Tullow Oil Plc has announced that it has strengthened the oversight of its board of directors on the operations of the company.
The company’s board was accused of not doing enough as a string of issues in its operational countries saw the company plunged into a loss in excess of US$1.6 billion.
Tullow’s reporting of discovery in the South American country of Guyana has widely been criticized, and the Board Chairperson of the company, Dorothy Thompson, indicated that the Board has learnt its lessons.
Paul Mcdade resigned as Chief Executive Officer together with Head of Exploration, Angus McCoss, in a fallout that saw the company’s share price plunged to a 16-year-low on the London Stock Exchange.
Ms. Thompson speaking at the presentation of the 2019 financial results explained that the board over the last two quarters has sought to engage more the executive directors of the oil firm.
“Firstly, I would say the board has been much more engaged than you would normally see a board being engaged through the last quarter of last year, and the first quarter of this year. There are a few specific areas that when we realized the nature of the challenges, we have put more focus; control would be a very good example.”
“One particular area is that, we have made sure there is a very clear open and regular communication between the non-executive director, who is most skilled or has the expertise in oil reserves and oil resources, with our chief petroleum engineer,” she said.
According to her, to make sure the company scales through this difficult phase, an agreement has been reached with Paul Mcdade to offer insight to the board on the way forward.
“He is actually one of the people contactable through our safe calls. We didn’t have a technical person available for the other side. So, we couldn’t have that technical engagement… The board has been more engaged and they are supporting as well,” she noted.