Last checked at 21 Dec 2020 07:00
21 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 David ("Dato") Sandroshvili has been appointed as independent non-executive director with immediate effect.
Mr. Sandroshvili has spent most of his career in oil and gas corporate finance advisory, but for the last six years has held senior positions in oil companies. He is currently the CFO at New Age (African Global Energy) Limited. Prior to this appointment, he was Director of Strategy, Commercial and Portfolio at Ophir Energy plc. Mr. Sandroshvili started his corporate finance career at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (part of Citigroup) in London, before moving to UBS Investment Bank, where he managed the Russia/CIS oil and gas advisory business. Subsequently, Dato was Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Advisory at Evercore Partners.
Mr. Sandroshvili is a dual national of Georgia and the United Kingdom. He has an MBA in International Finance from Brandeis University in Massachusetts and a Diploma in Accounting from Tbilisi State University.
The Company's Nominations Committee selected Mr. Sandroshvili 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 Dato to the Board of Block Energy plc. We look forward to benefitting from his wealth of experience in finance, strategy development and M&A transactions. Furthermore, his understanding of the establishment and culture of Georgia will bring extra competitive advantage to the Board."
Further information
In addition to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Sandroshvili, aged 46, holds or has held the following directorships in the past five years:
Current directorships Previous directorships
New Age (African Global Energy) Limited None
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 Sandroshvili 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. Sandroshvili 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.