17th Jul 2014 10:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd Thursday said Chief Executive Officer Todd Kozel has decided to stand down from the board immediately and not accept on offer to stay on as an executive director after retiring.
The oil and gas exploration and production company said Kozel has declined to seek re-election to the board the its annual general meeting held on Thursday but will stay on as an officer of the group.
The company said that, from Thursday, John Gerstenlauer, who has served as Gulf Keystone's chief operating officer since 2008, has become CEO.
Gulf Keystone added that Mark Hanson also will be retiring from his role as a non-executive director of the company at the AGM.
"Todd hands Gulf Keystone on in extremely good shape and with as bright a future as ever. The company has successfully transitioned from junior explorer into a player of real scale with production today of 25,000 barrels of oil per day, set to increase markedly over the coming months," Non-Executive Chairman Simon Murray said in a statement.
"John Gerstenlauer has supervised the drilling of every well since we commenced operations in Kurdistan in 2008 and was the leader of the team that made the largest on-shore discovery in the last 20 years. Nobody knows this asset better, and there is no one better qualified to take up the role of CEO," Murray added.
Gulf Keystone shares were up 3.8% to 93.93 pence on Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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