top of page

CaribX is a UK head quartered private energy company formed in 2009 to study and develop the hydrocarbon potential of the Caribbean and Central America, and to screen and mature exploration opportunities. 

CaribX's objective is to build and develop a large exploration portfolio in this under-explored area and to:

  1. Build on its unique understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of the Caribbean and Central American through detailed petroleum geological studies, original thinking and interpretation; 

  2. Select the most prospective areas and attract financial and industry partners; 

  3. Safely and responsibly develop this potential in partnership with countries, investors and operating partners.
     

CaribX is now recognised as the leading expert on the exploration potential of the region. The company has partnered with major international oil companies and holds a non-operated interest in the Main Cape project, offshore Honduras.

Home: About

Operations

Home: Projects

Honduras Offshore

Highly prospective area added to the portfolio

In 2017 CaribX acquired a 15% non-operated interest in the Main Cape licence area offshore Honduras. In 2020 CaribX increased this interest to 55%. The 17,500 square kilometre area encompasses the shallow water Mosquitia basin, and the deepwater Patuca and Niobe basins.

shutterstock_691601485.jpg

Leadership Team

Chris Matchette-Downes

CEO

Chris has been in the upstream business for over 30 years, including time with BP, BG Group and more recently Black Marlin Energy. A petroleum geochemist, Chris is well-respected for work done in both East Africa and in the greater Caribbean region and has undertaken several geoscientific reviews of the region since 2003. He is a respected expert on frontier petroleum systems and often speaks at international conferences and seminars on the subject of oil and gas exploration. MSc., BSc., CGeol

Dr Chris Atkinson

Director

Chris Atkinson started his career at Shell but spent most of his formative years at Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) in the USA, Southeast Asia and Europe.  He was the founder of Serica Energy plc and has been involved with the successful start up and financing of a further four companies (Mitra Energy, Malaysia; MPX Limited, UK; ZinMac - now Strategic Oil and Gas, Canada; Greenfields Petroleum, USA). Chris brings a wealth of exploration and small company experience and has worked extensively in frontier basins throughout the world. He has a PhD., BSc. in geology from the University of Swansea, UK

Ivan Sandrea

Senior Advisor

Ivan is founder and former CEO of Sierra Oil and Gas, the company that lead and participated in the award-winning Zama discovery in Mexico. Sierra was acquired by Wintershall DEA in 2019.  Prior to this, Ivan held a number or entrepreneurial, leadership and corporate roles including: Co-head of the global oil and gas emerging markets practice for EY in London, President of Energy Intelligence (the oldest oil and gas information service in the world), Vice President of Corporate and Upstream Strategy and Business Development at Statoil (Equinor), head of oil supply at OPEC, investment banker at Merrill Lynch and exploration geologist at BP.  During his career Ivan also held various roles at different starts ups in Latin America (Petra Energia in Brazil, Pan Andean Resources in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia).

Mark Shann

Senior Advisor

Mark Shann is a leading exploration geologist with 36 years experience across the world with BP and since 2014, Sierra Oil and Gas.  At Sierra, he lead the technical evaluation team that successfully entered six exploration blocks and identified the Zama discovery,  the largest shallow-water oil discovery worldwide in the last 20 years. 

  

Prior to joining Sierra as a founding partner and director, Mark's career at BP spanned 13 countries including heading the Reliance/BP India exploration programme, and joint industry projects with PEMEX in Mexico, PDVSA in Venezuela, GUPCO in Egypt among others. Mark holds an Honours Degree in Geology from King's College and is a fellow of the Geological Society.

James Pope

Corporate Finance and Strategy Advisor

James has over 30 years’ experience in the energy, oil and gas and finance sectors.  His early career was as a geologist and engineer with Halliburton, working on over 50 wells on four continents before moving into energy corporate finance.  James has worked for some of the leading commercial and investment finance banks, including Barclays Capital, ABN Amro and Credit Agricole and has raised project and corporate capital for energy and oil & gas projects worldwide. 

More recently James has worked in the equity capital markets and energy corporate finance sectors and has raised equity capital for upstream and energy sector clients in the UK, Europe, USA, Latin America, West Africa and SE Asia. 

James holds an Honours degree in Geology from the University of London and an MBA from ESCP, Paris.

Dr. Octavio Pastrana

Director Latin America

Dr Pastrana brings a huge amount of industry experience at the most senior levels in oil and gas, energy, engineering and construction internationally and across Latin America. He has served on the board of PEMEX (the national oil company of Mexico), as a senior advisor to the Mexican state regarding oil and gas reforms, and at BP where he was Chairman and CEO of Chaco in Bolivia and Country Head and General Director of business units in Alaska, Venezuela and Mexico. Prior to BP Dr Pastrana was in senior management and CEO roles at a number of Latin American engineering and construction companies engaged in major power generation and civil infrastructure projects.

Home: Lab Members
IMG_2619_edited_edited.jpg
Mexico Map 2.png

CaribX presents at the First HGS/EAGE Conference on Latin America: themed “South American Petroleum Plays for Future Decades of the Third Millennium

November 2019

CaribX presented a paper by director Chris Matchette-Downes and geologist Huw Williams on the Petroleum Systems of the Northern Caribbean at the first Houston Geological Society on Latin America

Home: News & Resources

Selected Presentations and Research

September 2021

The oils and source rocks of the Patuca, Niobe and Mosquita Basins, Honduras

Article in Maya Revistade Geociencias

November 19, 2019

The Petroleum Geology of Offshore Honduras

Houston Geological Society and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers: Exploration conference on Latin America

May 15, 2019

Petroleum Geology of Mexico and the Northern Caribbean

Keynote at the Geological Society, London conference on the Petroleum Geology of Mexico and the Northern Caribbean

May 15, 2019

The Oil and Source rocks of the Patuca and Mosquita Basins, Honduras

Keynote at the Geological Society, London conference on the Petroleum Geology of Mexico and the Northern Caribbean

July 15, 2018

Biomarker and isotope data from oil shows on Saba Bank and tar strandings on St Lucia evidence continental crust in the Antilles

AAPG Special Bulletin at the Hedberg Conference on Middle America, Sigüenza. Biomarker and isotope data from oil shows on Saba Bank and tar strandings on St Lucia evidence continental crust in the Antilles, in progress

October 21, 2016

Oils and source rocks of the Caribbean

Finding Petroleum, Geological Society, London

Home: Publications

Policies

Our principles and ways of working

Anti-bribery and Corruption Policy

Health, Safety and Environmental Policy

Governance  PDF 

Ocatvio Pastrana.jpg

Dr Octavio Pastrana joins CaribX

March, 2020

Dr Pastrana brings a huge amount of industry experience at the most senior levels in oil and gas, energy, engineering and construction internationally and across Latin America. He has served on the board of PEMEX (the national oil company of Mexico), as a senior advisor to the Mexican state regarding oil and gas reforms, and at BP where he was Chairman and CEO of Chaco in Bolivia and Country Head and General Director of business units in Alaska, Venezuela and Mexico. Prior to BP Dr Pastrana was in senior management and CEO roles at a number of Latin American engineering and construction companies engaged in major power generation and civil infrastructure projects.

News and Resources

ivan%20sandrea%201_edited.jpg

Senior industry figures join CaribX board

January 2020

CaribX announced today that Ivan Sandrea, recently CEO and founder of the first independent Mexican E&P company Sierra Oil and Gas (acquired by Wintershall DEA in 2019), has joined the board of directors. Ivan brings a wealth of industry and regional experience to the company as it starts a new chapter in its history. In addition, Mark Shann, former Technical Director of Sierra will join Caribx’s advisory panel.

rendered.jpg

CaribX to increase share of Main Cape licence Honduras to 55%

January 2020

CaribX, the Central American and Caribbean specialist exploration company, is to increase its share of the Main Cape Operating contract in Honduras. Following government approval CaribX will hold a 55% interest in the highly prospective licence area.

CaribX gives keynote presentation at the Geology Society, London

May 2019

CaribX's Chris Matchette-Downes presented several well recieved papers regarding the Petroleum Geology of the Northern Caribbean including a keynote presentation: "The Source rock provinces of the Caribbean by recourse to biomarker and stable isotope data assemblages from produced oils, shows and seeps".  

Big Desk

CaribX welcomes Dr. Huw Willliams

April 2019

CaribX is delighted to announce Dr Huw Wiliams has joined the subsurface team. Huw is an experienced petroleum geologist specialising in carbonate reservoirs. Huw joins us from Shell where he worked on a number of international projects.

Contact Us

Thanks for your interest in our company. Please use this form to get in touch with us for any questions or comments regarding our work and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Thanks for submitting!

Home: Publications
Home: Contact
bottom of page