Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 49 2019

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil
Guyana’s offshore zone (Image: OilNow.gy)
Management shake-up at Tullow
The firm’s CEO and exploration director have stepped down following setbacks in Guyana and Africa
WHAT:
The resignation of two top executives follows the downward revision of production forecasts in Africa.
WHY:
The company is having to reassess its finances and investment plans.
WHAT NEXT:
Tullow and its partners are moving ahead with exploration work at the Orinduik block offshore Guyana.
TULLOW Oil (UK/Ireland) has suffered a num- ber of setbacks this year, including the collapse of a farm-out deal for its assets in Uganda and the discovery of unexpectedly low-quality oil reserves in Guyana. It now appears to be head- ing for a period of regrouping, following the abrupt resignation of two top executives, CEO Paul McDade and exploration director Angus McCoss.
The company revealed that McDade and McCoss were stepping down in a statement dated December 9. In the statement, it reported that the two had resigned from Tullow’s board of directors “by mutual agreement and with imme- diate effect”.
Neither McDade nor McCoss will receive any payment or compensation upon their departure, according to a separate report from Offshore Energy Today.
Tullow has now begun the process of searching for a new CEO. In the meantime, it has appointed Dorothy Thompson to serve as interim executive chairperson. Execu- tive vice-president Mark MacFarlane, whose
portfolio includes East African projects and non-operated assets, will assume the position of chief operating officer without taking a seat on the board, and Les Wood will continue to func- tion as the company’s chief financial officer and executive director.
Changing forecast
In its statement, Tullow indicated that the man- agement shake-up had occurred in response to the downward revision of the outlook for crude oil production, which is set to drop from about 87,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2019 to 70,000- 80,000 bpd in 2020 and about 70,000 bpd in 2021-2023.
“A review of the production performance issues in 2019 and [their] implications for the longer-term outlook of the fields has been undertaken and has shown that the Group needs toresetitsforward-lookingguidance,”itsaid.
The company pointed specifically to prob-
lems concerning its main productive assets, the Jubilee and TEN (Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme)
fields in Ghana. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 49 12•December•2019