Larry enjoys a remarkable energy career spanning 35 years with oil, gas, chemicals, biotechnology and novel chemicals. He started with Dresser Europe, S.A. managing new drilling fluid technologies and in 1985 joined the British chemical giant, Imperial Chemical Industries, plc or ICI, to manage the development of novel chemical systems used in oil and gas operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
ICI sponsored Larry’s INSEAD and Oxford College of Petroleum Studies in Strategic Management and a two year course at the London School of Economics from 1985-1987 on Corporate Strategic Planning. His BA is from The University of Texas at Austin and MA from Arizona State University followed by Texas A&M University, where he wrote the Texas Department of Water Resources RCRA Planning Processes from 1978 to 1979.
In 1990, American chemical giant, Dupont’s Conoco unit, recruited Larry to manage Special Projects and Products for their European business units based in London and Wilmington Dupont HQ staff. His roles covered product management for solvents, aviation, pipeline chemicals and new Dupont chemicals for oil and gas operations.
Conoco sponsored Larry’s MBA at Warwick University and continued chemical engineering for petroleum refinery management at Oxford’s St. Catherine’s College in 1991-1993.
Upon his return to the US in 1994, after 15 years outside the US, Larry worked for a succession of small and start-up companies with biotechnology transfers to petroleum operations. These are Chemstar, the GE acquisition of membrane company Osmonics, corrosion control company Cortec, the biofuel companies Crown Iron, ICM and Delta-T in Minnesota and Virginia.
In 2007, the public traded Kreido (KRBF) appointed Larry as Chief Technology Officer or CTO for it novel accelerated chemical reactor technologies. The role featured raising capital, plant designs and engineering supervision plus speaking a numerous conferences on the role of biofuels.
In 2009, after selling the Kreido assets, Larry advised the Celanese Senior VP, Jim Alder, on biofuels and saved Celanese over $15 million by ending a poorly conceived biofuel technology platform. He joined the algae based start-up PetroAlgae and secured licenses for projects and then advised the tree genetics company, ArborGen, from 2011 to 2012 on biopower projects as well as biofuels.
Since 2013, Larry has served as a leading consultant via his firm, Lawrence D. Sullivan & Company, Inc., on investment due diligence for biotechnology. With a focus on oil and gas investment reviews, Larry speaks at conferences, serves as an Adjunct Professor and DOE Peer Reviewer. Additionally, his wife, Carla M. Wood, Ph.D., a respected genetics professor and advisor, and Larry served as expert witnesses for law firms in biotechnology litigation.
