Gulf Keystone has appointed adventurer Simon Murray, who chaired Glencore ahead of its merger with Xstrata, as the company’s new non-executive chairman.
The 73-year-old, originally from Leicester, joins the company as senior independent director ahead of Gulf Keystone’s London Stock Exchange listing later this year.
The appointment comes as Gulf Keystone prepare to ramp up production on the SHaikan oil field in Kurdistan.
Murray joins the company with immediate effect, will also be appointed chairman of Gulf Keystone’s renumeration committee, and brings a wealth of experience from across the energy industry – paritcularly in the Far East. He is also a non-executive director of vodaphone and of Cheung Kong Holdings in Hong Kong.
“Simon’s wealth of international business experience, particularly his experience in listing and chairing a FTSE 100 company, will be invaluable in leading our migration from AIM to the main market as we transition into the next phase of the company’s development and become a significant oil producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” said chief execuitve Todd Kozel.
“Simon’s appointment has been positively endorsed in discussions with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the entire team are looking forward to working with Simon, as Gulf Keystone continues to build on its track record of success.”
Murray is also a former member of the French Foreign Legion, and wrote the book Legionnaire based on his experiences with the service in 1978. At the age of 60 he completed the famous Marathon des Sables race across the Moroccan desert, and three years later became the oldest man to reach the South Pole unsupported.