Industry veteran O’Malley joins Braya Renewable Fuels as CEO

Braya Renewable Fuels announced Oct. 11 that Todd O’Malley is joining the company as its CEO.

Frank Almaraz, Braya’s current CEO, will stay on with Braya, focusing on Braya’s work to develop wind and green-hydrogen opportunities with ABO Wind.

O’Malley

Most recently, O’Malley had been executive vice president and chief operating officer of Delek US Holdings Inc., a diversified downstream energy company with assets in petroleum refining, logistics, asphalt, renewable fuels and convenience-store retailing, and Delek Logistics Partners LP, a growth-oriented master limited partnership focused on owning and operating midstream energy-infrastructure assets.

Prior to joining Delek in 2021, O’Malley served as a special advisor to a number of private equity and public company CEOs and boards regarding corporate strategy, M&A/divestments, financial structuring and commercial optimization.

He has previously held C-suite positions at Citizens Companies (president and CEO), Gulf Oil (executive vice president and chief commercial officer), PBF Logistics (president), and PBF Energy (senior vice president and chief commercial officer).

He has also worked extensively in investment banking, hedge funds, commodity trading, and the electric and natural gas sectors.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Colgate University and master’s degree in business administration from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

“We are pleased to welcome Todd to the team,” Almaraz said. “We’re proud of the progress Braya has made converting the Come By Chance Refinery, a previously idled oil refinery, to renewable fuel operations. As we approach project completion, scheduled for the end of 2023, we felt it was the right time to bring on a seasoned executive like Todd, who has a wealth of experience in the refining industry. The fact that we were able to recruit and hire an executive with Todd’s expertise, background and reputation in the refining community is a testament to Braya’s demonstrated teamwork in advancing the project towards commercial operation.”

O’Malley added, “I’m thrilled to be joining the Braya team. Braya is really well positioned, and Frank and his team have done a great job. Under the direction of Jim Stump, Braya’s president of refining, the project has hit several key milestones and is positioned to be the largest independently owned renewable diesel refinery in North America. I’m eager to do my part in helping the refinery in Come By Chance contribute to the ongoing effort to decarbonize heavy transport and aviation, both of which are crucial to the world’s economic activity and have limited near-term energy-transition solutions.”

Chris Rozzell, Braya’s chairman of the board and managing partner of Cresta Fund Management LLC, a private-equity fund based in Dallas, Texas, that owns a controlling interest in Braya, said, “Todd is a great addition to Braya’s leadership team. He has an unmatched reputation in the refining industry, and we think Todd is a perfect fit for Braya as it grows into its renewable fuel production ambitions. Adding Todd to the team will also give Frank more time to focus on Braya’s green-hydrogen project, which is a key growth area for its business.”