Athabasca Oil Corporation Announces Board of Directors and Executive Changes, a Strategic Update and an Increased 2014 Capital Budget
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2014 (6:00 a.m. ET)
CALGARY – Athabasca Oil Corporation (TSX: ATH) (“Athabasca” or “the Company”) announces Board of Directors (“Board”) and Executive changes, a strategic update and an increase to its 2014 capital budget. Concurrent with this release an updated corporate presentation has been posted on the Company’s website.
Board and Executive Changes
The Company announces that Mr. Sveinung Svarte will be retiring as President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) effective September 30th. Mr. Tom Buchanan, current Chairman of the Board, will assume the added responsibilities of President and CEO.
“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Sveinung for his role as one of the founders and for his visionary leadership and commitment to making Athabasca a premiere resource Company,” says Tom Buchanan, Chairman of the Board. “Since 2006, under his leadership Athabasca has grown into a $3 billion Company with an extensive portfolio of world class resource assets in both light oil and thermal oil. We look forward to his continued involvement as a valued member of the Board.”
Mr. Sveinung Svarte will remain on the Board as Vice Chairman and will continue to support the Company’s business development initiatives, including targeting large, strategic joint venture partners to help jointly develop Athabasca’s extensive resource holdings. “I am proud of what we have collectively achieved over the past at Athabasca,” says Sveinung Svarte, President and CEO. “We have some of the best acreage in the Kaybob Duvernay and in the Athabasca oil sands region and our excellent team is currently building world class projects in Alberta. Furthermore, our Company is now well funded and ready to deliver profitable growth under Tom’s guidance.”
Tom Buchanan has over 30 years of experience in the oil and natural gas sector, most recently as CEO of Spyglass Resources Corp. In 1993, he founded Founders Energy Ltd., the predecessor to Provident Energy Trust (“Provident”) and was the CEO of Provident until 2010. He oversaw the growth of Provident from an initial investment of $700,000 in 1993 to a $4.5 billion diversified energy company with significant investments in upstream and midstream assets across North America. “I am very excited to lead the Company through its next stage of growth,” says incoming President and CEO Tom Buchanan. “We have best-in-class assets, a tremendously talented team of people and the financial capacity in place to execute on our strategic growth objectives and deliver strong shareholder value appreciation.”
Mr. Ron Eckhardt will assume the role of Lead Director of the Board and will replace Mr. Buchanan on the Compensation and Governance Committee of the Board. Additionally, Mr. Peter Sametz will replace Mr. Buchanan on the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board.
