Edinburgh based oil firm Bowleven is to axe 13 UK jobs following a boardroom revolt.
The Cameroon focused company has also ruled out any further exploration activity in the near future as it looks to cut general and administrative expenses by half.
Eli Chahin, a senior advisor to Alix Partners, joined the firm after a general meeting on March 14, during which shareholders voted to remove five directors.
Chahin was later confirmed as chief executive, filling the boots of Kevin Hart, a former Ellon Academy pupil who left the firm after the boardroom coup
Mr Hart, previously finance director at Cairn Energy, was ousted from his position of chief executive on the recommendation of activist investor Crown Ocean Capital.
He had led Bowleven since 2006.
Chahin is to acquire up to 10million ordinary shares in the company at no cost under a ‘Transformation Incentive Plan’.
Shares are also being offered to remaining employees.
According to a statement, the plan is designed to align employees’ interests with the company’s longer term strategic objectives.
A process to reduce overall UK headcount from 18 to 5 Full Time Employees (FTE) is underway.
Streamlining Cameroon headcount and costs has also started, although Bowleven has not indicated how many people this will affect.
The firm said it will continue to maintain an “appropriate presence” in Cameroon to preserve and enhance value from its Etinde and Bomono assets.
As a result of these changes, the board anticipates that, once staff reductions and other cost rationalisations efforts are complete, the monthly group general and administrative (G&A) expenses costs will be reduced to approximately US$0.35 million per month in the second half of 2017
This is compared to monthly group G&A costs of US$0.6 million per month in the 6 months to December 2016.
These changes are expected to incur costs of $3-4 million during 2017.
The firm’s CEO Chahin said: “We are confident that these changes will allow the Company to move forward on a more appropriate cost base, whilst retaining the necessary skills, relationships and capacity to progress a route to shareholder value at both Etinde and Bomono.
“We move forward from a position of strength, with a robust balance sheet, strict capital discipline and an experienced and focused core management team.”
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