Walter R. Merschat, President
Mr. Merschat is a petroleum geologist with over 35 years of experience in the oil and gas business. In 1987 he founded Scientific Geochemical Services (SGS), a company focused on conducting and interpreting geochemical surveys. Since its inception SGS has conducted exploration surveys encompassing more than one hundred thousand sample locations in numerous offshore and onshore basins worldwide. Prior to forming SGS, Mr. Merschat worked for Gulf Research and Development, a division of Gulf Oil Co., where he focused on the execution and interpretation of geochemical programs in the Rocky Mountain region of Wyoming and in the Basin and Range geologic province of Nevada and Utah. During his tenure at Gulf, Mr. Merschat performed the geochemical surveying on Ameriwest’s Skull Valley prospect, located in Tooele County, Utah. Mr. Merschat received an M.S. in Geology at Ohio University in 1971 and a B.S. in Geology in 1967.

Joseph J. McQuade, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. McQuade has participated in the oil and gas industry in various finance, accounting and managerial roles for over 35 years. From 1981 through 1998, he served as Vice President of Finance, President or Chairman of the Board of Hawk Industries, Inc., a public oil and gas exploration company with properties in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. McQuade served as President and CEO of Allagesh Oil Company, a group of oil and gas royalty partnerships. From 2003 to the 2007, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Woodworker's Supply, Inc. Mr. McQuade holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Wyoming. Additionally, he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Wyoming Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Mr. Jon Clement Nicolaysen, Director
Mr. Nicolaysen brings over 40 years of experience in business, mineral development and agriculture to Ameriwest. He has served as president of JK Minerals Inc., a private oil company, for 19 years. Under his leadership, JK Minerals consolidated ownership and increased production in the historic Cole Creek Oilfield northeast of Casper, Wyoming. In 2001, he became the unit operator of the Cole Creek Oilfield. He is also a founding member of Wyoming Mineral Exploration, LLC (2004), and Muddy Mineral Exploration, LLC (2007). Mr. Nicolaysen practiced his particular expertise in land title and acquisition to consolidate other productive fields in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming including the South Glenrock Block “C” unit and the Big Muddy Oilfield. Mr. Nicolaysen received an M.S. in Business Administration degree from the University of Wyoming in 1970, a B.S. in Business Administration degree from the Colorado College in 1968, and was an inaugural member of the Wyoming Agriculture Leadership Program, a W.K. Kellogg Foundation-sponsored fellowship, from 1984-1986.

Chris Wright, Director
Mr. Wright has over 20 years of experience in finance and administrative management for both private and public companies. In 1995, he founded Velvet Exploration Ltd., an oil and gas company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which later traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Wright served as the chairman of Velvet Exploration until it was sold to El Paso Corporation in June 2001 for over $400 million. Since 1997 Mr. Wright has been the president and CEO of First Merit Group Ltd., a private venture capital and investment firm. Mr. Wright received a law degree from the University of Victoria in 1986 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alberta in 1981.

Reservoir Engineers

NITEC LLC
NITEC was founded in 1995 by a group of highly experienced petroleum engineers to provide reservoir evaluation services to oil and gas companies and regulatory agencies. NITEC has performed many large, fully integrated reservoir studies on highly complex reservoirs as well as smaller reservoir and well evaluations. The company has continued to grow each year both in the number of projects awarded and in its reputation and recognition for producing outstanding reservoir studies.

Ryder Scott
Founded in 1937, Ryder Scott is one of the largest, oldest and most respected reservoir evaluation consulting firms in the industry. The firm performs several hundred consulting studies a year for a variety of clients. Ryder Scott has earned worldwide recognition for reliably predicting the performance of complex oil and gas reservoirs in all major petroleum provinces.