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Guma L. Aguiar began his business career as a clerk on the floor of the NYMEX in 1999 where he focused on the energy markets, with particular emphasis on natural gas. Transitioning from daily trading activity to the long-term physical markets, in 2001 Mr. Aguiar joined with his uncle, Thomas Kaplan, to create a U.S.-based energy company focused on aggressive early-stage oil and gas exploration.
In conjunction with Thomas Kaplan, Guma co-founded Leor Energy in Houston, Texas in 2003 as the focus of their strategy to invest in grassroots exploration. Serving as Leor’s Vice Chairman and CEO, Guma worked to assemble a diversified portfolio of energy properties in Louisiana and Texas, ranging from unconventional natural gas to shallow oil. In 2003 Mr. Aguiar identified and initiated the company’s acquisition of its flagship property in the Deep Bossier of East Texas which emerged as one of the most important domestic discoveries in recent memory.
During the proceeding four years, under Mr. Aguiar’s executive management, Leor successfully engineered a series of financings which fully capitalized the projects in the company’s portfolio and negotiated key acquisitions which materially expanded Leor’s acreage holdings in the Deep Bossier trend. These strategic transactions helped Leor emerge as one of the fastest-growing privately held oil and gas exploration and production companies in North America.
From its inception in 2003, Mr. Aguiar oversaw the growth and development of Amoruso Field, an East Texas grassroots wildcat play, into one of the leading resource plays in North America. With an initial investment of $25.0 million, Mr. Aguiar initiated a successful exploration and production program which yielded several highly productive wells - including two which rank among the ten highest producing onshore natural gas wells drilled since 2003 for all of North America as well as an extensive inventory of highly prospective well locations in the prolific Deep Bossier trend. Believing that Amoruso Field had the potential to be the leading resource play in its North American portfolio, in November of 2007 a subsidiary of EnCana Corporation purchased the field for $2.55 billion. This acquisition marked the culmination of Leor’s highly successful exploration program in the Deep Bossier in which it saw, in just over 24 months, production from the Amoruso Field grow from zero to more than 240 million gross cubic feet per day.
In recognition of Mr. Aguiar’s management and leadership in connection with Leor’s sale to EnCana Corporation, he was recognized by Oil and Gas Investor magazine as its 2007 Executive of the Year.
Mr. Aguiar is committed to numerous philanthropic causes and organizations. He is the Chairman of the Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation, a private family foundation, he serves as Co-Chairman of EJF, the Eternal Jewish Family. Additionally, Mr. Aguiar serves on the boards of: Electrum Resources LLC, a private precious metals exploration company; Panthera, an organization focused on global wild cat conservation; Mount Sinai Medical Center Foundation, an organization committed to the advancement of the art and science of medicine through clinical excellence; and, Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization dedicated to facilitating and revitalizing the Aliyah process and increasing its awareness.
Mr. Aguiar and his wife Jamie have two children. | 