Raheem J Brennerman

Life

Brennerman was awarded a master's degree in finance from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from the University of London. Prior to establishing Blacksands Pacific and BLV Group, Brennerman worked for the family energy business in Louisiana started by his paternal grandfather and run by his father and brother. He also managed the family owned real estate businesses established by his maternal grandparents, with investments in the United States and Europe. Brennerman's stepfather introduced him to the oil and gas trading business in Africa. He started his career as an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase with a focus on mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. and European markets.

Companies

In 2004, Brennerman founded BLV Group Corporation, a real estate investment, management and development company based in New York City and with assets in North America, Europe and Asia. The company focuses primarily on luxury condominiums, condo hotels and spas. Under the Essenza Style brand, it provides lifestyle services such as customized interior design and concierge services.

In 2010, Brennerman founded Blacksands Pacific, an international oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Los Angeles and with assets in North America and Africa. Originally an energy trading company marketing crude oil and petroleum products, the company expanded to focus on exploration and production. Blacksands Pacific now also transports, stores, purchases and markets crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and bitumen. Currently operating in nine countries, Blacksands Pacific has announced that it is investing significantly in E&P and midstream oil and gas projects in Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, and has entered into joint ventures in mining and infrastructure projects, including distributing gas between African countries. In an interview with LEADERS magazine in October 2014, Brennerman revealed that Blacksands Pacific had experienced significant growth, especially in exploration and production, but that it was divesting its smaller interest assets in order to focus on larger assets that the company was acquiring, such as assets in the Gulf of Mexico that are expanding to produce over 100,000 barrels by 2019.

Advocacy

Brennerman has been a vocal advocate of the US oil and gas industries' investments in Africa, claiming that US expertise and technology is helping to build long-term capacity in Africa to the benefit of local businesses and communities. He has pressed the US Government to spend more on shale oil and gas infrastructure in order to create more jobs and ultimately raise tax revenues, lower manufacturing costs and generate less reliance on energy imports. Brennerman has also called for the US Government to lift the export ban on crude oil to help stimulate investment, create jobs and stabilize global energy markets. Other issues that Brennerman has written about in the media include the importance of the Gulf of Mexico as a continuing source of hydrocarbons and the need for oil and gas producers in the GCC countries to increase their investment in shale oil and gas exploration and technology.

Other

Brennerman is currently engaged in lawsuits with The Guardian, The Sunday Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists regarding articles published in 2012 and 2013 accusing him of benefitting from significant loans made by the Royal Bank of Scotland to an offshore company investing in London real estate that ultimately went into receivership.

In March 2016, the case against the Sunday Times was struck out by a London court after Brennerman failed to comply with an earlier court order to provide £225,000 security against costs.