Thor Energy appoints new managing director to lead hydrogen exploration and development

Thor Energy appoints new managing director to lead hydrogen exploration and development

Thor Energy PLC (AIM:THR, OTCQB:THORF, ASX:THR) has appointed Andrew Hume as managing director, bringing experience from Shell and TotalEnergies as the company enters the nascent natural hydrogen sector.

He will be based in Perth, Western Australia, and will also sit on the group board.

A geologist with an executive MBA from Cambridge, Hume comes with 27 years’ experience in the energy sector, having most recently worked at Maersk Oil and Gas, where he steered strategy and performance across exploration and appraisal, and then following its acquisition by TotalEnergies, he worked on regional strategy, planning, business development, leading joint ventures and managing a decarbonisation and renewables project.

Before that, he worked in geosciences, drilling, asset management and portfolio growth at Thales Group, Shell and Murphy Oil Corp.

Thor’s executive chairman, Alastair Clayton, welcomed Hume’s “outstanding track record in the oil and gas industry worldwide”.

Thor has recently entered the nascent natural hydrogen sector via the soon-to-close Go Exploration acquisition thereby giving it control of one of only four granted hydrogen licences in South Australia.

“Andrew’s business leadership and technical skills in oil and gas are directly applicable to natural hydrogen exploration and development and will therefore be key in driving the business forward.”

With a prospective resource for hydrogen and helium expected to be completed by leading independent industry consultants RISC soon, it is particularly satisfying to be able to cement the executive leadership to take Thor forward.

As part of his contract, the company has agreed to issue Hume with 45,000 options as an incentive and shareholder alignment, focused on share price performance over two, three and four years.

Advanced Strategy for March Madness Bracket Success…

How To Succeed in Your Bracket Pool

Everyone has a different March Madness bracket strategy. Talk to 100 different people and you will get 100 answers on how to approach the NCAA basketball tournament. The one certainty about March Madness is that no one – repeat, no one – will have a perfect bracket. It’s an impossibility despite all the contests that promise millions and millions of dollars if someone picks the winner of every game.

Why Is It So DIfficult To Pick Winners in March Madness?

There’s a simple reason for why picking winners is challenging: Parity. Gone are the days when UCLA would blow through its regular season and win the tournament. The same could be said about perennial powerhouse schools like Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, etc.

College basketball recruiting has seen the playing field levelled as a five-star recruit is as likely to turn up at Gonzaga as they are at a vaunted program. Lately, NIL has also impacted the balance of power in the sport. If a school wants a stronger program, then just find ways for boosters or companies to cut deals that turn rising freshmen into instant millionaires.

Kick in the transfer portal where players can walk from a school anytime they want and you see how difficult it is to scale teams across the land.

The Top 25 Provides Further Insight

There were years when colleges that were in the top 10 or so would have a handful or less of losses in the regular season. As of Feb. 1, Auburn was the lone school left with a single loss. After that, most in the top 10 had two or three. Drop into the lower echelon of Top 25 NCAAB teams and it is common to see schools with five losses.

What this proves is any team on any given day in a major conference is likely to win a game, particularly with the home-court advantage. Just recently Kansas State went into Iowa State below .500 and winless on the road since January of 2024. So, what happened? The Wildcats blew out the No. 3-ranked Cyclones, who lost at home for the first time in two years.

Kansas State is the first sub-.500 team to beat a top-five opponent on the road by 15+ points in AP Poll history, per ESPN Stats.

Flip to the NCAA tournament and the March Madness bracket when games are played on neutral courts and anything and everything is possible.

So What’s the Plan When Approaching Bracket(s)?

Would love to say schools with the best players are the way to look at selecting ones that will go deep. However, the days of college basketball players being household names at household schools are long gone. Coaches own the spotlight while players just seem to toil on rosters. There is no superstar. Cooper Flagg of Duke would be the closest to one currently in the game and he is a freshman who will likely be in the NBA next season.

That’s another issue, the unfamiliarity because players either transfer or leave after a season or so in college. There were days long ago when virtually every starter on highly ranked teams was known.

So, you can focus on schools with top coaches for one. That helps but is far from a lock.

What about a school that has been playing well? In some cases that can help, especially if they win the postseason conference tournament. But what do you do with a school that enters the March Madness bracket off a loss in a conference tournament after a winning streak prior to it? That is where it gets tricky, oh so dicey.

Some March Madness Bracket Trends

People love to tell you that there will be an upset in a game between a five-seed and a 12-seed. Those are common to the point where the drumbeat is ingrained on people’s brains.

Being the top team in the tournament doesn’t assure a championship. SInce the seeding process took effect, eight schools that were No. 1 overall have won. That is in nearly 40 years. It hasn’t happened since Kentucky won in 2012.

Some Facts To Consider for the Opening Round

• Top seeds are 154-2 in games between Nos. 1 and 16 teams. However, in the rare instance that happens brackets are busted across the land.
• In the Nos. 2 vs. 15 teams, the lower seeds are 11-145.
• A No. 14 seed has advanced to the second round 20 times in the most recent 39 tournaments. However, two of those teams moved past the second round.
• As much as people want to salivate over the No. 12 seeds winning against the 5s, while it has happened 55 times, there also have been 101 losses by the lower seed. 

So What’s the Plan?

If possible enter multiple brackets. That will give you a better chance for success in one or more of them. If you are torn on certain games, then think about choosing a different side in brackets.

Try and focus on some conferences that have plenty of power. The best example of that currently is the SEC. The one risk about choosing these teams is that they have pummeled each other into submission and will be softened up come tournament time. In the case of the SEC this season, take your chances it is that good.

Flagg can take over a game by himself. That could help early in the tournament but it won’t work as the rounds pass. So, if you are looking for a player who could be a prop shot at highest scoring game in the tournament consider Flagg. However, consider it a red flag that he will lead Duke to the championship.

The best way to play March Madness brackets are twofold: If you have plenty of bankroll, enter multiple tournaments and don’t stick to one school winning it all. That is a recipe to implode on any given day of the event. If you are playing more for fun and bragging rights than looking to make a big financial score, then jump into multiple March Madness brackets with friends and colleagues and enjoy the ride.

There’s absolutely no way to firmly predict the most unpredictable of events. That’s the bottom line. To enhance your March Madness experience and explore a wide range of betting options, be sure to check out BetUS Sportsbook. They offer competitive odds and a user-friendly platform for all your wagering needs.

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Thor Energy appoints new managing director to lead hydrogen exploration and development, source