CALGARY, April 15, 2013 /CNW/ - Sea Dragon Energy Inc. ("Sea Dragon" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SDX) is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Welch as President and CEO of the Company with immediate effect.
Mr. Said Arrata is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Paul Welch as the new President and CEO of the Company. Mr. Arrata will step down as CEO but will continue with Sea Dragon as Director and Executive Chairman of the Board while Mr. Tony Anton will step down as President and continue as Director and Executive Advisor. Mr. Arrata and Mr. Anton will continue to provide assistance where needed, particularly in Egypt and the Capital markets where their relationships proved to be a key asset in growing successful international oil and gas companies.
Mr. Paul Welch is an international energy executive with 26 years of experience in the acquisition, development and production of oil and gas fields in North America and overseas. Mr. Welch graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with both a Bachelor and Master's degrees in Petroleum Engineering. He also holds an MBA in Finance from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Welch has extensive oil and gas industry experience having worked for Shell Oil Company and several large independents including Hunt Oil Company, Pioneer Natural Resources and most recently as CEO of Chariot Oil and Gas, the African focused explorer. While at Shell, Paul acquired invaluable technical and managerial experience in evaluating global new business opportunities, acquisition of new exploration concessions and monetization of non-core assets. Paul's tenure with Hunt Oil gave him exposure to a wide variety of opportunities worldwide culminating in the acquisition of new concessions in West Africa, South America and the Middle East. With Pioneer, Paul managed the company's producing assets in Tunisia increasing gross production from 1,500 bopd to in excess of 25,000 bopd, prior to the successful sale of the assets to OMV. Paul joined Chariot as CEO in 2009 and was successful in raising some $190 MM of new equity and negotiating two farmouts with Major oil companies (BP and Petrobras) in order to finance the drilling of two deep water exploration wells in Namibia and expanding the company's presence into Morocco and Mauritania.
Paul will drive the Company's growth strategy in its focus regions of Africa and the Middle East and its Investor Relations activities. Building upon the Company successful efforts over the past year in almost doubling production while also adding new exploration leads to the Egyptian portfolio that are currently being upgraded to drillable prospects. The Company has also significantly improved its financial position by reducing Account Receivables, decreasing both capex and opex spend and strengthened its banking relationships.
Said Arrata, Chairman, commented:
"I am very pleased to welcome Paul to the Company and look forward to working together with him and the rest of the team to grow our production and asset base across Africa. Paul brings a wealth of experience to Sea Dragon, with significant operational, business development, acquisition, and commercial experience. He also has a strong background in negotiating contract terms, winning concession bids and raising equity finance.
I also want to thank Tony Anton for all his hard work and effort during his time with the Company. Under his leadership the Company continued to grow its business throughout the recent difficult period, achieving its highest production levels to date in excess of 1900boepd. I am confident that Tony's past contributions will continue to pay dividends in the future. I am also delighted that Tony will continue to provide his considerable experience to the Company in the future in his new role as Director and Executive Advisor."
Sea Dragon is an international exploration and development oil company with a focus on the Middle East and Africa with offices in Cairo, Paris and Calgary. For further information please see the Company website at www.seadragonenergy.com or the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE RELEASE.
SOURCE: Sea Dragon Energy Inc.
Said Arrata
Executive Chairman and Director
(403) 457-5035
Paul Welch
President and CEO
+331 5343 9442
Olivier Serra
CFO and Director
+331 5343 9442
Scott Koyich
Brisco Capital Partners Corp.
(403) 262-9888
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