Michael Hendricks

Chief Financial Officer

Mike joined the company in November 2021 and is responsible for finance, accounting, treasury and reporting.  

Prior to OctaneX, Mike spent 10 years in progressive finance roles at Aspect Energy, LLC, an international oil and gas company, most recently as the Director of Finance. During his tenure, Mike was instrumental in helping to raise over $100MM in international and domestic debt and participated in asset divestitures of over $700MM. Prior to that, Mike spent over five years at Evergreen Energy, Inc., helping to raise capital for a pilot plant in Wyoming while expanding the accounting and finance functions.

Mike earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Business Administration-Finance from the University of Denver. Mike lives in Denver, CO with his wife and two children. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, golfing, fishing, and volunteer coaching for his kid’s sports teams.

Richard Ridley

Vice President Operations & Project Execution

Richard joined the company in 2015 and has responsibility for managing the Engineering, Construction, and Operations of all the company’s production facilities, including technology integration and ongoing catalyst development.

Prior to joining the company, Richard served as Director of Operations Sustainability and Mechanical Equipment at Sundrop Fuels, a biomass gasification company. He was responsible for coordination of all activities between engineering contractors and the operations group, and overseeing the selection of all mechanical equipment. Richard has over 35 years experience in developing, maintaining, and operating alternative energy projects, including Oil Shale, Fischer-Tropsch, and biomass gasification, including production of alcohols from biomass, as well as ten years serving on the management team of a commercial methanol plant. His experience include, Project Management, Maintenance Management, Plant Management and Construction Management.

He received his education in Mechanical Engineering from Kennedy Western University and is co-inventor on two gasification patents.

Senator Wayne Allard

Director

Senator Wayne Allard is Chief Executive Officer of Allard Associates, LLC and was appointed Director in 2012. Senator Allard specializes on issues related to energy, health, defense, security, transportation and land use, and has experience in financial and governmental budget policies.

Prior to re-entering the private sector, Wayne served two successive terms (12 years) in the U.S. Senate on such key committees as Appropriations, Intelligence, Banking and Urban Affairs, Agriculture, Armed Services, and Interior. While in the Senate, Wayne had specific oversight duties for the Department of Energy. Prior to the Senate, he served for 3 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives on Budget, Small Business, Agriculture and Natural Resources committees; and in the Colorado state senate for 6 years on Agriculture, Business, Education, and Appropriations committees. Dr. Allard was elected to numerous leadership positions in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and the Colorado State Senate. 

Prior to his political career, Wayne practiced veterinary medicine in Fort Collins, CO, in private practice. Senator Allard founded the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus in the U.S. Senate in 1998 and served as its Co-Chairman until 2009. He was also founder of the Congressional Space Caucus.

R. Gerald Bennett

Director

Mr. Bennett is an experienced Energy executive recognized for corporate and strategic development, evolving and advancing capacity and capabilities under changing market, economic and industry conditions. He has extensive executive, operational, P&L and policy experience in all aspects of the oil and gas industry, public and private. Mr. Bennett’s demonstrated financial acumen, corporate compliance, accountability and public reporting, as well as his leadership experience at Corporate, Non-Profit and University Board levels brings a wealth of pertinent skills and guidance to the company. He was appointed to the board in 2016.

Among his more notable positions are President and CEO at Total Safety, Inc., Senior VP at Equitable Resources, Inc., President and CEO of Fuel Resources, Inc., President at Enron Gas Services, Chairman and CEO at Houston Pipe Line Company, President and COO at Perry Gas Companies, and Manager of Conoco's domestic and international gas activities including regulatory compliance and commercialization. Gerald has been active in numerous prominent oil and gas industry associations, serving in Chairman and Director roles. He also participated in the National Petroleum Council Energy Conservation Study published in 1974 and the Energy Outlook Study published in 1987. 

Gerald’s extensive community activities include participation and leadership roles at the Memorial Herman Healthcare System Board, the Memorial Hermann Hospital Board, Houston Music Hall Foundation, the Houston Ballet Foundation, the American Leadership Forum, the Oklahoma State University Development Board and Oklahoma State Foundation Board of Governors, to name just a few. He earned both a B.S. (1965) and M.S. (1966) in Industrial Engineering and Management from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, and attended Harvard Business School in 1976.

Marvin E. Odum III

Director

As part of his 34 years at Shell, Mr. Odum served as Chairman and President of Shell Oil Company from 2008 to 2016 and was Americas upstream director and executive committee member of Royal Dutch Shell from 2009 to 2016. Most recently, Mr. Odum serves as the Chairman and CEO of TerraLithium and Chairman of AAL LLC, which are focused on low carbon energy technology solutions that provide manufacturers a more responsible way to source ultra-pure lithium to support the domestic electrification of the economy. Throughout his career, Mr. Odum has directed a broad portfolio of assets across the energy value chain ranging from traditional oil and gas to biofuels and renewable energy.

Mr. Odum is a board member of Europe-based Stena International SA and Stena Drilling Ltd focused primarily on international shipping and offshore drilling. He is also an independent director of First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corporation. Mr. Odum is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of the National Urban League, MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Cullen Foundation. He previously served on the boards and/or executive committee of the American Petroleum Institute, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Dean’s Council of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Mr. Odum earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston.

Michael R. Gambrell

Director

Mr. Gambrell is a former Executive Vice President of the Dow Chemical Company, retiring in 2012, after serving 37 years with the company. During 2011-2012, he served as an advisor to the Chairman/CEO of Dow. In 2012, Mike founded GamCo, LLC, a privately held company providing advisory services to public, private equity, and start-up companies, as well as non-profit organizations. In 2013, he joined the company’s board.

From 2003 to 2011, Mike was Executive Vice-President of Dow serving in business and functional executive roles as well as geographical oversight.  He has served on Dow’s Executive Leadership Committee responsible for corporate strategy and financial performance. He also served on the company’s Strategy Board, Sustainability Team, Geographic Leadership Council, and is an ex officio member of Dow’s board of director’s Environment, Health & Safety Committee. From 2010-2012, Mike served on the U.S. Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council, which advised the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on matters related to the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing section.  He is also a Director Emeritus of the US-India Business Council and served as a member of The University of Michigan Engineering Advisory Council from 2006-2012.

He recently served on the Board of Directors of the National Safety Council and the strategic planning and nomination committees, and as Chairman of the Campbell Institute. He also served as a director on the Board of TRW Automotive Holding Corp. (NYSE: TRW) and on the Audit Committee. Mike currently serves as a Director of CSW Industrials, Inc. [NASDAQ “CSWI”] since 2015.In this role, he serves on the Nominating & Governance committee as well as the Compensation & Talent committee.

Douglas D. Troxel

Director

Mr. Troxel was appointed Director in 2010. He brings over 40 years of executive experience in the information technology industry and has sponsored extensive research into alternative and clean energy projects.

Doug graduated with a B.S. from Iowa State University with a major in Mathematics and minor in Physics in 1967.  He founded SERENA Software in 1980 and sold the company to Micro Focus in 2016. Doug serves as President of the family foundation, Change Happens, committed to helping highly motivated groups with pioneering programs and forward-thinking projects. He also serves on the Director's Council of the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara. Doug serves on the Executive Board of Novim, which studies big social problems, like long term climate change and methane leakage, using pure science. He also serves on the board of Caring Together In Hope which is a support group for those suffering with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

Doug and his wife Deborah are residents of Kona Hawaii. He continues to pursue life-long interests in physics, astronomy and politics.