New Age splits up chairman and CEO role

Privately held oil and gas company New Age has decided to separate the roles of the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer (CEO).

New Age said on Friday that founder Steve Lowden would remain chairman while David Stoopin would take on the role of CEO as of June 16, 2017.

The company added that the separation of senior roles reflected the scale and maturity of the group’s business activities.

During Lowden’s tenure as CEO, New Age made several exploration and appraisal successes. He will continue to support the development of the New Age mid-stream LNG business, as well as identify and assess other E&P ventures.

Stoopin has been with New Age since June 2008 as the executive vice president of Commercial and Business Development and was formerly with BP and Premier Oil. While at BP, David’s roles included commercial manager for BP’s Angolan developments, as well as M&A strategy manager.

Steve Lowden said: “David has played an integral part in the successful development of New Age, which now has production from multiple oil and gas fields across Africa and Kurdistan. His leadership ability, commercial acumen, and deep technical knowledge position him well in his new role as CEO, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him.”

Since its foundation in 2007, NewAge built a portfolio of nine assets in seven countries. The company’s activities cover exploration, appraisal, and development, with first production achieved from Congo Brazzaville and Kurdistan in 2014. The Aje field in Nigeria, where New Age has 24.06% interest, has been on production since May 2016.