Shares in oil and gas explorer Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) are inching lower today and are currently trading 6% down at $1.31 apiece.
Beach Energy shares have spent most of the day in the red after the company announced the departure of its chief executive.
Here are the details.
What was announced?
Beach advised today that its managing director and CEO Matt Kay tendered his resignation to the company's board.
Kay is leaving Beach to pursue other professional opportunities, given Beach's 'current strong position' as per the release.
In his place, the company has appointed the current chief financial officer (CFO) Morné Engelbrecht to CEO as the search for a replacement gets underway.
In the six years of tenure as CEO of the company, Kay oversaw the acquisition of Lattice Energy and the commencement of development programs in the Victorian Otway and Perth Basins.
Kay's final oversight was the sanctioning of the Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage project announced by the company yesterday.
Speaking on the announcement, Beach Energy chair Glenn Davis paid homage to Kay on the grounds of leadership and delivering on the company's growth ambitions.
Davis said the departing CEO was instrumental in "helping transform Beach into the multi-billion basin upstream oil and gas company it is today".
Davis also said that interim CEO Engelbrecht was "well positioned to take over as acting CEO as Beach completes its gas growth program", with over 20 years experience across various jurisdictions.
What did the departing CEO say?
Speaking on the announcement, departing CEO Matt Kay said:
I was brought on board to help Beach grow from a single basin operator and diversify the business. This was
capped off by the sanctioning of the Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage project this week.
Kay continued:
I want to thank the entire Beach team for their efforts over the past six years. The company's future is extremely
bright and I wish Morné and the team all the best.
Beach Energy share price snapshot
The Beach Energy share price has been swimming in a sea of red this year to date, having posted a loss of 26% since January 1.
Despite this, it has climbed 16% in the past 12 months, but not enough to outpace the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)'s gain of around 25% in the same time.
