Page 17 - EurOil Week 34

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

North Sea producers

change heads

UK NORTH Sea-focused producers Lundin Petro- Among his achievements was leading the
leum and Ithaca Energy have both selected new development of Lundin’s first-ever decarbonisa-
Sweden’s Lundin CEOs over the past week. tion strategy, announced in January, which aims
Petroleum and Israeli- Nick Walker has been named as Lundin’s new to transform it into a net-zero company by 2030.
owned Ithaca have both CEO, following the decision by current head Schneiter and Walker will work closely
changed their CEOs. Alex Schneiter to step down at the end of 2020 together over the coming months to ensure a
after five years in the role. smooth transition, Lundin said. Meanwhile,
Walker has served as the Swedish firm’s chief Daniel Fitzgerald will replace Walker in the role
operating officer (COO) since 2015, having of COO. He is currently the COO of Interna-
worked on both the company’s flagship Edvard tional Petroleum Corp., a Canadian company
Grieg and Johan Sverdrup projects. He has over spun off from Lundin in 2017. Before that he
30 years’ industry experience and comes from a had roles at Lundin and earlier, Royal Dutch
technical and operational background. Shell.
He also has strong relations with the invest- Bill Dunnett, the former head of Span-
ment and financial community and will work ish-Chinese partnership Repsol Sinopec
closely with the board to ensure the company’s Resources, has been appointed as CEO of Ithaca
continued growth, Lundin said. Energy, a subsidiary of Israel’s Delek Group. He
Schneiter has been at Lundin since its incep- will replace Les Thomas.
tion in 2001 and has overseen an eight-fold Dunnett, a chartered engineer with over 35
growth in its output since taking the helm in years of industry experience, has had senior
2015. management positions in the UK and interna-
“[Schneiter’s] focus on exploration, financial tionally. He led Repsol Sinopec for five years until
resilience and production efficiency, coupled the end of March 2020, when he stepped down.
with a passion for responsible practices, has His position was filled by Jose Luis Munoz.
positioned Lundin Energy at the forefront of the Before Repsol Sinopec, Dunnett worked
upstream operators’ response to the energy tran- at Petrofac, Hallburton, Mobil North Sea and
sition,” the company said. Shell.™

NEWS IN BRIEF

Croatia’s INA reportedly Romania’s Transgaz will fund the construction of the Ungheni-
Chisinau natural gas pipeline in Moldova.
considers layoffs as part of plans to sell 25% stake in The total cost of the project is €90mn.
The project is part of the EU-promoted
restructuring programme Moldovan subsidiary to the connection of the gas transmission systems
of Romania and Moldova by linking
Croatian oil and gas company INA is EBRD Chisinau to the interconnector between the
understood to be considering layoffs as part eastern Romanian city of Iasi and Ungheni, a
of its restructuring programme to mitigate Romania’s natural gas transport system Moldovan town on the Romanian border.
the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) operator Transgaz plans to sell a 25% stake The connection will enhance Moldova’s
pandemic, according to state news agency in its 100% owned Moldovan subsidiary, energy security by diversifying its gas supply
Hina. Vestmoldtransgaz, to the European Bank sources..
The programme will affect parts of the for Reconstruction and Development
group whose activity has been affected by the (EBRD), according to notes from
pandemic, and up to 250 workers could be Transgaz’ extraordinary general meeting of Turkey’s gas imports from
laid off, Hina reported. shareholders.
INA reported a consolidated net loss The transaction consists of a capital Russia, Iran decline sharply
of HRK965mn (€129mn) in 1H20 after increase for Vestmoldtransgaz to which the
recording a HRK188mn profit in 1H19, EBRD will contribute €20mn. in H1 as LNG and Azeri gas
mainly due to the fall in oil and gas prices The money will thus remain in the
that caused its revenues to decline. . Moldovan company while Romania’s state- imports grow
owned Transgaz will reduce its stake.
The EBRD said at the end of 2019 that Turkey’s natural gas imports from Iran and
the bank’s investment in Vestmoldtransgaz Russia declined by 44.8% y/y and 41.5%

Week 34 27•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17