M. Scott Ratushny
Chairman and CEO

Mr. Ratushny has over 30 years of diverse oil and gas experience in both private and public oil and gas companies. He is the founder and initial shareholder of Cardinal Energy Ltd. As well, Mr. Ratushny has been a director of two oil and gas service companies. Prior to starting Cardinal Energy, Mr. Ratushny founded four public and two private oil and gas companies all creating value for shareholders.

Shawn Van Spankeren, CPA, CMA
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Van Spankeren joined Cardinal in 2018 and has over 30 years of experience in finance, accounting, tax and administration management within the oil and gas industry.  Prior to joining Cardinal, Mr. Van Spankeren was the Vice-President of Finance and Administration for Crew Energy where he had been since its inception in 2003.  Prior to that, his experience included roles of increasing responsibility at junior to senior public oil and gas companies.  Mr. Van Spankeren is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) of Alberta.

Dale Orton, P. Eng.
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Orton has over 30 years of experience in a broad range of oil and gas activities, focusing on reservoir exploitation, operations, business development and reserves management. Mr. Orton began his career with Renaissance Energy Ltd., and has subsequently progressed through positions of increasing responsibility within both large and junior public oil and gas companies. Currently, Mr. Orton serves on the Board of Governors of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.  Mr. Orton holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree (with distinction) from the University of Victoria, and is a registered professional engineer in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Robert Wollmann
Senior Vice President, Exploration

Mr. Wollmann has over 35 years of technical, managerial, executive and governance experience in the oil and gas industry. Throughout his career, Mr. Wollmann has contributed to the discovery and economic development of multiple oil and gas fields across the western Canadian Sedimentary basin. Mr. Wollmann holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Geological Engineering) with honours from Queen’s University.

Laurence Broos, CFA, CA
Vice President, Finance

Mr. Broos has over 15 years of financial experience in the oil and gas industry. He joined Cardinal in 2014 as Vice President, Finance. Prior to that he held a number of senior financial and accounting positions at a large exploration and production company in Calgary. Mr. Broos holds both Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree (with distinction) from the University of Alberta.

Jason LaForge
Vice President, Central Area

Mr. LaForge joined Cardinal Energy in 2014 and was appointed Vice President Central in November 2017. Mr. LaForge has over 24 years of diverse industry experience on all aspects of operations including production, construction, completions and drilling. Prior to joining Cardinal he held positions of increasing responsibility at Muirfield Resources, Arsenal Energy, Enerplus Resources and Renaissance Energy. Mr. LaForge has a B.Sc. Mgmt. from the University of Montana.

Ken Younger
Vice President, South Area

Mr. Younger has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining Cardinal he has held senior positions in active companies including Spur Resources, Marble Point Energy, and Polar Star Oil and Gas. Mr. Younger’s responsibilities have included production operations, facilities engineering, production engineering, drilling and completions. Mr. Younger has also worked internationally focusing in South America on heavy oil assets, he started his oil and gas industry career with PanCanadian Petroleum and has experience in all Western Canadian provinces.

David Kelly, P. Eng.
Vice President, Saskatchewan Area

Mr. Kelly is a Professional Engineer with 25 years of diversified production, engineering, and management roles within small to large producers in both the private and public sides of the oil and gas business.  Mr. Kelly started his career with PanCanadian Petroleum and has progressed through ever increasing roles and responsibilities in operations, facilities, production, reservoir, and exploitation engineering positions.  Mr. Kelly has a strong background in CCUS operations with 20+ years of CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Mr. Kelly has held senior management positions including Vice President of Production & Operations with OMERS Energy before joining Cardinal as VP, Saskatchewan in 2017.  Mr. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan and is a registered professional engineer in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Devin Sundstrom, P. Eng.
Vice President, North Area

Mr. Sundstrom has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining Cardinal in 2023, he has held senior positions at Razor Energy Corp., Long Run Exploration and Galleon Energy Inc. Mr. Sundstrom’s experience has included production engineering, drilling and completions and exploitation engineering. Mr. Sundstrom holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary, and is a registered professional engineer in Alberta.

Heath Williamson
Vice President, Thermal Operations

Mr. Williamson has over 15 years of heavy oil experience with a specialized focus on developing and operating greenfield thermal oil projects. Mr. Williamson began his career with BlackRock Ventures Inc. and subsequently progressed through increasing asset management positions at BlackPearl Resources, International Petroleum Corporation, and Athabasca Oil Corporation. Mr. Williamson has also acted as an independent consultant for both public and private oil and gas companies, including advising Broadview Energy Ltd. on technical and business development matters. Mr. Williamson has a B.Sc. Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alberta.