Directors & Management
Directors & Executive Team
Mr Noel Newell, B.App Sc (App Geol)
(Executive Chairman/Managing Director)
Noel Newell is the founder of 3D Oil. Noel has over 40 years experience in the oil and gas industry with 20 years of this time with BHP and Petrofina. Within these companies, he has been technically involved in exploration of areas around the globe, particularly South East Asia, and all major Australian offshore basins and also the Atlantic margins. Noel has a number of technical publications and has co-authored Best Paper and runner up Best Paper at the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) conference and Best Paper at the Western Australian Basins Symposium (WABS).
Noel is a Director of the Australian Petroleum Production Exploration Association.
Mr Leo DeMaria, CA
(Non-Executive Director)
Mr Leo DeMaria was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of 3D Oil on 1 October 2014.
Mr DeMaria is a Chartered Accountant and has been working in the FMCG industry for 6 years - initially as a Financial Accountant, then as a Commercial Manager.
He has extensive experience across a multitude of areas within company management. Specifically, his core strengths lie within financial management, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain optimisation and risk management. He has worked within a “high turnover - low margin” FMCG environment with significant focus on the continuous improvement of the supply chain, and maintenance of low cost operations.
Mr Ian Tchacos, B.Eng Mechanics
(Non-Executive Director)
Ian Tchacos is an oil and gas professional with over 30 years international experience in corporate development and strategy, mergers and acquisitions, petroleum exploration, development and production operations, decision analysis, commercial negotiation, oil and gas marketing and energy finance. He has a proven management track record in a range of international energy company environments.
As Managing Director of Nexus Energy Ian was responsible for this company’s development from an onshore micro cap explorer to an ASX top 200 offshore producer and operator. Ian has had extensive experience in project formation and development in both onshore and offshore environments. He has developed a particular interest in domestic gas and LNG project commercialisation.
Ian holds a batchelor of Mechanical Engineering and a graduate diploma in Chemical Engineering commencing his professional career as petroleum engineer with significant practical experience in oil and gas developments and exploration. Following a strong technical grounding Ian progressed to a series of commercial roles gaining experience in project commercialisation, marketing, business development, corporate strategy and finance.
Ian is currently Executive Chairman of an ASX listed company, Executive Chairman of a non listed Energy company and provides strategic, technical and finance advice to a number of other companies.
Ian also provides oil and gas related professional training on the subjects of economics, investment analysis, commercial negotiation and strategy.
Mr Trevor Slater, B.Bus (Accounting), FCPA, FCIS
(Non-Executive Director)
Trevor has extensive experience in the development and operations of resource and construction projects within Australia and overseas performing as a director or senior executive in ASX listed or unlisted companies for over 30 years. Formerly, Trevor operated as an executive director for a gas production and storage project in Bass Strait; and as country director and manager for oil and gas exploration projects in Brunei, which included the acquisition of 350 square kilometers of onshore seismic data and the successful drilling of exploration wells in the challenging operating environment of Borneo.
Trevor has also held senior roles in the development of oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea and consulted widely in South-East Asia. He has also been extensively involved in the development of significant resource projects including the Ballarat Gold Project where as CFO, he assisted the Company in its initial exploration programs and project development. The project is now a major gold producer in Victoria. He is presently consulting on a feasibility study for the development of an iron ore mine and steel mill in Africa.
Trevor has previously undertaken advisory roles including the Small Business Advisory Group for the Australian Taxation Office, the national committee of the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme with Department of Employment Education and Training, and as a Regional Manager for Small Business Victoria.
Mr Stefan Ross, B.Bus (Accounting)
(Company Secretary)
Mr Stefan Ross has over 12 years of experience in accounting and secretarial services for ASX listed companies. His extensive experience includes compliance, corporate governance control and implementation, statutory financial reporting and board and secretarial support. Mr Ross graduated from ACU in 2008 obtaining a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting.
Management Team
Dr Daniel Thompson, B.Sc (Hons), PhD (Geol)
(Chief Geoscientist)
Daniel Thompson has 8+ years’ experience in high impact exploration and development geoscience roles with operators across Australasia, as well as West Africa. He has a diverse range of expertise that includes play-based exploration methods, petroleum systems analysis, seismic interpretation, leads generation, prospect maturation and well planning, playing an important role in the recent Mako South-1 gas discovery in Indonesia. Daniel holds a B.Sc Hons and PhD in Geosciences from Monash University, specialising in carbonate sedimentology. He is currently the PESA/ASEG Young Professionals Event Coordinator and an active member of the PESA Vic/Tas and Federal Education & Awards committees.
