02 January 2015, News Wires – Rudolph Berends, chairman and chief executive of Latin America-focused explorer Baron Oil, has died, the company said on Friday.
Berends, a former explorationist with Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell, passed away on Friday, the London-listed company said in a brief statement, without elaborating.
Baron’s website lists Berends as 66 years of age, with 39 years of experience in the industry.
Berends had been chairman and chief executive of Baron since August 2012. “Our thoughts are with the family of Mr Berends at this difficult time,” the company said.
Starting out as an explorationist with Shell, Berends gained more than 20 years of experience in Latin America, where he became chief executive and president of various companies.
Bill Conlon, currently a non-executive director – a position he also holds at Energy XXI and Infrastrata – will assume the role of executive director as the company searches for a new chief executive.
In September Baron took over full control of Block XXI onshore Peru after taking Brazilian mining giant Vale’s 70% in a deal that also saw the junior land $3.5 million in cash.
In late October it gained approval to enter the drilling phase at its offshore acreage in Peru after Petroperu agreed to convert the third phase in its Block Z-34 from a seismic to a drilling obligation.
The regulators at the same time granted the explorer a force majeure on the deep-water Talara basin licence until it can secure a suitable drillship for the well.
– Upstream