Kweku Awotwi retires from Tullow
Tullow Ghana has announced that its Managing Director, Kweku Awotwi, will be retiring from the oil company on June 30, this year.
He exits the oil giants, which finds itself in turbulent times, after serving the company for a little over two years. He was appointed as Tullow’s Managing Director on March 1, 2018.
Mr Awotwi, a former Volta River Authority Chief Executive, hands over to Wissam Al Monthiry, a Canadian international business executive, as Tullow Ghana’s new Managing Director.
Mr Awotwi was promoted to the position of Executive Vice President of Tullow Oil Plc following a reorganisation of the group’s structure in May 2019. He is the second Ghanaian to have managed the British oil giants. Before him, Charles Darku, who joined Tullow Ghana Limited in 2013, as the first Ghanaian to lead the company, had been instrumental in delivering the company’s primary objectives of oil and gas production.
During his tenure, the TEN fields produced its 50th million barrel of oil; there was very good progress in the TRP project which is now in its final stages with the Oil Offloading System being ready for installation, and his operations team have delivered’s significant improvements in the stable production of oil and gas from the country’s two FPSOs.
“I would like to thank the Tullow Ghana team for all their support and assistance since I joined the company and wish them and Tullow well for the future. I shall watch their progress with great pride and interest,” he said.
Mr Awotwi leaves at a time Tullow finds itself in difficulties as its shares plunged to a 16-year low in December 2019. The company shocked its investors by cutting its production forecast, scrapping its dividend and announcing that its chief executive and exploration director had left.
He has over 25 years experience in the energy and extractive industry. He also served for over four years as CEO of the Volta River Authority and at Ashanti Goldfields Company, where he was MD in charge of Strategic Planning and New Business Development.
His successor, Mr Al Monthiry, brings to Tullow extensive experience of operations management, asset development and a track record of safe production operations.
He spent 17-years-old with BP in various upstream operations leadership and asset management positions around the world.
Earlier in his career, Wissam worked for Goldman Sachs as a Corporate Finance Analyst focused on the energy sector.
Wissam will spend the majority of his time in Ghana, with the Director of External Affairs, Social Performance and Local Content, Cynthia Lumor, taking on greater responsibility for Tullow Ghana’s key government relationships.
“I am looking forward to building on the strong foundations established by Kweku and ensuring Tullow continues to play a key role in Ghana’s oil and gas industry,” Al Monthiry said of his new job.