oil and gas process equipment and systems, where he served in several financial roles, including Senior Vice President and CFO. During his career with NATCO, Andy’s scope of responsibilities included corporate development and risk management. Prior to that, Andy held financial roles with Comfort Systems USA and global accounting and consultancy firm, Price Waterhouse.
Steven Stuart MBA BE Civil
VP Business Development
Steve joined the leadership team as Corporate Development Manager in December 2005 after a long association with Benthic, including fund raising and business planning. Steve was appointed Business Development Manager in December 2011. His experience includes business and financial consulting, capital raising and engineering project management. Before joining Benthic, he worked as an investment banker in major international finance houses. He started his career as a project engineer in infrastructure and development projects.
Board of Directors
John Smith
Chairman
John Smith was appointed Chairman of Benthic in August 2011.
John is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with a degree from Glasgow University and has almost 30 years of international oil and gas experience from bases in Norway, the United Kingdom and Australia. He worked for 20 years for various Brown and Root companies in upstream oil and gas engineering and construction. Following the Halliburton Dresser merger in 1998 John took operational responsibility for Halliburton Subsea and managed the strategic process which led to the formation of Subsea 7. John was CEO of that business for the first two years and served on the board until June 2007. He has served on the boards of five other listed companies as well as running his own business.
Ron Finkel LLB, BCom (Melb)
Director
Ron has been actively involved in the venture capital industry since 1986, including roles at Pratt Venture Management and as Director of Investments at the Advent Management Group. At Advent, he was actively involved with a portfolio of companies covering a wide range of innovative technologies. In 1997, with colleague Ergad Gold, Ron established the Momentum Investment Group, successfully tendering for one of the Australian Government's inaugural licenses under the Innovation Investment Fund program.
Russell Staley BSC (Hons)
Director
Graduating in 1974 from the University of Leeds (UK) in Civil Engineering, Russell emigrated to Australia to take up a teaching fellowship at the University of NSW where he carried out postgraduate studies in reinforced concrete.
Gerard Hutchinson BEc, MBA, MBL
Non-Executive Independent Director
Chairman of the Audit Committee
As well as his role at Benthic, Gerard is the Group Manager, Corporate Development for AGC/Ausgroup. He brings a combination of Board (FAICD) and Executive (FAIM) experience in both the construction and engineering industries over the last 20 years. This includes responsibility for a diverse portfolio of autonomous multinational operations, from start-ups to market leaders, including organizations with substantial revenues and large numbers of employees working both in Australian and Asian operating environments and cultures.