Seplat Petroleum Development Company PLC (“SEPLAT”) has
announced that her pioneer Managing Director and later CEO, Mr. Austin Avuru
will be retiring in July 2020 after 10 years of leading the company.
In these 10 years, Mr. Avuru led the development of a strong organization, the
deployment of agile systems, processes and stakeholder relationships that
allowed the organization to grow rapidly from a gross production of 22,700boepd
as at December 2010 to peaks of 111,368boepd gross production as at December
2018 through major drilling campaigns and major new Oil and Gas plants
development.
The acquisition of 45% of OML 53, post Company’s IPO of 2014, created an
opportunity in partnership with NNPC, to spawn a mid-stream subsidiary, ANOH
Gas Processing Company Ltd currently progressing what will ultimately be a
300MMscf/d of Gas, 22,500bdp of condensate and 1,200boepd of LPG processing
Company. All these could not have been achieved without Mr. Avuru’s leadership
skills, personal dedication and hard work, at the head of the Company.
The Board of SEPLAT said it was grateful to Mr. Avuru for these accomplishments
and that it looked forward to his continued service at the Board level.
Looking forward, Seplat plans to position itself for a next phase growth
ambition which would see the expansion of its footprint in terms of energy
business activities, a plan to pursue offshore assets as well as opportunity
driven entry into different geographies. The Company believes that such a
corporate transition would require a different kind of organizational
structure, people skills set and mentality to compete well in the expanded
space. In view of this, Seplat will be reviewing its current organizational and
systems structure.
To lead the Company in her latest aspirations, the Board has selected Mr. Roger
Brown as the successor to Mr. Avuru as CEO, when Mr. Avuru steps down on 31
July 2020. The Board also decided that the CEO designate will lead the
restructuring during the transition period between now and final exit date of
Mr. Avuru on 31 July 2020.
Mr. Brown joined SEPLAT in 2013 as the CFO and played a key role in the
successful dual listing of the Company in 2014. Similarly, since joining
the Company, he has played significant roles in various asset acquisitions by
the Company.
Mr. Brown brings to the CEO role, a deep knowledge of the Company in his 6
years as the CFO and a member of the Board. He has strong financial,
commercial and M&A experience as well as proven people skills which will be
an asset as the Company embarks on the next phase of its growth plan.
Prior to joining SEPLAT, Mr. Brown was an advisor to the Company since 2010
while he was the Managing Director and head of EMEA Oil and Gas at Standard
Bank Group. During his time at the bank, he was instrumental in providing
advice and deploying capital across the African continent in the Oil & Gas,
Power & Infrastructure and the renewable energy sectors.
While we thank Mr. Avuru for a meritorious service, we welcome Mr. Brown and
wish him every success in his upcoming new role.
Seplat Appoints New CEO
