SHETLAND-focused exploration pioneer Hurricane Energy has appointed a new chairman as it beefs up corporate governance arrangements ahead of the expected start of production from a giant field.
Surrey-based Hurricane said natural resources industry heavyweight Steven McTiernan will take up the post on 1 May.
The company has been searching for a permanent chairman since Robert Arnott resigned in November following a boardroom disagreement.
Hurricane said then Mr Arnott decided to resign after it became apparent there wasn’t an alignment of views between him and the rest of the board on certain aspects of its processes.
It formed a board-level listings and governance committee to evaluate its structures after he left.
Started by geologist Robert Trice in his garden shed in 2005, Hurricane has come under the spotlight in recent years after drilling underlined the potential of the Lancaster find it made West of Shetland in 2009. The company reckons this is one of the biggest undeveloped finds in the North Sea.
It raised around £400m last year from investors to fund work on bringing the field into production.
Hurricane expects to start pumping oil in the first half of next year. The Aim-listed company is also considering moving on to the main stock market.
The success is resulting in big changes at a company which spent years targeting an under-explored layer of granite off Shetland in relative obscurity.
The company’s progress will be followed closely amid excitement about the potential of the West of Shetland area.
Hurricane has seen its market capitalisation rise from £270m when it floated on Aim in 2014 to around £770m.
The company has had to build the capacity to manage a bumper development with corporate governance arrangements to match.
Mr Trice said the appointment of Mr McTiernan came at an extremely important time as Hurricane progressed towards first oil on Lancaster.
He said: “As the Company continues to grow and considers the best way to create further value for its stakeholders, Steven’s experience will prove invaluable. His background in both the oil industry and finance, particularly his significant mergers and acquisition experience is well suited to guiding the Company in its next steps.”
Mr McTiernan spent 11 years on the board of Tullow, which brought bumper finds into production off Ghana, after working for majors such as BP and has held senior energy investment banking roles at Chase Manhattan and NatWest.
He said: “I am most enthusiastic to be joining Hurricane, one of the UK exploration and production sector’s most exciting junior companies, at an early stage in the development and appraisal of its unique and play-opening assets.”
David Jenkins will return to his role as senior independent director after acting as interim chairman since November.
Mr McTiernan said he was reassured to see the steps already taken by Mr Jenkins and the board to put in place corporate governance standards appropriate for a more mature company and looked forward to steering further steps in this process.
Hurricane Energy shares closed up 0.36p at 39.46p.
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