A new North Sea exploration and production (E&P) company has been launched by former chief executives of Faroe Petroleum and Spirit Energy.
They have called it Curium Resources and it is registered to an address in Suffolk.
Graham Stewart, who led Aberdeen-based Faroe until its buyout by Norway’s DNO in 2019, is non-executive chairman of the company.
Chris Cox, until recently the interim CEO of Capricorn Energy and the former top boss at Spirit Energy, is chief executive.
Curium’s mission
According to its website, Curium aims to become a “leading and sustainable independent participant in the UK’s upstream energy sector”.
The firm says its geoscientists and engineers have identified “a number of promising opportunities”.
It plans to initially focus on “stranded and late life gas assets in the southern North Sea”.
New firm’s operations director, Douglas Nunn, has largest stake
Companies House filings list Douglas Nunn, the firm’s Norfolk-based operations and HSE (health, safety and environment) director, as the only person with significant control (over 25% but not more than 50%).
Curium says it will contribute to reliable natural gas supply in the UK, using “innovative technologies and best practices”.
The firm will also “evaluate and invest in opportunities for low-carbon gas production and carbon capture and storage”.
Graham Stewart and Faroe Petroleum
Curium’s chairman and chief executive are well-kent faces in the North Sea sector.
Mr Stewart founded Faroe in 1998 and was its chairman until 2002, when he took on the role of chief executive.
Faroe was acquired by DNO in a hostile takeover valuing the business at £640 million.
Mr Stewart said later he bore “no hard feelings” over what happened despite a war of words between the two companies in the run-up to the buyout.
He and other members of the former Faroe team launched London and Stavanger-based Longboat Energy in 2019, with him as chairman.
Chris Cox and Spirit Energy
Mr Cox stood down as CEO of Spirit Energy in February 2022 after six years with the firm and its parent company Centrica.
He has spent 40 years in the E&P sector with firms including Chevron, Hess and BG Group.
Earlier this year he was appointed interim CEO of Capricorn Energy, formerly Cairn Energy, after its planned merger with Tullow Oil fell through. Randy Neely, previously of Egypt-focused TransGlobe Energy, took on the role full-time earlier this month.
In a statement on Curium’s website, Mr Cox said: “Our vision is to be a leading and sustainable independent UK gas development and production company, providing a reliable source of energy to power homes and businesses, while minimising our impact on the environment through efficient innovative and responsible practices.
