Tony Hayward, the former BP chief executive, is negotiating the purchase of a majority stake in Kurdistan-focussed Turkish exploration and production firm Genel Enerji, according to a report in the London Guardian.
Hayward, who left BP in the wake of the Macondo disaster and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is looking to take a contolling stake in the publically-traded Genel Enerji private. Genel Enerji’s chief, Mehmet Sepil, was fined $1.6 million by the UK’s Financial Services Authority last year in London for insider dealing, according to the Guardian report.
The $1.6 billion Vallares investment vehicle was launched by Hayward and financier Nat Rothschild earlier this year, and has been hunting for profitable opportunities. Genel Enerji has interests in several oil fields across Iraqi Kurdistan.
The company’s assets are subject to a final agreement between the Kurdish autonomous region’s government and Baghdad on the legal status of oil deal made before the country’s suite of hyrocarbons laws have been passed.
Vallares confirmed to the Guardian that the two sides were in early talks about an injection of cash in return for Vallares control. Hayward would act as a full-time chief executive of the business which would be able to use the Vallares stock market listing to raise more money in London.
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