7th Nov 2006 07:02
Afren PLC07 November 2006 Afren plc (AIM: AFR) Establishment of International Advisory Board and other Corporate changes London, 7th November 2006 - Further to the announcement of 2nd November 2006relating to the appointment of Dr Rilwanu Lukman as non-Executive Chairman,Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") announces further corporate changesdesigned to strengthen its pan African presence and position Afren for its nextphase of growth in the upstream African Oil & Gas sector. Establishment of an International Advisory Board Following his appointment as Chairman of Afren, Dr Rilwanu Lukman hasestablished an International Advisory Board to assist and advise the Board inits objectives to grow the Company into the leading pan African independentExploration and Production company. The International Advisory Board is aconsultative body with a strong orientation to Africa, the oil and gas industryand the international capital markets. The founding members of the International Advisory Board are Brian Ward andEnnio Sganzerla, two senior oil industry practitioners with significant Africanexperience. Brian Ward was formerly the Regional Chief Executive for Shell E&P Africa. MrWard was responsible for Shell's Upstream African operations and relationshipswith Host Governments. Prior to managing Shell's operations in Africa, Mr Ward'scareer included a number of senior positions within the Shell organization,including Managing Director of Petroleum Development Oman, Managing Director ofShell E&P (NAM) in Holland, and Deputy Managing Director and Production Directorfor Shell Expro UK. Ennio Sganzerla was until recently Senior Vice President (E&P) at ENI, havingjoined the group in 1971. Since 1997, he has been responsible for the NorthSea, America, Australasia and Russia. Previously, he was Managing Director ofENI's sizeable North Sea operations. Over the course of his wide-ranging careerat ENI, he was instrumental in establishing and building ENI's presence inCongo, and played an active role in increasing ENI's position in Nigeria, Gabonand Egypt as Regional VP for Africa. Mr Sganzerla was also active in leading thegroup's M&A activities, including the acquisition of Lasmo plc, British Borneoand others. Appointment of John St. John as Strategic Financial Advisor to the Board The Board of Afren Plc has also appointed John St. John as a Strategic FinancialAdvisor to the Board. John St. John is one of the best-known names in EuropeanEquity Capital Markets and was formerly Global Head of Equity Capital Markets atDresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers andCommerzbank. He has been advisor on over €100 billion of equity andequity-linked issuance in all major markets worldwide. He currently serves asChairman of Equity Capital Markets at Nomura International plc. Appointment of Constantine Ogunbiyi as Associate Director Constantine Ogunbiyi has been appointed by Afren as Associate Director andSpecial Assistant to the Chairman. Mr Ogunbiyi, a Nigerian national, wasinvolved in the establishment of Afren in late 2004 and serves as GeneralCounsel of the Group and Director of Afren's wholly-owned Nigerian subsidiary,Afren Energy Resources Ltd. In his new role, he will work closely with theChairman in a support capacity. Prior to joining Afren, he was the Deputy Head of Cadwalader, Wickersham &Taft's Africa Practice and a member of their Project Finance Department inLondon. Before this, Mr Ogunbiyi spent four and a half years with Herbert Smithin their International Finance and Banking Department. Brian O'Cathain, Chief Executive, commented: "We are pleased to announce Dr Lukman's move to further strengthen our industryand African expertise with the establishment of the International AdvisoryBoard, whose first two members have exceptional experience and expertise indeveloping oil and gas businesses in Africa. John St. John brings an invaluablestrategic perspective on the capital markets. Constantine Ogunbiyi will workclosely with the Chairman in particular on regulatory and compliance issues.Together, these appointments significantly strengthen the Company's ability toaccess African E&P opportunities and financial resources, as it proceeds to thenext stage of growth in a consolidating sector." Enquiries: Afren +44 20 7182 1800Brian O'Cathain [email protected] Shahenshah [email protected] Pelham Public Relations +44 020 7743 6673James Henderson [email protected] Haythornthwaite [email protected] Background information Afren Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management teamincluding Dr Rilwanu Lukman with the vision to become the leading pan Africanindependent Exploration and Production company. Since its listing on the AIMmarket of the London Stock Exchange, Afren has rapidly expanded its portfolioand the management team has delivered ten assets in the Joint Development Zoneof Nigeria Sao Tome and Principe, Nigeria, Gabon and Congo. Afren will continue to add to its diversified portfolio of near term developmentand high impact exploration with the overall objective of creating substantialshareholder value. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
AFR.L