South African national oil company PetroSA has reportedly suspended three of their top executives, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), due to poor performance.

Business Day (BD), a national daily newspaper in South Africa, has reported that PetroSA’s Board gave CEO Nosizwe Nokwe-Macamo, CFO Lindiwe Mthimunye-Bakoro and acting vice-president of upstream operations Andrew Dippenaar, 24 hours to accept the leave or face suspension.

According to the BD, the board of the company said that the forced leave was due to their handling of key initiatives, including Project Ikhwezi; a failed bid to take over Engen and a disastrous investment in Equatorial Guinea.

PetroSA spokeswoman Zama Luthuli reportedly said the board was “engaging” with the three “with a view to them being placed on leave pending an investigation into their performance and company-related matters”.

BD further reported that Luthuli said PetroSA would consider the appointment of an interim management team pending the outcome of the discussions.

Reorganization in March

The company’s CEO issued a statement in March 2015, where she said that organizational changes were made in order to “enhance operational efficiencies in the midst of challenging market conditions, to ensure its survival and sustainability”.

According to the statement, the reorganization has been caused by a feedstock challenge at PetroSA’s Mossel Bay Refinery and the slump in the oil price that had made the company operate at sub-commercial levels.

She also said that the company was engaged in the completion of a cost optimization project that aims to realise R1 billion recurring savings from its operational costs, but the board found those efforts unsatisfactory.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

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