Sempra Alum to Succeed Gentle at Tellurian

Tellurian Inc. (NASDAQ: TELL) reported Monday that it has named Octávio Simões the company’s president and CEO.

Simões, previously president and CEO and Sempra LNG & Midstream (NYSE: SRE), replaces former Tellurian President and CEO Meg Gentle, who is leaving the company, Tellurian noted in a written statement.

“I watched Octávio put together a complex project in Cameron LNG with admiration,” remarked Charif Souki, Tellurian’s executive chairman. “He and I together are responsible for 75 percent of the U.S. liquefaction capacity and I am delighted now to have the opportunity to work with him on Driftwood LNG, the next big milestone in U.S. liquefaction.”

Simões jointed Tellurian last year as executive vice president for LNG marketing and business development, Tellurian stated. The firm pointed out he is a registered professional engineer with degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth.

Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG project is a proposed liquefaction export facility near Lake Charles, La.. Describing it as the company’s “cornerstone project,” Tellurian states on its website the project has secured all necessary construction and operation permits and would boast approximately 27.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG production capacity.

In its announcement Monday, Tellurian also revealed that it has named Jonathan Gross and Jean Abiteboul new independent board members. A certified geologist, Gross is an oil and gas consultant with the upstream exploration and geological services firm Jexco LLC. He has also held roles with Kuwait Energy Co. and Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN: LNG), and he sat on the Cheniere Energy Holdings board for four years, Tellurian noted.

Tellurian pointed out that Abiteboul is president of Paris-based GIIGNL – the International Group of LNG Importers. An engineer and former executive with Cheniere Marketing Ltd. and Cheniere Energy, Inc., Abiteboul worked for Gaz de France for most of his career, the company added.

“With our board of director additions, Jean will bring a unique perspective on the global LNG market, and Jon has a deep understanding of the U.S. upstream industry,” continued Souki. “We stand at a critical inflection point in the energy sector. The fundamentals are now very supportive of our business model to launch an integrated American global natural gas company at Driftwood. Octávio, Jean and Jon will make a huge contribution to that effort. The Tellurian team thanks Meg for her hard work and significant contributions to the company over the past four years and we wish her all the best in the future.”

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