Tullow Oil CEO Quits Over Poor Production From Ghana Fields

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Tullow Oil Plc (LON:) Chief Executive Officer Paul McDade resigned following poor production performance at the company’s flagship assets in Ghana.

Exploration Director Angus McCoss also quit, the London-based oil producer said Monday as it suspended the dividend. The departures come after a year of disappointments at Tullow, where technical difficulties have hampered output in Ghana, projects in Uganda and Kenya have faced delays, and results from wells in Guyana missed expectations.

“Whilst financial performance has been solid, production performance has been significantly below expectations from the group’s main producing assets, the TEN and Jubilee fields in Ghana,” Tullow said in a statement. The group’s total output next year is now forecast at 70,000 to 80,000 barrels a day, and production for the following three years will average about 70,000 a day.

Dorothy Thompson has been appointed executive chair on a temporary basis and Mark MacFarlane, executive vice president of East Africa and non-operated, has been appointed chief operating officer in a non-board role. Les Wood continues as an executive director and chief financial officer. The board has started a process to find a new CEO.

The company will reduce capital expenditure, operating costs and corporate overheads, it said. In 2020, it sees underlying free cash flow of at least $150 million at $60 a barrel after capital investment of about $350 million.

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