OUR LEADERSHIP
Derby’s leadership team have known each other for many years, have worked together, invested with each other, and have collectively founded over ten companies.
Derby’s leadership has a broad range of experience across all key parts of the oil & gas, CCS, and broader decarbonization value chains. Business investment, project development, management, land, finance, engineering, and geology are all represented with experienced and successful executives.
The leadership have outstanding track records of investing success, completing over $30 billion in acquisitions & divestitures, have raised over $800 million in financing for their companies, and generated aggregate returns of 237% IRR and 4.3x MOIC on investments made during their careers ($3.6 billion of total investment).
Mark Wilson - Founder & Managing Partner
- Mr. Wilson has served as Managing Partner since he founded Derby Partners in 2021.
- Mark served as Chairman, President, & CEO of Dover Energy (a company with oil assets in the Illinois Basin of the United States) from his founding of the company in 2012.
- He also served as Chairman, President, & CEO of a private E&P company with assets in the Michigan Basin and Illinois Basin of the United States from 2009 to 2020.
- Prior to this, he served as Chairman, President, & CEO of Coronado Resources (a North America exploration focused unconventional resource E&P company) from his co-founding of the company in 2004 through its sale in 2009.
- Prior to Coronado, Mr. Wilson served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Planning for The Williams Companies from 2002-2004. He served as Vice President of Corporate Development for Williams from 2000-2002.
- From 1997 to 2000, he served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Koch Petroleum Group at Koch Industries, and as Managing Director, Koch Investments Group.
- From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Wilson was a Senior Management Consultant to the energy industry at Arthur D. Little, Inc. and Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc. where he led teams in mergers and acquisitions, strategy development, change management, and process improvement.
- From 1989 to 1990, Mr. Wilson worked at ConocoPhillips, Inc. as a refinery process engineer in North American Refining.
- Mark has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Nicolas de Grivel - Managing Director, EMEA & Chief Commercial Officer
- Mr. de Grivel joined Derby Partners in 2024 as Managing Director, Europe, Middle East, & Africa (EMEA) and Chief Commercial Officer.
- Nicolas was a founding member of an angel investor network, Mustard Seed from 2012 to 2024. Seeking high growth impact ventures. Sought and invested in multiple early-stage companies, negotiating win-win agreements.
- Prior, he was Executive Director & Board Member of SB Mining Limited from 2015 to 2019. A private company operating mines and a smelter facility of lead and antimony in Myanmar. Coordinated the overall project, ensuring its progress, devising financial planning, and leading investor relations and fund raising.
- From 2000 to 2012, he was Executive Director – Oil & Gas Products, Structured Finance & Acquisitions at Glencore PLC
- Early in his career, he was a Global M&A Tema Member at The Rothschild Group in Madrid.
- Nicolas has a Baccalauréat with Mathematics Major from Institut de l’Alma(France), a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Reims Management School (France), and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (United States)
Roberto Bencini - Managing Director, GEOSCIENCES & Chief Technical Officer
- Mr. Bencini joined Derby Partners in 2022 as Managing Director, Geosciences and Chief Technical Officer.
- Roberto served as President and Director of GA.I.A. srl since he founded the company in 1999. In the same period, he served as Expert to the European Commission for Oil & Gas and CCS.
- From 2000-2003, he consulted to INGV in Rome and PTRC in Regina, Canada) as Technical Integrator for the US $25 million “Weyburn” international CO2 storage research project and co-founded CO2NET, the EU-sponsored knowledge and advisory network for the implementation of CCS in Europe.
- Roberto served as Technical Director of Independent Resources Plc since he co-founded the company in 2005 to 2015, and as Senior Consultant up to 2017.
- Previously, he co-founded Independent Gas Management srl, dedicated to Underground Gas Storage (UGS) projects, in 2002 and Independent Energy Solutions srl.
- In the period 2008-2014, he originated the Sibilla CO2 storage project and managed the successful EIA study for the first license for the exploration and appraisal of a CO2 geological storage site in Italy.
- From 1985 to 1998, Roberto worked at LASMO Plc (now ENI) as Chief Geologist for North Africa in London and later in Rome as Business Development Director for Italy.
- From 1981 to 1985, he worked for GULF OIL E&P in London, Houston and Pittsburgh as Senior Geoscientist, developing a multidisciplinary international upstream experience in the U.S., North Sea, Italy and Tunisia.
- From 1978 to 1981, Roberto was a Researcher in the Earth Science Dept. at Pisa University, a Hydrogeologist at a private consultancy in Pisa and a Second Lieutenant of the Geographic Technical Service of the Italian Army in Florence, Italy.
- Roberto has an M.S. in Geological Sciences from Pisa University.
Mark Caffey - Managing Director, North America
- Mr. Caffey has served as Managing Director, North America for Derby Partners since 2021.
- Previously, Mark served as President & CEO of Westgate Minerals, a mineral and royalty acquisition and management company.
- Mark has served as President & CEO of The Caffey Group since he founded the company in 1999 through 2021.
- He was also a Partner and Vice President of Land at Newark Energy from 2008 to 2012.
- Prior to Newark, he was a Partner and Vice President of Land at ADEXCO Production Company from 2000 to 2008.
- From 1987 to 2000, Mark was a Senior Landman at Oil and Gas, Ltd – a geologic consulting firm.
- Mark founded Legend Exploration Company and acted as President & CEO from 1983 to 1987.
- Previously, he was a District Land Manager at Dart Energy from 1982 to 1983.
- Mark started his career at Amoco as a Landman, Senior Grade from 1978 to 1982.
- Mark has a B.A. in Business & Communication Arts from Austin College and Master of Education and Master of Arts in Liberal Arts from Texas Christian University.
John Kempler - Managing Director, Australia/Asia
- Mr. Kempler joined Derby Partners in 2022 as Managing Director, Australia and Asia.
- From 2009 to 2018, John was the Australian and New Zealand representative for Fastmarkets, the leading data and news service for the metals markets. During these years, he also worked on assignments with Origin Capital and Claymore Capital in corporate finance.
- John was Director, Head of Commodities at HBOS (Bank of Scotland Treasury) in Sydney from 2005 to 2009.
- From 2001 to 2005, John worked as Head of Energy Desk, Global Risk Management for National Australia Bank.
- John established the Australian office for Koch Oil and Metals groups in 1997 and worked there until 2001.
- From 1990 to 1997, John was Vice President for J. Aron & Company, the currency and commodity trading division of Goldman Sachs (in both Sydney and Singapore).
- Previously, from 1984 to 1990, he was Marketing Manager for Woodside Petroleum, selling the company's oil production, LNG shipping JV negotiations and developing the company's oil hedging policy.
- From 1978 to 1984, John was first a project engineer at Total. He then moved into supply and shipping where he was responsible for the refiner's crude oil requirements between 1978 and 1984.
- John worked as a refinery process engineer at Caltex until from 1976 to 1978.
- John has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of New South Wales (UNSW).