World-Class Management Team

Robert (Bob) Pender is Executive Co-Chairman and founder of Venture Global LNG, where he previously he served as Co-CEO. Prior to founding the company, Bob was a partner at a global law firm, where he was the Chair and Practice Group Director of its Project & International Finance Group for a decade. Bob led large-scale energy infrastructure transactions throughout North America, Central and South America, and South Asia, including representations of nation states, lenders, equity investors and developers. He worked on over $35 billion of energy projects during the formative years of the US sustainable energy transition, including biomass, wind, hydro, geothermal, LNG, nuclear, transmission, and carbon capture projects.

Bob provided pro bono support to, among others, the American Red Cross for tsunami relief in South Asia; Accion for micro-finance capital projects in Africa; and the Republic of Haiti, beginning with legal support to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, then serving as a counselor to the Minister Delegate for Energy Security, Republic of Haiti.

Prior to law school, Bob worked as a staff assistant on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics and then on the White House Staff. During law school, at Georgetown, he continued on the White House Staff as a law clerk in the Office of Counsel to the President.

Michael Sabel is the CEO, Executive Co-Chairman and founder of Venture Global LNG. He has served as one of the Managing Partners of Venture Global Partners, LLC since 2010. 

Prior to the founding of the company, Mike spent decades working in the energy, technology and financial service sectors in senior leadership, new company formation, technology licensing and corporate business development and capital market transactions.

Robert (Bob) Pender is Executive Co-Chairman and founder of Venture Global LNG, where he previously he served as Co-CEO. Prior to founding the company, Bob was a partner at a global law firm, where he was the Chair and Practice Group Director of its Project & International Finance Group for a decade. Bob led large-scale energy infrastructure transactions throughout North America, Central and South America, and South Asia, including representations of nation states, lenders, equity investors and developers. He worked on over $35 billion of energy projects during the formative years of the US sustainable energy transition, including biomass, wind, hydro, geothermal, LNG, nuclear, transmission, and carbon capture projects.

Bob provided pro bono support to, among others, the American Red Cross for tsunami relief in South Asia; Accion for micro-finance capital projects in Africa; and the Republic of Haiti, beginning with legal support to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, then serving as a counselor to the Minister Delegate for Energy Security, Republic of Haiti.

Prior to law school, Bob worked as a staff assistant on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics and then on the White House Staff. During law school, at Georgetown, he continued on the White House Staff as a law clerk in the Office of Counsel to the President.

Michael Sabel is the CEO, Executive Co-Chairman and founder of Venture Global LNG. He has served as one of the Managing Partners of Venture Global Partners, LLC since 2010. 

Prior to the founding of the company, Mike spent decades working in the energy, technology and financial service sectors in senior leadership, new company formation, technology licensing and corporate business development and capital market transactions.

Andrew (Andy) Orekar is the former Chief Executive Officer of GasLog Partners LP, an international owner of LNG carriers. As CEO, Andy led the company’s IPO in 2014 and oversaw its growth from three to fifteen vessels through 2020. Under Andy’s leadership, GasLog Partners published its inaugural sustainability report, demonstrating how the company embedded ESG practices into its culture and processes for the transportation of LNG, a cleaner alternative energy source to coal and other hydrocarbons. 

Prior to joining GasLog Partners, Andy served as Managing Director at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he advised natural resources companies on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 and held several leadership positions in the investment banking division. 

Andy served on the Board of Directors of Tortoise Acquisition Corp., which was formed to acquire a business targeting the energy transition, including clean energy generation and storage, alternative fuels and transportation.

Andy received Bachelor of Science (Wharton School) and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jimmy Staton serves on the company’s Board of Directors. Jimmy is a highly accomplished business executive with a proven track record of creating and enabling growth strategies and consistent execution.

Jimmy has broad based energy experience having been Chief Executive of one of the largest gas distribution systems in the United States, a Midwest electric and gas utility and a major interstate gas pipeline and midstream business. Jimmy previously served as Executive Vice President and Group CEO for NiSource, Inc. While at NiSource, Jimmy was responsible for developing and executing strategies resulting in a portfolio of $25 billion of long-term investment opportunities. In addition, Jimmy developed industry leading marketing and regulatory initiatives. Prior to his tenure at NiSource, Jimmy held several senior executive level positions at Dominion Resources, Inc. where he helped create one of the lowest cost operations in the industry. Jimmy has also been active in industry organizations having served on the Board of Directors for the Edison Electric Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the American Gas Association, the American Gas Foundation and the Southern Gas Association.

Tom Reid is chief legal officer and secretary of Comcast Corporation.  He oversees Comcast’s legal, corporate governance and strategic intellectual property functions and the company’s government and regulatory affairs and political affairs functions.  Mr. Reid joined Comcast in 2019 after a successful career at Davis Polk. He began his career there in 1987 and served as chairman and managing partner of the firm from 2011 until his transition to Comcast.  Mr. Reid also served as a Managing Director in the Investment Banking division of Morgan Stanley from 2000-2003. Mr. Reid’s private legal practice and banking career were heavily focused on the global energy and utilities sector, advising on privatizations, mergers and acquisitions, financings and board investigations for leading international oil and gas companies and national oil companies.  Mr. Reid serves as the secretary of the board of trustees of The Morgan Library & Museum and as a trustee of the National Urban League.  In 2018, the Pro Bono Partnership honored him with the “Champion Award” in recognition of his deep commitment to pro bono work, and in 2021 he received the St. Thomas More award from the Archdiocese of New York’s Inner-City Scholarship Fund.  He graduated from Edinburgh University with first class honors in law and earned an LL.M. from Columbia Law School.

Ms. Granat is president and chief operating officer of Chainalysis, the blockchain data platform, where she manages the company’s general and administrative functions, including finance, human resources, legal, information security and information technology, and works across the firm on strategies to advance the company’s mission of bringing trust and transparency to the global cryptocurrency community. From 2012 to 2022, Granat was with IHS Markit, a formerly NYSE-listed $45+ billion data, analytics and technology company prior to its merger with S&P Global in February 2022, where she most recently served as executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel, leading information security, information technology, legal, risk management, privacy and compliance functions. From 2010 to 2012, Granat was chief administrative officer and head of business development at TheMarkets.com LLC, a financial technology and data provider. Prior to that role, she has served in a variety of legal and strategy positions with Dow Jones & Company, Kaplan, Inc., Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Kenyon & Kenyon. Granat currently serves on the board of ComplySci, a provider of regulatory technology solutions for the financial services sector, Assurant, Inc., a global provider of risk management products and services, and Opening Act, a nonprofit that advances arts equity by providing free theater programs to New York City’s highest need public schools. She has also served on the CxO Advisory Council for VMware and on the General Counsel Steering Committee for the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Rod Christie is a veteran of the electricity and energy sectors, with over 30 years of international experience. From January 2016, Rod was Executive Vice President of Baker Hughes (BH) Turbomachinery and Process Solutions business.  In 2017 he created and led the BH Climate Technology Solutions, developing solutions for hydrogen, CCUS, integrated clean energy, and emissions management to support customers’ net-zero emission ambitions and latterly integrated the BH Controls, Sensing and Diagnostics businesses to create the BH Industrial & Energy Technology Business. In association with his responsibilities in Climate technologies, Rod also held roles with the Hydrogen Council and the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance from 2019 to 2023.  Prior to Baker Hughes, Rod was President & CEO of GE Energy Subsea Solutions from June 2011 to Dec 2016, President of GE Energy Central & Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia from Sept 2004 to June 2011 and CEO of GE Energy Services Europe from June 1999 to Sept 2004. Before joining GE, he worked for 14 years at Scottish & Southern Energy in the utility power sector, where he held a wide range of engineering, project development and management roles. Accordingly, he has developed significant global experience in the oil & gas, gas processing, LNG, refining, petrochemical and electricity sectors.