Canadian independent Valeura is moving its management team to Singapore to be nearer to the company’s Thailand upstream operations that have pride of place in its portfolio.
In tandem with this move, Valeura has also brought on board some well known industry figures to bolster its executive leadership team.
Former KrisEnergy chief executive Kelvin Tang is joining Valeura as executive vice president of corporate, general counsel and corporate secretary.
Almost a year ago to the day, Valeura agreed to acquire Thai assets from the bankrupt operator KrisEnergy. This acquisition comprises two shallow-water blocks in the Gulf of Thailand – G10/48, where Valeura last month restarted production at the suspended Wassana oilfield, and G6/48, which hosts the undeveloped and fully appraised Rossukon oil discovery.
Meanwhile, Yacine Ben-Meriem has been appointed Valeura’s chief financial officer, “contributing deep financial acumen garnered through the international investment banking sector around the Southeast Asia region”, according to chief executive Sean Guest.
Ben-Meriem is a founder of gold explorer Panthera Resources, which is a partner of Valeura in Thailand.
Article continues below the advert
Guest noted that Ian Warrilow has joined Valeura as Thailand country manager, hailing this move as “a welcome addition back to the Thailand organisation”. Warrilow had spent much of his career with Mubadala Petroleum in various international positions including a previous management role with the team in Thailand.
Valeura has also acquired Thai E&P assets from Mubadala in the past year.
“While Valeura remains a Canadian company, the executive team, including myself, will be based in Southeast Asia so as to remain closely connected to the Thailand business unit and central to the ongoing growth opportunity suite within Southeast Asia,” said Guest.
Heather Campbell, Valeura’s incumbent CFO has opted to leave the company rather than relocate to Southeast Asia.
“I want to thank her for her long service and contribution toward structuring our business and transforming our portfolio through acquisitions. We have come to rely on her financial rigour and sound advice throughout her career at Valeura, and we wish her well,” added the chief executive.