Talisman Sinopec Energy UK Appointment Bill Dunnett as it's new Managing Director

News out today is that effective from April 7, the Board of Directors of Talisman Sinopec Energy UK will formally recognize by appointment Bill Dunnett as Managing Director. Mr. Dunnett will succeed Paul Warwick who will return to his role as Executive Vice President Talisman Energy Inc. following completion of Bill's transition by mid-May.

Bill is a chartered engineer with more than 30 years’ experience in the international oil and gas industry. He graduated in 1984 with a First in Engineering before joining Mobil North Sea as a petroleum engineer. The majority of his career has been focused on the North Sea, particularly major projects and the operation of mature-asset portfolios. While working offshore in the Beryl Field, he implemented the findings of the Cullen Report which has driven his career-long passion for safe and high-integrity operations.

Bill was a project manager for the Shell Brent Redevelopment Project for five years before joining Halliburton to lead their Production Services. He was then promoted to SVP for Global Offshore Capital Projects, based in Houston and Brazil, where, amongst other responsibilities, he led the turnaround of the Baracuda/Caratinga project. In 2007, Bill joined Petrofac, initially managing the strategically important Don Field Development and, in 2009, took over Petrofac Offshore Projects and Operations (OPO ), based in Aberdeen. Within the OPO portfolio, he has had global accountability for the directly operated assets in the UK, Malaysia, Tunisia, Iraq, Algeria and Sharja and duty holder contracts in the North Sea.

The Board has asked Bill to set an immediate priority to focus on our offshore assets and this includes using April and May to visit and familiarise himself with all assets and people in the TSEUK portfolio.

May will mark a year since the Shareholders took the decision to intervene in TSEUK, demonstrating our commitment to create a safe, sustainable and successful business said Yi Zhang CEO Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of Sinopec Group. "While TSEUK continues to be a very challenging business, we have a clear and focused path forward to deliver stability and real improvements. Bill is committed to maintain the continuity of the established TSEUK business transformation plan and to lead our organisation on to the next phase of the holistic turnaround we are pursuing to enable TSEUK to reach its full potential, he said.

We are delighted to welcome Bill to TSEUK. His experience in delivering projects and operating mature-asset portfolios, together with his unwavering focus on safety and integrity, will ensure strong leadership for the continued transformation of our business.

In the meantime, TSEUK's priorities remain unchanged: safe operations and delivery of production and other work predictably according to the business plan".

Sinopec Group which acquired Addax Petroleum in a $7.3 billion deal around June of 2009 later formed the merger TSEUK with Talisman Energy through Addax Petroleum UK in 2012. It circled around a JV costing $1.5 billion translating to 49% equity interest.

Addax Petroleum began operations in Nigeria in 1998 by signing two Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Our average annual production was 8,800 barrels per day (bbl/d). Since this acquisition, Addax Petroleum has driven its growth by acquiring oil properties deemed by others to have limited remaining production potential and using its strong in-house technical and operational expertise to grow reserves and production in a cost effective manner.

In Nigeria, Addax Petroleum’s producing assets include 11 field complexes with around 60 production wells in concession OML123, 2 fields with 20 producing wells in concession OML 124 and 2 fields with 14 production wells in concession OML126. Ongoing progress with Field Development Planning is expected to result in a significant increase in our production, from the present combined 75.000 bbl/d from OML123, OML124 and OML126 to over 85.000 bbl/d at the end of 2012.