Gulf Keystone drafts in former Army chief
THE FORMER head of the British Army, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, has been appointed a non-executive director of oil company Gulf Keystone.
Lord Guthrie, who was chief of the defence staff between 1997 and 2001, is a cross bench member of the House of Lords.
He was director of NM Rothschild & Sons Limited from 2001 to this year and is currently a director of Sciens Capital, Colt Defense and Petropavlovsk.
He is a council member of The International Institute of Strategic Studies; a visiting professor and honorary fellow of King’s College London and chairman of the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.
Guthrie, 72, is also the president of several charities, including Action Medical Research and the Army Benevolent Fund.
Educated at Sandhurst, he went on to become a squadron commander with 22 Special Air Service Regiment and to advise two Prime Ministers on military strategy.
In 2008 he clashed with the then-chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown over the issue of military funding.
Gulf Keystone chief executive Todd Kozel said: “As we set about the further strengthening of our Board, we are delighted to welcome Lord Guthrie to Gulf Keystone as a non-executive director.
“He brings a wealth of experience to the company, honed over a long and distinguished career in which he has worked at the highest levels of strategy and policy development, both in the UK and abroad.
“We greatly look forward to his positive contribution to Gulf Keystone as we continue to capture the value of our world class acreage in Kurdistan.”
Last month Gulf Keystone said it had raised $200m (£127m) to fund its development programme and exploration in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The Aim-listed company aims to be producing 15,000 barrels a day by the end of the year and ultimately 440,000 barrels a day, with a new pipeline to be built to boost supply.