Beach Energy CEO Resigns

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) has announced that its managing director and chief executive officer Matt Kay has tendered his resignation to the company’s board and is leaving Beach to pursue other professional opportunities.

Morné Engelbrecht, the company’s chief financial officer, has been appointed acting chief executive officer, effective immediately, while a search process is conducted to find a replacement, Beach Energy revealed.

Kay commenced his position as Beach Energy CEO in May 2016, after being appointed in January of the same year. Kay had previously served as the executive general manager of strategy and commercial at Oil Search and as the vice president of corporate development at Woodside Petroleum Limited. Engelbrecht, who joined Beach Energy in 2016 as chief financial officer, is a chartered accountant with more than 20 years of experience including in the oil and gas and resource sectors across various jurisdictions.

“Over nearly six years, Matt delivered on the company’s growth ambitions via the strategic acquisition of Lattice Energy and oversaw the commencement of our current development programs in the Victorian Otway and Perth Basins,” Beach Energy Chairman Glenn Davis said in a company statement.

“I want to thank Matt for his efforts in helping transform Beach into the multi-basin upstream oil and gas company it is today. I wish him all the very best for his future endeavors,” he added in the statement.

Commenting on his departure, 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”.

“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,” he added.

Davis noted that Engelbrecht was well positioned to take over as acting CEO as Beach Energy completes its gas growth program.

Commenting on his new appointment, Engelbrecht, said, “our strategy is set, and I look forward to continued delivery with the highly experienced, motivated and capable Beach leadership team”.

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