Birchcliff Energy Ltd. Announces Executive Leadership Changes


CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (“Birchcliff” or the “Corporation”) (TSX: BIR) is pleased to announce various executive leadership changes.

Effective January 1, 2022, Birchcliff’s expanded Executive Team will be as follows:

  • A. Jeffery Tonken
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
  • Christopher Carlsen
President and Chief Operating Officer
  • Bruno Geremia
Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer
  • Myles Bosman
Executive Vice-President, Exploration
  • David Humphreys
Executive Vice-President, Operations
  • Theo van der Werken
Vice-President, Engineering
  • Robyn Bourgeois
Vice-President, Legal, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
  • Hue Tran
Vice-President, Business Development and Marketing

Mr. Christopher Carlsen has been appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer effective January 1, 2022 and will be responsible for overseeing Birchcliff’s day-to-day operations. Mr. Carlsen will report to Mr. A. Jeffery Tonken who will continue as Chief Executive Officer, providing overall leadership and direction for the Corporation. Mr. Tonken will also remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Carlsen is a Professional Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the oil and natural gas industry and has been a significant contributor to the growth and operational success of the Corporation. Since he first joined Birchcliff in 2008, he has held increasingly senior leadership positions with the Corporation. Mr. Carlsen was appointed Vice-President, Engineering in July 2013, where he was responsible for overseeing Birchcliff’s development, reservoir and reserves engineering, as well as strategic planning, joint ventures and marketing. Mr. Carlsen’s experience spans a broad range of areas, including operations, acquisitions and divestitures, finance and sustainability. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (“APEGA”).

Mr. Tonken said, “On behalf of Birchcliff, I would like to congratulate Chris on his appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer. Chris has been an integral contributor to Birchcliff’s success over the years and I am extremely confident that he will make even greater contributions in his new role. He has significant technical and commercial expertise and a proven track record of creating and executing on Birchcliff’s corporate strategy and objectives. He has a deep understanding of our business and culture and has proven that he is a progressive leader with the vision and business acumen to help lead Birchcliff. Throughout his career here at Birchcliff, he has led various high performing multi-disciplinary teams, demonstrating excellent leadership skills focused on teamwork and collaboration that motivates our people to deliver results.”

Mr. Carlsen commented, “I am very excited to be taking on the role of President and Chief Operating Officer and continuing to work with our highly skilled and dedicated team, with the support and guidance of our Board of Directors and the other members of the Executive Team. Our priorities and strategy remain unchanged and we continue to focus on operational excellence, capital discipline, debt reduction and generating free funds flow in order to create shareholder value.”

Birchcliff is also pleased to announce the following executive appointments effective January 1, 2022:

  • Mr. Theo van der Werken has been appointed as Vice-President, Engineering, succeeding Mr. Carlsen. He is a Professional Engineer and is currently the Asset Manager for the Corporation’s Pouce Coupe assets where he has been responsible for the development of the Corporation’s Montney unconventional resource play. Mr. van der Werken has over 19 years of industry experience focused on asset management and operations engineering, working onshore and offshore in Europe, the Middle East and North America. Prior to joining Birchcliff in April 2011, he worked for several oil and gas exploration and production companies and an international service company. Mr. van der Werken holds a Master of Science degree in Mining Engineering from the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands and a Master of Business Administration from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary in the Global Energy Executive MBA program. Mr. van der Werken is a member of APEGA.

  • Ms. Robyn Bourgeois has been appointed as Vice-President, Legal, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Bourgeois first joined Birchcliff in December 2014 as General Counsel and was appointed Corporate Secretary in June 2017. Prior to joining Birchcliff, she was a partner with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP where she practiced in the securities and capital markets group. Ms. Bourgeois holds a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Psychology from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Laws degree with distinction from the University of Alberta. She is a member of the Law Society of Alberta.

  • Mr. Hue Tran has been appointed as Vice-President, Business Development and Marketing. He is currently Business Development Manager where he is responsible for managing the Corporation’s marketing, joint venture and business development activities. Mr. Tran has over 16 years of experience in the oil and natural gas industry in the areas of marketing, joint ventures and business development. Prior to joining Birchcliff in February 2010, he worked for a publicly traded energy infrastructure and logistics company based in Calgary, Alberta that owned and managed a natural gas liquids business. Mr. Tran holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary.

“On behalf of Birchcliff, I would like to congratulate Theo, Robyn and Hue on their appointments, which further strengthen our Executive Team for the future. We take a proactive approach to succession, ensuring that we maintain our strong corporate culture and top tier performance, and these appointments reflect our commitment to promote from within to maintain continuity in our business and reward successful performance. The skills, expertise and perspectives of these three individuals will further complement our existing Executive Team, enhancing Birchcliff’s ability to continuously improve the execution of our business and create value for our shareholders,” said Mr. Tonken.

Also effective January 1, 2022, the current members of the Executive Team, Bruno Geremia, Myles Bosman and David Humphreys, have been appointed as Executive Vice-Presidents as set forth above. Mr. Carlsen and Ms. Bourgeois will report to Mr. Tonken and the other Executive Officers will report to Mr. Carlsen.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to as “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements and information other than historical fact may be forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although Birchcliff believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and Birchcliff makes no representation that actual results achieved will be the same in whole or in part as those set out in the forward-looking statements.

In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the following: that Birchcliff’s priorities and strategy remain unchanged and it continues to focus on operational excellence, capital discipline, debt reduction and generating free funds flow in order to create shareholder value; and that the skills, expertise and perspectives of the three new officers will further complement Birchcliff’s existing Executive Team, enhancing Birchcliff’s ability to continuously improve the execution of its business and create value for its shareholders. With respect to the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the degree to which the Corporation’s results of operations and financial condition will be disrupted by circumstances attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic; prevailing and future commodity prices and differentials, exchange rates, interest rates, inflation rates, royalty rates and tax rates; the state of the economy, financial markets and the exploration, development and production business; the political environment; the regulatory framework; future operating, transportation, marketing, G&A and other expenses; Birchcliff’s ability to access capital and obtain financing on acceptable terms; the timing and amount of capital expenditures and the sources of funding for capital expenditures and other activities; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures to carry out planned operations; the successful and timely implementation of capital projects; results of operations; Birchcliff’s ability to continue to develop its assets and obtain the anticipated benefits therefrom; and the performance of existing and future wells. Birchcliff’s actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of both known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to: the risks posed by pandemics (including COVID-19) and epidemics and their impacts on supply and demand and commodity prices; actions taken by OPEC and other major producers of crude oil and the impact such actions may have on supply and demand and commodity prices; general economic, market and business conditions which will, among other things, impact the demand for and market prices of Birchcliff’s products and Birchcliff’s access to capital; volatility of crude oil and natural gas prices; stock market volatility; an inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources on terms acceptable to the Corporation; operational risks and liabilities inherent in oil and natural gas operations; the occurrence of unexpected events such as fires, severe weather, explosions, blow-outs, equipment failures and transportation incidents; uncertainty that development activities in connection with Birchcliff’s assets will be economic; geological, technical, drilling, construction and processing problems; the failure of drilling results to meet expectations for reserves or production; the accuracy of cost estimates and variances in Birchcliff’s actual costs and economic returns from those anticipated; changes to the regulatory framework in the locations where the Corporation operates; political uncertainty and uncertainty associated with government policy changes; uncertainties and risks associated with pipeline restrictions and outages to third-party infrastructure that could cause disruptions to production; environmental and climate change risks, claims and liabilities; and claims by Indigenous peoples.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists of factors are not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other risk factors that could affect results of operations, financial performance or financial results are included in Birchcliff’s most recent Annual Information Form under the heading “Risk Factors” and in other reports filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Management has included the above summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this press release in order to provide readers with a more complete perspective on Birchcliff’s future operations and management’s current expectations relating to Birchcliff’s future performance. Readers are cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release. Unless required by applicable laws, Birchcliff does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Birchcliff:

Birchcliff is a Calgary, Alberta based intermediate oil and natural gas company with operations concentrated within its one core area, the Peace River Arch of Alberta. Birchcliff’s common shares and cumulative redeemable preferred shares, Series A and Series C are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols “BIR”, “BIR.PR.A” and “BIR.PR.C”, respectively.

For further information, please contact:
Birchcliff Energy Ltd.
Suite 1000, 600 – 3rd Avenue S.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2P 0G5
Telephone: (403) 261-6401
Email: info@birchcliffenergy.com
www.birchcliffenergy.com
 Jeff Tonken – President and Chief Executive Officer

Christopher Carlsen – Vice-President, Engineering

Bruno Geremia – Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer