Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has announced that Cuthbert (Cuth) McDowell and Keith Lough have been appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect. J?n Ferrier, CEO, has also been appointed to the Board with immediate effect.
Cuth McDowell
Having read Technological Economics at Stirling University, Cuth (59) began his career in 1979 at BP where he spent eight years in a variety of economic and commercial roles. In 1987 he moved to Clyde Petroleum as Senior Economist, before being promoted to Group Commercial Manager ahead of the eventual sale of the business to Gulf Canada.
In 1997 Cuth joined Paladin Resources and in his commercial and finance director roles, played a key part in building Paladin into an E&P company which was ultimately acquired by Talisman Energy in 2006. He currently sits on the Board of IGas, the UK onshore oil & gas company. Until earlier in 2015 Cuth was a Non-Executive Director of Pitkin Petroleum, where he had also served as Finance Director.
Keith Lough
Keith Lough (54) read Economics at Edinburgh University before qualifying as a chartered certified accountant with British Gas in 1985. He subsequently obtained an MSc in Finance from London Business School. In 1988 Keith joined LASMO PLC where over the course of the next eleven years he held a range of senior financial and operational roles, including MD of the North Sea, and then Europe and North Africa before LASMO was sold to ENI.
Keith was CFO of PetroKazakhstan for two years before being headhunted for the CFO role of British Energy, the nuclear power company. At British Energy he oversaw the complex restructuring of the business and the interaction with the UK Government and its creditors. In 2004 Keith founded coal bed methane focused Composite Energy Ltd, which was acquired by Dart in 2011.
The team from Composite spent a year at Hutton Energy, during which time Keith was CEO. Keith is currently a Non-Executive Director of Rockhopper Exploration PLC, Cairn Energy PLC, Papua Mining PLC and the UK Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Ofgem).
Commenting on today’s announcement, Andrew Simon, Non-Executive Chairman of Gulf Keystone said:
“With shareholders having approved the changes to the Company’s Bye-Laws, we are pleased to confirm that our CEO J?n Ferrier has now been appointed to the Board.
“We have made clear our intent to rebuild the Board with high calibre individuals, and to ensure that the Board is truly fit for purpose. We are therefore extremely pleased to have secured the services of Keith Lough and Cuth McDowell. Both Keith and Cuth have a deep knowledge of the strategic, operational and financial dimensions of the oil & gas sector. They bring decades of experience in the building of businesses, but also in the realisation of the value in them for shareholders. Their track records also span both executive and non-executive roles within London listed companies.
“On behalf of everyone at Gulf Keystone I warmly welcome all three Directors at this important juncture in the Company’s development. With shared values and goals we see a strong cultural fit with Gulf Keystone and are confident they will make a significant contribution.”
