Gulf Keystone Petroleum names Ian Weatherdon as CFO

(Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan-focused Gulf Keystone Petroleum <GKP.L> on Monday said it appointed Ian Weatherdon as chief financial officer to succeed Sami Zouari, who will step down on Dec. 2.

Weatherdon, who was previously CFO at former Australia-listed Sino Gas & Energy, will join Gulf Keystone on Jan. 13, 2020, the company said.

Zouari, whose departure was announced in June, had helped Gulf Keystone implement a capital structure in 2016, cutting the oil company's debt pile significantly.

Gulf Keystone, however, is expected to produce lower volume of oil in 2019, following a delay in the start of drilling campaign and a planned shutdown of its second Shaikan production facility in October.

Weatherdon was the finance chief at Sino Gas, which focused on developing natural gas assets in China, until the company was acquired by a private equity firm last year.

He also held senior positions at Talisman Energy Inc, the Canadian exploration and production company that was acquired by Repsol SA <REP.MC> in 2015, and helmed the role of a CFO at Equión Energía Ltd, a Colombian joint venture between Talisman Energy and Ecopetrol SA <ECO.CN>.

(Reporting by Shanima A in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)