Last checked at 15 Dec 2020 07:00
15 December 2020
Block Energy plc
("Block Energy", "Block" or the "Company")
Board Appointment
Block Energy plc, the development and production company focused on Georgia, is pleased to announce that Charles ("Chuck") Valceschini has been appointed as independent non-executive director with immediate effect.
Mr Valceschini has worked in the oil and gas sector for nearly 40 years. As CEO and General Director of TechNefteGaz Consulting LLC, he currently specialises in the provision of technical and commercial advice to a wide range of upstream oil and gas companies. He was previously engaged in senior technical and leadership roles by a range of international upstream companies, including BP and TNK‑BP. During 2000 and 2001, he was CEO of American Energy Group Ltd.
Mr Valceschini has a BSc degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming and an MSc in Engineering Management from Portland State University. He is also an alumnus of the INSEAD Executive Management programme and of the Moscow School of Management at the Skolkovo Project Academy.
The Company's Nominations Committee selected Mr. Valceschini from a list of strong candidates independently proposed to the Company's specification by Preng & Associates, the international executive search firm dedicated to the energy industry.
Philip Dimmock, Chairman of the Board, commented:
"I am delighted to welcome Chuck, an experienced company director, to the Board of Block Energy plc. In the shorter term, we look forward to Chuck bringing his vast expertise in the exploitation of onshore naturally fractured reservoirs, particularly in the Former Soviet Union, to bear on the Company's expanded portfolio of assets in Georgia. In the longer term, we expect that his experience in the strategic development of oil and gas companies will add great value to the future of Block Energy."
Further information in relation to Charles Russell Valceschini
In addition to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Valceschini, aged 62, holds or has held the following directorships or partnerships in the past five years:
Current directorships Previous directorships
JKX Oil & Gas plc (Chairman) None
TechNefteGaz Consulting LLC
Save for the information above, there are no further disclosures to be made in accordance with Rule 17, Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointment.
Similarly to the other Block directors (as announced in the Operations Update 7 April 2020), Mr Valceschini has agreed for 50% of his fees to be paid in nil-cost options to acquire ordinary shares in the Company. Options will be priced at a volume weighted average price over the monthly fee period.
Mr Valceschini does not hold any shares in the Company.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (eu) 596/2014
-Ends-
For further information please visit http://www.blockenergy.co.uk/ or contact:
Paul Haywood (Chief Executive Officer) | Block Energy Plc | Tel: +44 (0)20 3468 9891 |
Neil Baldwin (Nominated Adviser) | SPARK Advisory Partners Limited | Tel: +44 (0)20 3368 3554 |
Peter Krens (Corporate Broker) | Mirabaud Securities Limited | Tel: +44 (0)20 3167 7221 |
Billy Clegg / Owen Roberts / Violet Wilson (Financial PR) | Camarco | Tel: +44 (0)20 3757 4980 |
Notes to editors
Block Energy plc is an AIM-listed independent oil and gas company focused on production and development in Georgia, applying innovative technology to realise the full potential of previously discovered fields.
Block has recently acquired a 100% working interest in Georgian onshore licence blocks IX and XIB. Licence block XIB is Georgia's most productive block, with 2P oil and gas reserves of 64 million boe and historic production of over 180 MMbbls of oil from the Middle Eocene, peaking in the mid-1980s at 67,000 bopd.
The Company has a 100% working interest in the highly prospective West Rustavi onshore oil and gas field with multiple wells that have tested oil and gas from a range of geological horizons. The field has so far produced 50 Mbbls of light sweet crude and has 0.9 MMbbls of gross 2P oil reserves in the Middle Eocene. It also has 38 MMbbls of gross unrisked 2C contingent resources of oil and 608 BCF of gross unrisked 2C contingent resources of gas in the Middle, Upper and Lower Eocene formations (Source: CPR Gustavson Associates: 1 January 2018).
Block also holds 100% and 90% working interests respectively in the onshore oil producing Norio and Satskhenisi fields.
The Company offers a clear entry point for investors to gain exposure to Georgia's growing economy and the strong regional demand for oil and gas.
Glossary
1. bbls: barrels. A barrel is 35 imperial gallons.
2. boe: barrels of oil equivalent.
3. bopd: barrels of oil per day.
4. Mbbls: thousand barrels.
5. MMbbls: million barrels.
6. MMCF/d: million cubic feet per day.
7. BCF: billion cubic feet.