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LONDON (Alliance News) - Baron Oil PLC on Wednesday said its chief executive is stepping down but will remain as chair and the company is reviewing a joint venture opportunity in south-east Asia.
Shares in Baron Oil were down 9.2% at 0.11 pence on Wednesday afternoon.
Malcolm Butler will step away from his position as the oil and gas firm's CEO on March 31 but will stay on as executive chairman.
Furthermore, Finance Director Geoffrey Barnes will resign from the board on that same date - having agreed to defer his departure in February 2018. He will also remain with the company, staying on part-time as financial controller & company secretary.
Moreover, also on March 31, Baron Oil Non-Executive Director Andrew Yeo will take on the executive role of managing director. In addition, Jon Ford - described by Baron Oil as "an experienced geophysicist and exploration manager" - will be joining the company as a non-executive director.
Aside from these board changes, Baron Oil is also reviewing a new joint venture offshore exploration opportunity in south-east Asia, which has emerged from Baron's relationship with Singapore-based company SundaGas Pte Ltd.
"This new opportunity relates to an established production sharing contract located near producing fields and infrastructure and we anticipate that rapid progress can be made if current discussions are successful," said Baron Oil.
Turning to the UK, Baron Oil said the current work to remap the Colter area structures in offshore licence P1918, in the Wessex Basin, should be finalised toward the end of April and used to determine a plan moving forward.
Baron Oil holds an 8% stake in the licence, where it has been determined that the prospect is smaller than previously thought and the majority of the potential resource is within the Colter South portion of the play rather than both the Colter and Colter South areas.
Butler said: "We have already made significant progress this year with the discovery at Colter South, which as well as offering potential value to shareholders has opened up other avenues of exploration activity in our Dorset licences. In addition, through the SundaGas relationship we are currently reviewing a significant new opportunity."
