Karl Johnson

Karl is Vice President of Operations for PetroNeft Resources, an Irish company operating in Western Siberia, Russia. He has over 30 years of experience in the petroleum industry, 27 years with Marathon Oil, and has worked primarily on international projects in Indonesia, Syria, Egypt and Russia. Prior to joining PetroNeft Resources, Karl held various management positions at Marathon including responsibility for Government Approvals and Russian Content for the Sakhalin II Project, and was part of the team that negotiated the first Production Sharing Agreement in Russia.  After the Sakhalin project, Karl headed up Marathon’s Moscow office as Vice President of Business Development. Karl’s experience includes strategic planning, economics, risk analysis and business development.

Karl has an undergraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering from Marietta College and worked overseas for Marathon Oil in multiple locations before returning to school to earn his Executive MBA in 2007 from Rice University.

Karl has been a Class Ambassador at the Jones School, and has given numerous guest lectures for the MBA classes on the Sakhalin II Project, and doing business in international locations. His goal on the Alumni Board of the Jones School is to promote greater alumni involvement with the MBA classes, working with professors to give back to the school through guest lectures and rekindling their relationship with Rice.