Ex-Maersk Oil Exec To Lead Gulf Keystone

A controversial London-listed oil company is lining up the appointment of a new chief executive less than a year after appointing its current boss.

Sky News has learnt that Gulf Keystone Petroleum is close to announcing that Jon Ferrier, a senior executive at Danish-based Maersk Oil, will replace John Gerstenlauer at the helm.

Gulf Keystone hopes that the appointment of Mr Ferrier, which could come as soon as this month, will be viewed by investors as an important milestone after years of turbulence sparked by investors’ fury over boardroom pay and corporate governance.

Mr Ferrier, a British national, has worked at some of the oil industry’s largest companies, including ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP - news) .

He will succeed Mr Gerstenlauer, who is expected to retire after stepping down from the board, having only moved from the chief operating officer’s role to the top executive post in July last year.

A person close to the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer cautioned on Sunday that formal agreement had not yet been reached between Mr Ferrier and the company’s board, but said they were optimistic that the appointment would happen.

The shake-up comes as Gulf Keystone, which moved from London’s junior AIM (SES: AXH.SI - news) market to the main list last year, also searches for a new chairman, following the departure of Simon Murray in March amid renewed shareholder pressure.

While it has met a target of producing 40,000 barrels of oil per day, it has been hurt - like rivals such as Afren - by delays to export payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government, triggering a £30m fundraising from the sale of new shares two months ago.

Gulf Keystone has also been holding talks with prospective buyers of its assets or the whole company.

Payments to oil exporters have faced protracted delays as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been distracted by ongoing unrest in Iraq and the need to devote resources to countering incursions by Islamic State insurgents.

Although Gulf Keystone and other foreign oil companies have begun to receive some multimillion dollar payments, the company's indebtedness has left it confronting a financial crunch.

A former French Legionnaire and ex-chairman of Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) , the giant commodities trader, Mr Murray was drafted in as Gulf Keystone’s chairman in July 2013 after a

protracted fight led by two big institutional shareholders.

The oil company’s former chief executive, Todd Kozel, finally stepped down from the role last year following hints of a further revolt, but his exit has been accompanied by those of a number of independent board members elected as part of the 2013 peace deal.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Gulf Keystone have slumped by about 60% during the last 12 months, valuing it at just £366m, while it continues to carry debts of nearly £400m.

In a statement in March, Gulf Keystone said: "Stakeholders are advised that these discussions (with potential buyers) are preliminary and, as such, there can be no certainty that any offers will be received and any transaction concluded, or any certainty as to the terms on which any offer might be made.

Gulf Keystone declined to comment on Sunday.