Lord Browne at the helm of DEA’s supervisory board

After the acquisition by LetterOne, the Hamburg based upstream company RWE Dea has a new owner, a new supervisory board and gets a new name.

LetterOne is a privately owned Luxembourg-based global investment vehicle focused on utilizing its financial resources, management and investment expertise.

At the first general meeting of shareholders a new supervisory board was appointed. Chairman of the DEA Supervisory Board is Lord John Browne, who recently has been appointed Executive Chairman of LetterOne Energy and who was Chief Executive of the BP plc, the British energy group from 1995 until 2007.

“In DEA, we have acquired a company with long history of technical and managerial excellence, a track record of imaginative thinking, an international outlook, and great potential,“ said Lord John Browne, the new Chairman of the DEA Supervisory Board.

“DEA fits perfectly into our investment strategy.” 

Members of the supervisory board are among others Mikhail Fridman who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of LetterOne Holdings S.A. and German Khan, one of the original founders of LetterOne Holdings S.A.

CEO of DEA is Thomas Rappuhn, who has been responsible for the running of the company since 2010. As the Chief Operating Officer, Dirk Warzecha is responsible for the operative activities. Chief Financial Officer is Dr Johannes Karlisch.

The general meeting of shareholders further decided to change the company name RWE Dea AG back to DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG. After its foundation as Deutsche Tiefbohr-Actiengesellschaft in 1899 the company operated already from 1911 to 1970 under the name of Deutsche Erdoel AG. Even after the latest change of owners DEA remains a German company. Furthermore, the names of the international subsidiaries will be adapted accordingly.

The company notes that the first business priorities, like the review of the corporate strategy, are currently in preparation. Despite the notable drop in the prices of crude oil and natural gas the company plans to lay the foundations for further growth, the press release further reads. Worldwide, oil and gas will remain the most important energy sources in the next decades. According to independent forecasts the global energy requirement will increase until 2035 by approx. 40%.

“The realignment of DEA from a group subsidiary to an independent oil and gas company offers many opportunities,” said Thomas Rappuhn, DEA’s Chief Executive Officer.

DEA, with 1,440 employees, is currently active in 17 countries and holds around 160 exploration and production licences as an operator and as a partner.

An important growth incentive for DEA will be investments in exploration and production. In the light of the oil price drop, it is now essential to successfully position the company in the oil and gas industry, an industry which is characterized by structural changes, said DEA.

“We are well prepared for the future,” underlined Rappuhn.

“Our exploration successes in recent years, the increases in our oil and gas production and secured reserves form the basis for DEA’s future success.”