Profiles

John Martinson founded Wood Roberts in 1988. He and John Ogden, Managing Director and principal, have more than six decades of experience in providing corporate financial, investment banking and strategic advice and analysis to entities as wide ranging as multi-national oil companies, smaller publicly traded companies, start-ups and religious and charitable organizations. With backgrounds that encompass finance, investment banking, corporate development, law, engineering, venture capital, and company management and operation, Wood Roberts offers a wealth of experience to its clients.

John R. Martinson

John began his career in 1959 spending seven years in the international division of Mobil Oil Corporation, with roles in finance, corporate planning and marketing/supply planning.  He subsequently worked on Wall Street in the institutional sales departments of Kidder, Peabody & Company for three years and Oppenheimer & Company for four years. John spent the following eighteen years as an independent oil operator and investor, including the founding and management of companies involved in oil and gas exploration and development, crude oil and products trading, refining and marketing, natural gas gathering and processing, and electric utility load management.

In 1988, John formed Wood Roberts, Inc. to engage in the provision of corporate financial advice to the petroleum industry, focusing on initiating and advising on the acquisition activities of U.S. independents. He has also had experience as a venture capitalist in the broadcast industry.

John holds a B.S.E. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. (with honors) from Northwestern University. He serves as Trustee for two privately held trusts and as a Director of a charitable trust.

John L. Ogden

Historically, John has focused on the energy industry as an analyst and consultant in international oil and gas economics and corporate finance. Following his qualification as a barrister-at-law in England, he initially worked with Wood Mackenzie & Co., in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he provided a range of advisory services to companies and to state entities and co-authored the most authoritative reference work for petroleum operations, finance and economics in northwest Europe. He subsequently established and headed an energy team for the firm of Sheppards & Chase in London, building a successful natural resource corporate finance business. He was responsible for arranging the funding for Finance for Energy Limited, a provider of project finance to U.S. independent oil and gas companies, and subsequently served as a managing director.

In 1985, John established an independent corporate financial consulting business, initially in London and subsequently in Houston, specializing in domestic and international energy issues and providing acquisition and divestiture advice and execution; corporate financial consulting; corporate development and strategic advice; and contract negotiation and structuring. He joined Wood Roberts as a managing director and principal in 1995.

John holds a law degree, LL.B. (with honours), from the University of Leeds and was admitted to the Bar (Inner Temple) in England in 1979. He holds FINRA series 7, 24, 63 and 79 licenses but does not deal in securities and is not currently registered with a broker dealer.