Our Team
James Edens, P.Eng
Before Marathon, James spent 15 years at CNR International, the final five as Managing Director, administering an annual capital budget of up to $1.2 billion and delivering $4 billion in cumulative free cash flow from North Sea and offshore Africa operations, and served as Commercial Director at DNO ASA across the Middle East and North Africa.
He is CEO and COO of North Sea Natural Resources Ltd, has personally raised over $320mm in support of exploration — including delivering the transformational funding that led to seismic acquisition and drilling in 2023 — and has engaged directly with UK government leadership, including the Prime Minister, on oil and gas fiscal policy.
James is a Professional Engineer registered with Engineers Nova Scotia and holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Engineering Physics (with Distinction and the University Medal for Excellence) and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, both from the Technical University of Nova Scotia and Dalhousie University
Co-Founder and Chief Executive OfficerJames Edens brings over 35 years of international technical, commercial, and executive leadership in the oil and gas industry.
He spent three years as Vice President at Marathon Oil Corporation, including leading the company’s worldwide conventional operations, which generated over $850 million in free cash flow in 2018, and delivered the first non-equity gas monetization project across Marathon’s operated facilities in Equatorial Guinea, unlocking over 580 Bcf of previously stranded gas.
Shawn A. Saulnier
Shawn served as Assistant Dean at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and later as President and CEO of Gateway Airlines.
He is the founder of NUVO Network and a founding investor in TipTapPay, a touchless payments technology company, and also brings a background in real estate development and high-rise modular construction using concrete and steel.
Shawn has also served as Chair of the United Way campaign in Canada and Chair of the KOA Care Camps Foundation in the United States.
Shawn Saulnier is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Inceptio Oil and Gas Limited, where he has held lead responsibility for building the relationships with the federal and provincial governments that led to the reopening of the Atlantic offshore basin, under which the Company now holds two offshore exploration licences.
He brings a diverse background in executive leadership, entrepreneurship, and business development spanning aviation, education, fintech, and real estate.
Co-Founder and Executive DirectorJeffrey Steiner is a senior executive, lawyer, and experienced board director with a career spanning international trade, real estate, mining, and media.
He currently serves as Chair and CEO of the Canada-Saudi Arabia Business Council and previously served two terms on the Board of Directors of Export Development Canada (EDC), where he chaired the Business Development and Strategy Committee.
Jeffrey was President and CEO of the Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) from 2002 to 2009, leading real estate development, green building, and waterfront revitalization initiatives, and was the driving force behind the creation of Canada’s largest film and television studio on Toronto’s waterfront.
He was a founding director and later Co-Chair of the Canada-UAE Business Council, is CEO of New Franchise Media Inc., and sits on the Board of Ontario’s Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA).
Jeffrey holds a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Lawyer; Chair and CEO, Canada-Saudi Arabia Business CouncilJeffrey Steiner
CB&I is a global leader in engineering, procurement, and construction for the energy industry, with a track record spanning more than a century and projects delivered in over 100 countries. The firm built the world’s first large-scale LNG storage tank in 1960 and remains one of the few contractors with genuine full-containment LNG tank expertise, a specialization that has made it a trusted partner to major oil, gas, and LNG operators worldwide, including members of Inceptio’s own leadership team from prior roles in the North Sea.
CB&I is Inceptio’s engineering partner for the preliminary engineering design of the Company’s first demonstration well. CB&I’s work has confirmed the technical feasibility and viability of the project, providing a cost projection to deliver a well to this offshore arena as early as 2028.
Engineering Partner, Preliminary Well DesignCB&I
Tracy Mossman is Vice President and Senior Drilling Engineering Leader at Inceptio Oil and Gas Limited, bringing over 27 years of experience planning and delivering complex offshore and onshore wells around the world, including Atlantic Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, West Africa, and Yemen.
She most recently served as a Drilling Engineering Advisor, where her work included well design studies for Equinor’s Bay du Nord deepwater development and technical advisory work for CNOOC and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy’s subsurface energy research program.
Earlier in her career, Tracy was a founding member of the drilling team on EnCana’s first operated deepwater well offshore Nova Scotia, and went on to lead a deepwater exploration well in the Flemish Pass off Newfoundland from initial licence through execution, giving her first-hand experience with Atlantic Canada’s offshore regulatory environment.
She has also led drilling programs opening new countries and basins to operations in Norway, Mexico, and West Africa, consistently delivering top-tier results, and personally planned and executed Yemen’s first underbalanced well, cutting downtime on that project from roughly 28% to under 5%. Tracy is a Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia.
VP and Senior Drilling Engineering LeaderTracy Mossman
Sasha Jacob is Chairman and CEO of Jacob Capital Management Inc. (JCM), a merchant bank focused on renewable power and infrastructure that has completed more than 100 transactions totaling over $20 billion since inception.
A long-time investment banker and one of the first in Canada to focus on renewable energy, Sasha has been responsible for Inceptio’s corporate finance efforts.
He is also Chair of the Board of Maritime Launch Services, the company behind Spaceport Nova Scotia, Canada’s first commercial orbital launch site, and is a partner at Worldview Advisory, a global public affairs and capital advisory firm.
Chairman and CEO, Jacob Capital Management Inc.Sasha Jacob
Founded in 1859 and headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, McInnes Cooper is one of Atlantic Canada’s leading law firms, with over 160 years of institutional depth advising on the region’s most significant energy, infrastructure, and natural resource projects.
The firm’s Energy and Natural Resources practice has extensive experience before the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSOER, formerly the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board) and has advised on oil and gas exploration and development, licensing, and regulatory matters across the East Coast offshore for decades.
McInnes Cooper serves as legal counsel to Inceptio, bringing this deep sector-specific knowledge and long track record of success to the Company’s legal and regulatory work.
Legal Counsel