Appointment of CEO

RNS Number : 7348O

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

01 June 2015

 



Not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in partin or into the United States or any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction.  This announcement (and the information contained herein) does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation or sale would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction.

1 June, 2015

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited. (LSE: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Appointment of CEO

Following recent press speculation, Gulf Keystone Petroleum confirms that it is in the process of appointing Jón Ferrier as CEO.  Following a brief transition period, John Gerstenlauer will retire as CEO and, at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting, as a Director of the Company.  A further announcement will be made in due course.

Jón Ferrier, (57) will join Gulf Keystone as CEO following three decades spent in exploration, commercial, strategic and leadership positions in the oil and gas and mining industries.  Mr Ferrier, a geologist by training, was most recently Senior Vice President Business Development, Strategy & Commercial at Maersk Oil in Copenhagen.  

He has considerable international experience, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and has successfully led the delivery of complex projects on time and within budget in the Middle East.  His most recent roles have been externally oriented and have seen Mr Ferrier working effectively with all stakeholders, including host governments.  

Prior to Maersk Oil, Mr Ferrier's oil & gas experience was gained with ConocoPhillips, Paladin Resources PLC, Petro-Canada/Suncor, in a number of regions.  He has a B.SC in Geology from UCW Aberystwyth and an M.SC awarded with distinction from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College in London and has undertaken executive programmes at IMD, Ivey, Thunderbird and Harvard.

No information in connection with Mr Ferrier's appointment is required to be disclosed pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13R.  Mr Ferrier is a British Citizen and is married with three grown up children.  He will split his time between London and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Commenting on today's announcement, Andrew Simon, Interim Non-Executive Chairman of Gulf Keystone said:

"John Gerstenlauer has been instrumental in the success of Gulf Keystone to date.  He has been with the Company for seven years and as Chief Operating Officer oversaw the most successful drilling campaign in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.  On stepping up into the role of CEO he has ensured Gulf Keystone reached its 40,000 barrels of oil per day target at the end of 2014.  He has also played a pivotal role in seeing the Company through a number of challenges over the past year.  On behalf of the Board, and everyone at Gulf Keystone, I thank him sincerely and wish him the very best for his future once he leaves the Company."

"Jón Ferrier will bring considerable experience to the head of the Gulf Keystone executive team, and to the Board.  We are confident that a combination of his international operational expertise and strategic track record, will serve the Company well."

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Anastasia Vvedenskaya, Head of Investor Relations	[phone]
Celicourt Communications:	[phone]
Mark Antelme Jimmy Lea

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com 

Notes to Editors:

Jón Ferrier Career Summary:

·           Maersk Oil:  SVP Business Development and Strategy 2010 - 2015

·           Petro-Canada (Suncor) Syria General Manager 2008 - 2010

·           Petro-Canada London, UK Director, Business Development 2006 - 2008

·           Paladin Resources plc Norway/London Director, Business Development 2003 - 2006

·           ConocoPhillips Moscow, Russia Project Director 2001 - 2003

·           ConocoPhillips London, UK Business Development 1999 - 2001

·           Conoco UK Ltd Aberdeen, UK Strategy & Portfolio Management 1997 - 1999

·           Conoco Norway Inc Stavanger, Norway Geologist 1991 - 1997

·           Conoco Inc Houston, USA Exploration EVP support 1989 - 1990

·           Conoco UK Ltd London, UK Development Geologist 1985 - 1989

·           Anglo American South Africa Exploration Geologist 1979 - 1985

GKP:

·      Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

·      Gulf Keystone Petroleum International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for four exploration blocks in Kurdistan, the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi, Ber Bahr and Akri-Bijeel blocks.

·      GKPI is the operator of the Shaikan block, which is a major commercial discovery, with a working interest of 75% and is partnered with MOL Kalegran Limited (a 100% subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas plc.) and Texas Keystone Inc., which have working interests of 20% and 5% respectively. 

·      Gulf Keystone plans to move into the large-scale phased development of the Shaikan field targeting 100,000 bopd of production capacity during Phase 1 of the Shaikan Field Development Plan.

Disclaimer

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements.  These statements are made by the Company's Directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this announcement but such statements should be treated with caution due to inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business factors, underlying such forward-looking information.  This announcement has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the Group's strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed.  This announcement should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.

This communication and the information contained herein is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they are registered or are exempt from registration. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States would be made by means of a prospectus that would contain detailed information about the company and its management, as well as financial statements. The company does not intend to register any portion of this offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States would be made by means of a prospectus that would contain detailed information about the Company and its management, as well as financial statements. Copies of this communication are not being, and should not be, distributed in or sent into the United States.

 

END

 

 

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