OREANDA-NEWS. The Cairn Energy is pleased to announce the appointment of two new independent non-executive directors, Keith Lough and Peter Kallos, to the Board of Cairn Energy PLC.

Keith Lough will be appointed immediately following the Company’s AGM on 14 May 2015 and Peter Kallos will be appointed with effect from 1 September 2015. Keith Lough will join the Company’s audit, nomination and governance committees and Peter Kallos will join the remuneration and nomination committees.

It is intended that Todd Hunt will retire from the Board as a non-executive director following the Company’s 2016 AGM.

Keith Lough

Keith Lough graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1981 with a degree in Economics and completed a graduate training programme at British Gas, where he qualified as a chartered certified accountant in 1985. He subsequently obtained an MSc in Finance from London Business School. Keith held a number of senior finance and operational positions at LASMO PLC. During his career at LASMO Keith was part of the leadership team that completed numerous transactions and a major business transformation before later joining British Energy PLC as Finance Director, a post he held from 2001 to 2004. During his tenure at British Energy, Keith led the complex restructuring negotiations with the Government and its creditors.

Keith went on to become a Founder Shareholder and Chief Executive of Composite Energy Ltd from 2004 until 2011, when Composite was divested to Dart Energy. Composite was a privately owned business which successfully took coal-bed methane from exploration to early production, acquiring coal-bed methane licences and establishing drilling operations in both the UK and Europe in a JV with BG Group.  

Keith is currently a non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee of Rockhopper Exploration PLC, and a non-executive director of Papua Mining PLC and Rock Solid Images PLC. He is also a non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee of the UK Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, which has supervisory responsibility for Ofgem.

Peter Kallos

Peter Kallos completed an undergraduate degree in Applied Physics at Strathclyde University followed by a postgraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering, starting his career as a Petroleum Engineer at Marathon Oil in 1982. Following a period at Carless Exploration, he joined Enterprise Oil in 1988 where he held a number of senior management positions including Head of Business Development, CEO Enterprise Italy and General Manager of the UK business during which he was appointed to Enterprise’s Executive Committee.

After a short period at Shell UK following its acquisition of Enterprise in 2002, Peter was appointed Executive Vice President International and Offshore for Petro-Canada. There he led and developed a significant international exploration and production business based in London which grew to account for more than half of Petro-Canada’s worldwide production.  Following Petro-Canada’s merger with Suncor in 2009 he performed the same role for Suncor until the business was relocated to Canada in early 2010.

Peter is currently Chief Executive Officer of Buried Hill Energy, a UK based oil and gas business with activities in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.

Neither Mr Lough nor Mr Kallos currently hold any Cairn shares and no further information in connection with their appointment is required to be disclosed pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13R.

Retirement of Todd Hunt

Todd Hunt will retire from the Board in May 2016, having served as a non-executive director since 2003.

Ian Tyler, Chairman of Cairn, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Keith Lough and Peter Kallos to the Cairn Board. Both have a wealth of experience in the oil and gas industry and in the wider energy and resources sector.

They will be a significant asset as Cairn enters an exciting phase in Senegal and continues to focus on its strategy of delivering value from discovery and development within a balanced portfolio.”

Cairn instructed independent recruitment consultants Ridgeway Partners in connection with the appointment of Keith Lough and Peter Kallos.