About Us

Who We Are

Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. is a public company actively engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids.

Pine Cliff prides itself on its employees, led by a management team with decades of experience in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Since our President and CEO, Phil Hodge, became Pine Cliff’s first employee in 2012, the Company has grown from 100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) to over 25,000 boepd. Pine Cliff has grown by quickly executing counter-cyclical acquisitions, and has assembled a unique asset base with the lowest production decline rate in the public oil and gas sector. How is this an advantage? The low decline rate affords Pine Cliff the ability to manage production with modest capital programs, drilling few of its low-risk drilling opportunities. Pine Cliff’s asset structure gives investors the opportunity to participate in the Canadian natural gas market, with surplus cash flow being paid to shareholders in the form of dividends. With a high percentage of insider ownership, Pine Cliff’s decisions have always been in-line with its shareholders, and will continue to execute with one goal in mind - to maximize shareholder value.

Strategy-What Sets Pine Cliff Energy Apart

Pine Cliff’s commitment to their investors and stakeholders is to always maximize their returns on their investment and to keep their trust. High integrity in all operations and full transparency throughout start to finish is paramount.

At Pine Cliff, we make sure to deliver high value with high quality assets, production, and shares.

Pine Cliff has:

  • a 9% decline rate, keeps production flat
  • Higher percentage of its cash flow can be returned to investors
  • Ethical energy focus
  • Well disciplined approach
  • Consistent, long term, stable company that maximizes returns
  • Deal opportunities that can be significantly leveraged

Long Life Assets

Our highly disciplined approach allows us to identify truly valuable long-life assets that have low decline rates and low operational risk, maximizing investors’ risk-reward ratio.

Share Value

In this strong, competitive environment, we make sure to use prudent judgement and remain disciplined on every investment decision, whether that is an acquisition or project relating to our operations.

Income Stream

High quality assets lead to high quality income streams. Significant free cash flow (FCF) is generated from all of our low-operational cost projects that yield meaningful value.

Executive Team

Philip B. Hodge
President and Chief Executive Officer

Phil Hodge joined Pine Cliff in January 2012 as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director. Mr. Hodge most recently held the positions of Vice President, Business Development and Vice President Acquisitions and Divestments at Penn West Exploration, one of the largest conventional oil and natural gas producers in North America. Prior to that, Mr. Hodge was a Managing Director at Mackie Research Capital Corporation and J.F. Mackie & Co., Calgary based investment banks. From 2000 to 2006, Mr. Hodge was Vice President and General Counsel of Westport Innovations Inc. where he was responsible for legal, corporate governance, strategic partnership and corporate development functions, as well as the formation and growth of the company's business in China. Prior to 2000, Mr. Hodge was a partner at Bennett Jones LLP, a Canadian national law firm, practicing in that firm's securities and mergers and acquisitions teams in its Calgary office.

Terry L. McNeill
Chief Operating Officer

Terry McNeill joined Pine Cliff as Vice President Operations in April 2014 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in January 2015.  Mr. McNeill has over 20 years of industry experience and held the same position at Berkana Energy Corp. from September 2006 until January 2008 and Quatro Resources Ltd. from January 2008 until the sale of the company in November 2012.  Mr. McNeill possesses a broad range of experience on all aspects of operations including production, construction, completions and drilling.  Mr. McNeill holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta.

Alan MacDonald
Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary

Alan MacDonald rejoined Pine Cliff as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary in December 2019. Mr. MacDonald is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and most recently held the position of Interim Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. from September 2017 to September 2018. From 2012 to 2016 Mr. MacDonald held the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer position at United Hydrocarbon International Corp. Prior thereto from 2001 to 2012, Mr. MacDonald held  similar positions with APF Energy Trust, Rockyview Energy Inc. and Cumberland Oil & Gas Ltd. Mr. MacDonald is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Kristopher B. Zack
Vice President, Finance

Kris Zack joined Pine Cliff in September 2023 as Vice President, Finance. Mr. Zack has 20 years of experience in the capital markets, most recently as Managing Director, Capital Markets in the investment banking group at Desjardins Securities. During his time in the capital markets, Mr. Zack was also a Brendan Wood ranked research analyst with coverage focused on mid and large-cap energy companies at both Desjardins and Raymond James.  Mr. Zack holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta, is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.

Board of Directors

Robert B. Fryk

Mr. Fryk joined the Board of Director of Pine Cliff in May, 2021 and is Chair of its Reserves Committee.  He previously held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Gain Energy Ltd. from April 2017 until March 2021.  Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer at Gain and Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Velvet Energy Ltd. from 2011 to 2015.  Mr. Fryk has over 37 years of experience in management, business development and operations, including oil and gas reservoir exploitation, drilling, completions, marketing and asset and corporate economic evaluations for acquisitions and divestments. Mr. Fryk has a Bachelor of Science – Chemical Engineering Degree from the University of Calgary and is a member of the Association of Petroleum Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta.

Hilary A. Foulkes

Ms. Foulkes joined tha Board of Directors of Pine Cliff in August, 2023. Ms. Foulkes has over 35 years of experience in oil and gas operations and as an investment banking executive. She founded the Canadian platform of Tudor, Pickering, Holt, & Co. Securities, a global energy advisory firm, in 2014 and currently serves as a senior advisor to the company. Ms. Foulkes held a number of executive roles with a large, public Canadian oil and gas producer from 2008 to 2012, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Foulkes was a Managing Director at a private investment bank and then Scotiabank from 2000 to 2008, and for the prior 20 years, held various upstream exploration and operational roles with increasing leadership responsibilities and strategic focus.

Ms. Foulkes has served as an independent director on both private and public oil and gas company boards and is currently Board Chair of Enerplus Corporation (TSX; NYSE). She is a member of both the Institute of Corporate Directors ("ICD") and the National Association of Corporate Directors ("NACD") and is a lifetime member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta ("APEGA") and the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association ("CEGA"). Ms. Foulkes also chairs a national not-for-profit board which supports STEM education for Canadian youth. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science (Earth Sciences) degree from the University of Waterloo, is a member of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Institute of Corporate Directors and a lifetime member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA).

Philip B. Hodge

Mr. Hodge joined Pine Cliff in January 2012 as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director and its first employee. Prior to Pine Cliff, Mr. Hodge held the positions of Vice President, Business Development and Vice President Acquisitions and Divestments at Penn West Exploration, one of the largest conventional oil and natural gas producers in North America. Prior to that, Mr. Hodge was a Managing Director at Mackie Research Capital Corporation and J.F. Mackie & Co., Calgary based investment banks, Vice-President, General Counsel and Director of Westport Innovations Inc. and President of Westport’s China Division and a partner at Bennett Jones LLP, a Canadian national law firm, practicing in that firm's securities and mergers and acquisitions teams in its Calgary office.

Calvin B. Jacober

Mr. Jacober joined the Board of Directors of Pine Cliff in August, 2022 and is Chair of its Audit Committee. Mr. Jacober was most recently the Vice Chair Canada for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC") until his retirement in June 2022. Prior thereto, he was both the Managing Partner and the Assurance Leader for PwC's Calgary office. Mr. Jacober has provided both US and Canadian GAAP expertise to Canadian public Audit Committees and Boards for over 30 years, including on public offerings and market transactions. Mr. Jacober has significant boardroom experience reporting to Audit Committees on audit strategy and risks, internal controls and other complex accounting issues. Mr. Jacober has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Alberta and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Jacqueline R. Ricci

Ms. Ricci joined the Board of Directors of Pine Cliff in May, 2020 and is Chair of its Governance, Nomination and Compensation Committee. Ms. Ricci has been a Vice President and Director at J. Zechner Associates, Toronto, Ontario, since 1997, where she is responsible for stock selection and portfolio mix in J. Zechner's Canadian Small/Mid-Capitalization Portfolios. In this position, Ms. Ricci has significant experience evaluating business plans and management performance in small and mid-capitalization companies in the Canadian market.

William S. Rice, K.C.

Mr. Rice joined the Board of Directors of Pine Cliff in May, 2016 and became Chairman of the Board in May 2023. Mr. Rice was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Alberta Securities Commission from 2005 to 2015 and Chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators from 2011 to 2015.  From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Rice was National Managing Partner of the Bennett Jones LLP law firm. Prior to taking his position with the Alberta Securities Commission, Mr. Rice served as a chair or member of a number of corporate boards of directors.