A team driven by a clear vision and strong values dedicated to performance.
Employees in 4 countries
Wells operated from 28 fields
Investment in existing projects
Methane intensity target tCH₄/toe
Our Vision
We aim to be worldwide preferred partner of oil and gas resources owners to maximize their asset’s potential and reduce their environmental footprint.
Our Mission
We operate and invest in oil and gas assets using fit for purpose technologies to enhance production and reserves, to increase the fields’ efficiency and reduce their environmental footprint to make them more sustainable.
Our values

People centric
Empowering local teams to improve operations, communities, and the environment.


Sustainability
Safer, greener fields for long-term success.

Results-Driven
Agile, efficient, and frontline-empowered.
Innovation
Challenging conventions to unlock new opportunities.
Our history

Founded by ex-Schlumberger managers to improve and expand the Production Enhancement business model.

Acquisition of 8 mature oil and gas concessions in Romania.

Awarding by OMV Petrom a 15-year Production Enhancement Contract (PEC) to operate and invest in 13 fields in Romania.

Acquisition of Petrofac’s Romanian operations which included a PEC over 7 fields.

Signing a landmark Production Enhancement Contract (PEC) with Naftogaz—the first of its kind in Ukraine to operate 13 fields in the Lviv region.

Launching a decarbonization services business unit to continue to develop its own center of excellence and to help operators reduce their environmental footprint.

Winning a major European Methane Emission Monitoring and Reporting Contract.

Celebrating 20 years of growth and impact.
Board of directors
The Board of Directors reviews and approves company strategy, annual operating plans and financial plans ensuring alignment of management execution with strategic objectives of the organization.
Ghiath SUKHTIAN
Chairman of the Board
Ghiath M.SUKHTIAN
Ghiath Sukhtian is a distinguished entrepreneur with more than 50 years of leadership across the MENA region in pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, contracting, oilfield services, and agriculture. He is the Chairman of MS Pharma and the Founder & Chairman of GMS Holdings, a diversified investment group with operations across multiple international sectors. He also serves as Chairman of Agri Sciences and sits on the boards of Palestine Telecommunications (PALTEL), VTEL Holdings (Dubai), and Ogier Electronics (UK). His career includes co-founding and managing several successful global pharmaceutical ventures such as Alvogen, Tabuk Pharmaceuticals, EL KENDI Pharmaceuticals, and MS Pharma. Committed to education and community development, he is a member of the World President’s Organization (WPO) and serves on non-profit boards including Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the Microfund for Women, where he is Chairman. He studied Economics at the American University of Beirut and the University of Houston.
Jean CHEVALLIER
Independent Director
Jean CHEVALLIER
Jean Chevallier is an independent director of the company. During his diverse 36-years career with Schlumberger, Jean has held a variety of senior management and engineering positions in Schlumberger’s Oilfield Services Drilling business, and regional management positions with the Well Testing business unit. He was also Vice President Industry Affairs, the first Chief Information Officer at Schlumberger and President of Omnes a joint venture with Cable & Wireless. Jean retired from Schlumberger in 2009 and co-founded IDO, an NGO which is helping rural communities in less developed countries maintain sustainable drinking water supply systems. Jean holds a BSC in Physics of University of Montpellier and an Engineering degree from ENSTA in Paris.
Faisal SUKHTIAN
Director
Faisal SUKHTIAN
Faisal Sukhtian is the Executive Director at GMS Holdings. Faisal oversees a number of investments within the GMS Holdings portfolio and serves as a Director on the company’s board. Faisal is a board member of MS Pharma (a MENA based branded generics company), Outlook Therapeutics (a NASDAQ-listed biotech company based in the USA), Stelis Biopharma (a developer and manufacturer of biopharmaceutical products based in Bangalore, India), Agri Sciences (an agrochemicals manufacturing business based in Turkey) and was previously a member of the Board of Directors of Alvogen (a multinational generics pharmaceutical company based in the USA).
Prior to joining GMS Holdings, Faisal worked at JP Morgan’s investment bank in New York where he worked on a number of M&A, debt and equity transactions serving clients in the industrial and transportation sector. He then moved on to operational and strategic roles as part of the GMS Holdings platform, serving as Executive Director of Munir Sukhtian International, and Managing Director and co-founder of Agri Sciences. Faisal holds a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Mughith SUKHTIAN
Director
Mughith SUKHTIAN
Mughith Sukhtian is the Managing Director of GMS Specialized Services, a holding company for special opportunity contracting platforms in the region. Mughith Sukhtian’s business career has focused on a diverse set of industries covering a variety of operational, financial and entrepreneurial experiences. Prior to taking up his role at GMS Specialized Services, Mughith worked at JP Morgan’s investment banking division in New York, where he focused on Mergers and Acquisitions. Mughith began his career in Operations Management with his involvement in the start-up of a greenfield pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia followed by a position as Operations Director for the leading telecommunications engineering services company in Saudi Arabia.Mughith is also a board member at GMS Holdings, the holding company that owns 100% of GMS Specialized Services.Mughith also serves on the Board of Directors of several for profit companies (Munir Sukhtian International, Bank Al Ettihad- Jordan, VTEL – Dubai, Newroz telecommunications, Iraq, Itisaluna-Iraq, UNITED Capital Transport- Kuwait among others) and non-profit organizations (INJAZ), and the Columbia University Middle East Research Center and is a member of the Young President’s Organization. Mughith holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and an MBA from Columbia University’s School of Business.
David MARTINON
CEO
David MARTINON
Before co-founding Expert Petroleum in 2005, David spent all his career at Schlumberger where he started as a Well testing Field Engineer in Southeast Asia then quickly climbing the ranks up to the position of Manager Mergers and Acquisitions at Schlumberger Limited HQ in Paris. David has been involved in various production enhancement projects in Indonesia He has a broad understanding of the Oil & Gas industry from operational and strategic perspectives. He holds an engineering degree from INSA, France and an MBA from INSEAD.
Michel LOUBOUTIN
Chief Operating Officer
Michel LOUBOUTIN
Co-founder of Expert Petroleum in 2005, Michel has almost 50 years’ experience in oil & gas industry and spent 24 years with Schlumberger group. He has broad experience in production, development and mature asset rehabilitation management. He was one of the first employee of SLB Integrated Project Management and managed several large integrated production enhancement projects in Norway and Venezuela for Shell. He initiated and managed very succesfully the first Production Enhancement Contract ever awarded to SLB in in Romania with Romgaz Michel has been working now for 25 years in Romania and Central and eastern Europe region. He has an Engineering Degree from INSA, France, a master's degree in petroleum engineering master's from Herriot Wattand and a Master degree in Project Management from Villanova University.
Corporate management team
Corporate team implements company’s actions plans in line with the strategy and objectives defined by Board of Directors and provide advise in every matter required.
Rikhard BILYY
Ukraine Country Manager
Rikhard BILYY
Rikhard is a petroleum engineer, with more than 35 years of experience in the upstream industry in engineering and management positions. Before joining XP Group in 2020, Rikhard was an independent O&G advisor and worked for 23 years with Poltava Petroleum Company part of JKX Oil and Gas, managing all company activities related to fields development including geology, drilling, production and surface infrastructure. Rikhard has a Petroleum Engineering degree from Ivano-Frankivsk Oil and Gas University, Holding a Professional Certificate in Management from The Open University, UK and completed numerous high level specialized technical courses in UK and US. He is the past chairperson of SPE Ukraine.
Vlad ZĂRNESCU
Romania Country Manager
Vlad ZĂRNESCU
Vlad is an experienced professional with 17 years in leadership roles across the entire upstream workflow—from reservoir engineering to operations control, budgeting, and planning. Vlad started his career in reservoir simulation development, later transitioning into production optimization, reservoir management, and ultimately operations management. This broad experience resulted in a comprehensive understanding of upstream operations and strategic decision-making. Vlad holds a Master’s degree in Reservoir Engineering from the University of Petroleum and Gas in Ploiești and has further developed his leadership skills through executive education at INSEAD.
Bart WAUTERICKX
Decarbonization Services Managing Director
Bart WAUTERICKX
Bart is Managing Director of Decarbonization Services, supporting O&G operators in reducing their carbon footprint while maintaining operational efficiency and full regulatory compliance. Bart brings more than 30 years of C-level leadership experience across industrial and energy-related sectors. Prior to joining XP Group, he served as CEO of a global leader in emission management, where he advised international operators as well as regulatory authorities and led large-scale emission-reduction programs focused on VOC and methane, delivering thousands of projects across the entire Oil & Gas value chain.
Lavinia PREDESCU
Chief Financial Officer
Lavinia PREDESCU
Lavinia graduated from Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in 2005 and is a member of ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the UK) since 2011 and of CAFR (Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania). She holds a master degree in Financial and Stock Exchange Management (ASE) and a master in management from ESCP Europe. Lavinia previously worked for KPMG Romania where she started as Audit Assistant up to the position of Audit Manager and joined XP Group in 2013. With her deep financial expertise, a detailed understanding of the business, and leadership skills, Lavinia is focused on growing XP Group’s value through reliable and safe financial performance.
Daniela BRICEAG
HR Manager
Daniela BRICEAG
Daniela is a senior HR Professional with an extensive experience in building and optimizing organizational processes for maximizing the business results. As an HR consultant, she has been involved in various M&A and privatization projects by implementing key actions that ensured full people support thus making the difference for success. Before joining XP Group's team in January 2013, Daniela worked for a number of big international organizations such as KPMG and ABN AMRO Bank. Daniela has master degree in Applied Electronics, an MBA from University of Bristol and she is an active member of CIPD (Certified Institute of Professional Development).
Cristian ITU
Business Services Manager
Cristian ITU
Cristian has a significant experience in Business Advisory and Auditing, Project Management, Business Process Improvement, IT Governance and ERP systems implementation. Before joining our team, Cristian worked for 12 years in KPMG Romania – Management Consulting. Within XP Group, Cristian coordinates the Business Process Improvement area and he is also in-charge with IT Governance. Cristian is Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA), Certified Information System Auditor (CISA), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) and has M.Sc. in Financial Analysis.
Ciprian RUS
HSSE and Decarbonization Manager
Ciprian RUS
Ciprian has over than 20 years of experience in Health, Safety, Security and Environmental management in the Oil & Gas sector. He began his career with Schlumberger, gaining international field experience on complex production and rehabilitation projects. NEBOSH certified and an IOSH member, Ciprian provides strategic HSSE leadership, supporting safe operations, environmental protection, regulatory compliance, and the integration of sustainability principles into operational performance and continuous improvement.
Alexandru ȘERBAN
New Ventures Manager
Alexandru ȘERBAN
Alexandru has more than 20 years experience in geoscience and reservoir management, being specialized in evaluating assets for growth portfolios—assessing technical risk, value, and development potential. As former Head of Geology, he led geological interpretation, reservoir studies, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, mentoring teams and standardizing processes. His background at Schlumberger included exploration, development, mature asset rehabilitation, and integrated subsurface workflows in Mexico, Libya, and Romania, providing a strong foundation for his current focus on asset evaluation and technical due diligence.
Octavian VASILE
Chief Procurement Officer
Octavian VASILE
Certified Procurement Professional (CPP), Certified Quality Professional and EU Public Procurement Professional, Octavian has over 18 years of experience leading business support, procurement, and commercial functions in the Oil & Gas industry. As Commercial and Procurement Manager, he has guided complex multidisciplinary teams across global supply chains and major international projects. Known for strategic vision, operational excellence, and results-driven leadership, he brings strategic insight and leadership to support organizational growth.
Valeriya ORYESHKO
Business Development Manager
Valeryia ORYESHKO
With over 20 years of experience in the energy sector and investment banking, Valeriya has developed deep expertise in corporate strategy, business development, investment analysis, regulatory frameworks, and market reforms. She spent more than a decade in the energy sector, including at Ukraine’s largest energy company, where she was responsible for strategy and business development and oversaw investment planning across upstream, midstream, downstream, power, heat, and renewable segments. Earlier in her career, Valeriya worked in investment banking, executing M&A, private placement, and strategic partnership transactions across multiple sectors. Valeriya holds an MBA and a MA degree.
Volodymyr RABOCHY
Business Development Manager Decarbonization
Volodymyr RABOCHY
With over 18 years of international experience, Volodymyr has built a strong career at the intersection of strategy, technology, and the energy sector. He spent 13 years at Schlumberger in management consulting, commercial and line management roles with geographic exposure to Europe, Middle East, CIS and Ukraine. He later joined Technip Energies, where he led early-stage concept-level project studies and consulting engagements on CCUS and hydrogen derivatives. Volodymyr holds an MS in Computer Science, a Master’s in Subsurface Energy Systems, and an MBA from INSEAD.
Careers
Our performance begins with our people. We empower skilled professionals to deliver excellence every day. We invest in national talent through continuous training, leadership development, and access to advanced technologies. Through university partnerships, we offer scholarships, internships and career opportunities for both young graduates and experienced specialists. By investing in people and innovation, we build resilient teams ready for the evolving challenges of the energy industry.
Join us and be part of a team where experience turns into performance and knowledge drives progress
Human Resources Form
If you need to reach our HR Department for a job application or other topic related to this area, please use this contact form.

