Board of Directors

Board of Directors

John Redpath

Senior Partner & Head of Liquids & Agriculture
TrailStone Group

Mr. Redpath is an experienced commodity trader and trading manager, with particular expertise in oil and agricultural markets.

John served as a managing director and global head of oil and agriculture trading for Deutsche Bank from August 2007 to February 2013. During his tenure, Mr. Redpath built Deutsche Bank’s agriculture business from the ground up, doubled revenues in oil trading from its previous high-water mark and introduced physical trading of both oil and agricultural products to the bank.

Previously, Mr. Redpath was a managing director and global head of oil, metals and agriculture trading for Citibank from 2002 to 2007. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Redpath served as a director in the commodity trading group of BNP Paribas. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Redpath was a vice president and head of commodity trading for Credit Agricole Indosuez. Prior to that, Mr. Redpath served as a hedge fund oil trader and an oil market analyst between 1988 and 1995.

Mr. Redpath holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Minnesota in 1986 and completed graduate work at John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1987 and 1988, concentrating on American foreign policy and international economics.

Brad Blesie

Managing Director, Business Development
TrailStone Group

Mr. Blesie has 23 years of experience in the energy and broader natural resource industries, with a focus on the origination, structuring and execution of complex asset and finance-related transactions. Prior to joining TrailStone, Mr. Blesie was the head of energy business development in the EMEA region for Noble Group, where he managed a team that successfully closed several high-value transactions.

Before joining Noble, Mr. Blesie spent several years in senior management positions with the commodity groups of Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank, most recently as co-head of EMEA commodities for Merrill Lynch, where he managed a global sales and origination team covering the entire commodity suite. He was also on the Investment Committee that managed a $500mm internal fund invested in energy assets. Prior to entering banking, Mr. Blesie spent four years with Enron in both Houston and London, and eight years consulting on energy related issues in both the US and a variety of emerging markets.

Mr. Blesie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California at San Diego, and a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard University.

Chris Ryan

Head of Crude Oil
TrailStone Group

Prior to joining TrailStone in May, 2014, Mr. Ryan led Musket Corporation’s North American crude oil business line for more than three years. Musket is one of the nation’s largest operators of rail cars and has rail terminal operations in the Bakken, Niobrara and Permian Shale Plays. Under Mr. Ryan’s leadership, the company’s crude oil business grew from transporting 15,000 barrels per day to more than 75,000 barrels per day. His accomplishments include the development of the second unit train facility to locate in the Niobrara Shale, a project he led from concept through initial operation and multiple expansions. While at Musket, Mr. Ryan also managed the development of ten manifest transload sites across the U.S. and a fleet of more than 1,700 rail cars.

Mr. Ryan began his career in Keer-MGee’s refined products division. He went on to spend more than two years at Enron where he established and managed the company’s refined products and renewables division. prior to Enron, Mr. Ryan served as vice president of trading at Atlas Renewable Energy and worked in the natural gas trading group at Koch Energy Trading.

Mr. Ryan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business at the University of Texas.

Cody Moe

President & CEO
Dakota Gold Transfer – Plaza LLC

A Dakota Gold board member recently said, “Cody Moe is the most effective person I know. He has a remarkable, hands-on understanding of the Bakken and great project management skills.” Those who know him well describe Mr. Moe as a born leader who is determined, hard working, extremely knowledgeable, and a principled man of integrity.

Mr. Moe began working construction when he was a teenager. He started his own construction company a few years later, building the business to execute large projects for customers including Baker Hughes, Cargill, Enterprise Products Partners L.P., John Deere and Petro-Hunt, LLC. In 2011 he formed a crude oil trucking company, growing the business from one to a fleet of 23 trucks hauling more than 23,000 barrels per day.

Born in Watertown, South Dakota, Mr. Moe has been working in the Bakken Shale for more than seven years. He has deep understanding of the oil and gas industry and the infrastructure challenges that have accompanied the play’s rapid growth.