Alpha Petroleum Resources Limited (“Alpha Petroleum” or “Alpha”), an upstream oil and gas operator focused on the UK sector of the North Sea and backed by private equity firm Petroleum Equity, today announces that it has appointed Martin Freeman, formerly Group Head of Engineering at BG Group, as Project Manager for the Cheviot field development.

The appointment is part of Alpha Petroleum’s planned expansion of the Cheviot project management team to take the project forward after the Final Investment Decision (FID) in November 2017. As part of that expansion Alpha has also recently added Guy Sharman as SURF/SPS Manager, and Lawrence Ritchie as Wells Manager to the Cheviot team, to work alongside the existing FPSO team of Nigel Hill and Tom Kristiansen.

Martin Freeman brings over 30 years of experience in the international upstream oil & gas business to Alpha Petroleum having held senior project development, project execution and technical positions at multi-national energy groups.
 
In his most recent role, Martin was Group Head of Engineering at BG Group. In a highly-successful, 15-year long career at BG, he led technical and engineering operations for various international projects in Australia (2011-14), Brazil (2009-11) and Kazakhstan (2007-9). Prior to BG, Martin held various engineering roles at Shell for 18 years.

Guy Sharman joins Alpha Petroleum from Nexen Petroleum, where he led subsea development for the second phase of the Buzzard field (2015-17). He also worked on the installation of subsea systems for the Golden Eagle (2009-16) and Ettrick fields (2005-09) in senior engineering roles. In total, Guy has over 30 years’ experience in the engineering and construction of subsea facilities.  

Lawrence Ritchie joins Alpha Petroleum from Glencore, where he was Head of Well Engineering (2013-16). Responsible for all aspects of well engineering within the company, he managed assets in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Prior to Glencore, Lawrence was a Senior Well Engineering Advisor to Tullow Oil (2012-13) and held various drilling roles at BG Group (2005-12) and BP (2000-5).

As Alpha Petroleum broadens the experience and expertise of its project team, the firm continues to make significant progress in its development of the Cheviot oil field, one of the largest undeveloped fields in the UK North Sea.

Alpha Petroleum has already announced that Baker Hughes GE (“BHGE”) will partner with the firm on the advancement of the subsea infrastructure and integrated drilling services for Cheviot. The Front-End Engineering and Design (“FEED”) study agreement with Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. for its Varg Floating Production Storage and Offloading (“FPSO”) unit announced in April is also nearing completion.  Alpha Petroleum expects to achieve sanction for the Cheviot development during November 2017 and is targeting first oil production in 2019, at an expected rate of at least 30,000 barrels per day.

Andy Crouch, Alpha Petroleum’s Chief Executive, commented: 
“With development of the Cheviot field moving towards the next phase, we are delighted to add such a wealth of engineering experience to our project team.  Martin, Guy and Lawrence have all proved their expertise by leading major oil and gas projects across the world, so we are excited to welcome them to the Cheviot team.”

Martin Freeman added: 
“I am delighted to be joining Alpha Petroleum. The development of the Cheviot field represents an exceptional opportunity and I’m excited to be coming on board at such a pivotal moment in the project’s execution. I look forward to working with Andy, the project team and Petroleum Equity.”

Alpha Petroleum is backed by Petroleum Equity, an alternative investment firm established in 2012 to address the significant lack of alternative capital providers focused on upstream oil & gas investment opportunities outside North America. Petroleum Equity’s senior industry team has deep and specialist expertise in oil & gas investments, with an average of 27 years’ experience in the sector.