Omega bulks up board with appointment of former Santos executive

Omega Oil & Gas has strengthened its board with the appointment of east coast gas market expert and former Santos executive Andrew Hackwood as a non-executive director.

Hackwood, who is currently the country manager (Australia) for global oil and gas investment group Tri-Star, has deep commercial expertise in all aspects of the east coast gas market as well as both domestic and international experience in principal investing in infrastructure and utilities.

He was previously the general manager commercial for Santos’ $18.5bn GLNG project and is also a director of an unlisted minerals exploration company.

Omega Oil & Gas’ (ASX:OMA) independent chairman Stephen Harrison welcomed Hackwood’s appointment, saying that his deep-seated industry experience and achievements throughout his career will be a great asset to Omega, especially during its ongoing first phase of key exploration activities.

“The appointment of Andrew himself and not just a capable employee to fill the role of a nominee director, shows the importance and commitment by Tri-Star to Omega and its assets,” he added.

Tri-Star had acquired a 15% interest in the company through a $4.9m placement priced at 20c per share in December last year.

Upcoming gas exploration

Hackwood’s appointment comes as the company prepares to launch its two-well Permian Deep Gas (PDG) exploration program – within ATP 2037 and 2038 in Southeast Queensland – during the current quarter.

The two wells will test the Permian Deep Gas potential of tight sandstones within the Permian Kianga Formation, which has an independent prospective resource of 3 trillion cubic feet of gas and 233 million barrels of associated liquids.

Previous exploration by BG had proved that gas is present within the tight sandstones, though Omega is hoping to achieve significant higher flow rates by drilling slimmer wells and fracture stimulating the entire gas column rather than trying to isolate the best gas-bearing sand in the Kianga Formation.

This article was developed in collaboration with Omega Oil & Gas, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.