Experienced leadership and specialist capability for managing multi-billion dollars industrial projects.
dCS operates with a lean, experienced team supported by leading specialists and project partners.
Our leadership brings experience from major Australian and international energy and resources companies, including Chevron, Woodside, BHP, Mitsui, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas and PGS ASA.
Rather than building every capability in-house, dCS brings together the right expertise as each project advances—while retaining responsibility for overall project integration and delivery.
Daein Cha | Founder & Managing Director
Daein Cha founded deepC Store to address a practical challenge: how to connect hard-to-abate industries with Australia's large but often remote offshore CO₂ storage resources.
He brings more than 25 years of experience across energy, business development and major-project delivery in Australia and Japan.
Before establishing dCS, Daein held senior roles with Tokyo Gas and Chevron Australia, including work on major Australian resource and energy projects.
He founded deepC Store in 2021 to commercialise the CStore1 concept and develop an independent, multi-user pathway to offshore CCS.
Daein holds an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, a bachelor's degree from International Christian University in Japan, and qualification as Certified Cost Professional (CCP) of AACE International. Daein is also a certified member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN) and the Society of Decision Professionals (SDP).
He is also Deputy Chair of CCUS Network Australia and Senior Research Adviser (Energy) for Perth USAsia Center.
For more information on Daein, please see link.
Jack Sato | Chairman of Management Committee, Director for Strategy
Jack has over 30 years of experience working in 2 multi-national organisations, Mitsui & Co. and Rio Tinto. He has developed extensive global and Australia specific networks and expertise in commercial, project management, operations and corporate governance. His has a broad resource sector exposure in handling a variety of products including coal, ferrous raw materials (steel scrap, semi-steel products, pig iron, HBI, ferro alloys), iron ore and copper/gold.
Previous roles that Jack has fulfilled at Rio Tinto include Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Oyu Tolgoi LLC in Mongolia, Managing Director of Construction and Contractor Safety for Rio Tinto, COO of the Pilbara Supply Chain for Rio Tinto Iron Ore, and Managing Director of Robe River Iron Ore JV and Pilbara Infrastructure for Rio Tinto Iron Ore. Jack has also previously served as Managing Director of AvidSys, an Australian entity of the Indian conglomerate, managing resource/mining assets acquisition, operation, JV management, mining commodity trading and business / management consulting.
Jack received his Bachelor of Economics degree from Waseda University (Japan).
Yasuo Ryoki | Principal Advisor
Yasuo has more than 40 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors, having held numerous senior leadership and executive roles with Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. His extensive experience spans corporate planning, LNG procurement and trading, overseas investment, corporate finance, residential and commercial gas sales, and industrial relations at LNG receiving terminals.
During his career with Osaka Gas, Yasuo served as Senior Executive Officer and Director of the Board, as well as Chief Executive Officer of Osaka Gas Chemical. Following his retirement from the Osaka Gas board in 2016, he served as Chairman of Osaka Gas Australia until 2020.
From 2019 to 2025, Yasuo served as a Director of CAS Capital, Inc., a Japanese private equity firm, and as Chairman of several of its portfolio companies. He currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ReNex Corporation and as a Non-Executive Director of FPR Energy, an Australian concentrated solar thermal technology company.
As Principal Advisor to deepC Store, Yasuo provides strategic guidance informed by his extensive experience and networks across the energy industry, international investment, corporate governance, stakeholder relations and business leadership.
Yasuo received his Bachelor of Law degree from Kobe University (Japan).
Peter Grant | Subsurface Advisor, Geologist and Geophysicist
Peter has over 40 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas industry specialising in geophysics, exploration and international E&P business development.
Peter has extensive work experience in Africa, South East Asia, Middle East, South America and Australasia, and has led successful teams that have made discoveries in the UK, Australia, Algeria, Libya, Sierra Leone and Mauritania. Peter’s experience base is founded in geoscience but has extensively augmented his expertise in corporate strategy, business development, commercial negotiations and portfolio management through his roles such as Exploration Manager for North Australia, Africa and Middle East for BHP Petroleum, and through senior roles in Woodside Energy as International Exploration Manager, General Manager International, and General Manager International Ventures.
Peter has established International Energy Solutions, a strategic advisory company for the energy industry in and works closely with either Governments or oil companies in areas of: strategy and planning, business development, portfolio growth or rationalisation and technical oversight. Peter currently advises clients on growth projects in sub Saharan Africa, China and South East Asia, both petroleum and coal seam methane related. He also provides commercial and political risk advice and has conducted numerous oil and gas training seminars.
Peter has a Bachelor of Honours in Geology from Nottingham University. He is currently a National Board member of the Australia/Arab Chamber of Commerce and their state Chair for West Australia. He was the founding chair of the Australia Korea Business Council of WA. He was the President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) for the Asia Pacific regionfrom 2015 to 2017, and is an active member of Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA), Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society (SEAPEX) and the Australia Society of Exploration Geophysicist (ASEG).
Chris Hopper | Principal Advisor
Chris has spent the last 30 years bringing difficult commercialisation projects on stream using highly creative and sometimes unorthodox business strategies. These have included the Strathspey, Captain and Galley fields in the North Sea and the Gorgon, Karachaganak and Agbami fields internationally.
Chris has worked on the world scale LNG projects; Gorgon LNG and Angola LNG and has extensive experience contracting FPSO production vessels and negotiating commercial deals. More recently, Chris put together the $2.5 billion development of the Kraken field for Nautical Petroleum, a small market cap company and was also Commercial Development Director for CompactGTL, a start-up company set up to monetise a new compact GTL technology.
Chris has a BSc and PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Birmingham (UK), and was a member of the team that developed the world’s first tension leg platform for the Hutton Field. While working in Britoil’s drilling department in the early 1980’s, he helped develop the technology required for deep water and HPHT drilling and subsequently joined Texaco, where he was responsible for their subsea production systems, including the first use of subsea wireline in a live well.
Barrett Cameron | Subsurface and Business Development Manager
Barrett Cameron is a senior geophysicist and energy executive with over two decades of experience spanning geophysical technology, resource exploration, and international energy business development across the minerals, oil and gas, and emerging new energy sectors.
Trained as a multi-disciplinary geophysicist, Barrett’s career foundation is grounded in physics-based geoscience, advanced computation, research and development, and algorithm design. This technical depth has been progressively complemented by significant commercial, managerial, and executive responsibilities through his senior roles such as Senior Vice President for the North and South America and Vice President of New Energy Solutions at PGS.
Barrett is also the founder and principal of Rapid Geophysics, a specialist geophysical consultancy he has operated for more than 18 years within the mineral exploration sector.
He holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Geophysics from Curtin University, where his honours thesis focused on the Rapid Acquisition of Audio Frequency Magnetotellurics. In recognition of his professional standing and contribution to the geoscience community, Barrett was appointed SEG Honorary Lecturer for the Pacific South region in 2025. Barrett is also a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG).
Francesca D'Orazio | Business Analyst
Francesca is passionate about shaping financially grounded solutions that accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future. At deepC Store, she develops financial models that support project feasibility assessments and actively contributes to key decision-making processes across the business. She also oversees core accounting functions to ensure accurate and timely financial management.
Francesca brings strong analytical capabilities and familiarity with sustainable reporting frameworks from her work as a Researcher in Sustainable Finance at Bocconi University’s GREEN Research Centre, where she contributed to projects on circular economy finance and ESG disclosure. Earlier in her career, she also acquired sound knowledge and experience in financial reporting and auditing for small and medium enterprises in Italy.
Francesca holds a first-class Master’s degree in Administration, Finance and Control from Bocconi University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from LIUC Carlo Cattaneo University.
