CALGARY, May 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Vermilion Energy
Inc. ("Vermilion", "We", "Our", "Us" or the "Company") (TSX, NYSE:
VET) announces that Anthony Marino
has stepped down as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a
director of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Marino made
many contributions to Vermilion during his eight-year tenure with
the Company, including various improvements to the cost structure
and associated capital efficiencies. These core competencies will
continue to serve the Company well moving into the future.
Vermilion's Board of Directors (the "Board") would like to thank
Mr. Marino for his contributions to the Company.
The Board is pleased to announce that Lorenzo Donadeo has been appointed Executive
Chairman. Mr. Donadeo has 39 years of experience in the oil and gas
industry. He was a co-founder of Vermilion in 1994 and has served
as Chairman of the Board since March 1,
2016. From 2014 to 2016, Mr. Donadeo served as the Chief
Executive Officer. From 2003 to 2014, he served as President and
Chief Executive Officer and from 1996 to 2003 he served as
Vermilion's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Donadeo has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering (with distinction) from the University of Alberta.
The Board is also pleased to announce that Curtis Hicks is rejoining the Company and has
been appointed President. Mr. Hicks has 40 years of experience in
the oil and gas industry. Most recently, he was Executive
Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Vermilion from 2003
to 2018. During his time at Vermilion, the Company was recognized
as one of the premier Canadian oil and gas companies with a strong
financial structure backstopping disciplined capital allocation. He
was a key contributor to Vermilion's success and culture during his
tenure. Mr. Hicks is a Chartered Professional Accountant and has a
Bachelor of Commerce degree (with distinction) from the
University of Saskatchewan.
In lieu of filling the role of Chief Executive Officer,
Vermilion has created an Executive Committee consisting of a
minimum of five senior executives from within the Company. It will
include the Executive Chairman, President, Chief Financial Officer,
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice-President People and
Culture and Vice-President of Business Development. The Executive
Committee structure was successfully utilized by Vermilion in the
past and has been formally re-established. It will be used by the
organization to review and approve key organizational, financial,
operational and strategic decisions for the Company. This
leadership structure has proven to be a highly collaborative
decision-making model that draws upon the collective knowledge,
experience, business acumen and skills of the senior management
team.
Larry MacDonald will continue as
lead director.
Mr. Donadeo and Mr. Hicks know the Company well. They know the
assets, the people and the corporate culture and have a positive
track record of long-term value creation at Vermilion.
Stated Lorenzo Donadeo, "In these
challenging times, Vermilion will redouble its focus on its core
business principles that have served it well over its successful
26-year history. These principles are based on a conservative,
long-term focus on balance sheet strength and capital discipline to
generate strong returns. This has resulted in Vermilion providing
shareholders with over $3.8 billion,
or $40.20 per share, of dividends
over the last 17 years. This approach has also helped build an
organization underpinned by a high quality, high netback
diversified asset base with strong free cash flow generation.
Through Vermilion's history we have experienced, and more
importantly learned from, several previous severe downturns. To
that end, while our long-term strategic plan is unchanged, we have
acted quickly to ensure the Company can emerge from the current
downturn in a strong financial position. This, together with our
talented and dedicated organizational team gives me confidence that
we can successfully navigate the Company through this very
difficult time and position Vermilion for continued long-term value
creation."
About Vermilion
Vermilion is an international energy producer that seeks to
create value through the acquisition, exploration, development and
optimization of producing properties in North America, Europe and Australia. Our business model emphasizes
organic production growth augmented with value-adding acquisitions,
along with returning capital to investors when economically
warranted. Vermilion is targeting growth in production primarily
through the exploitation of light oil and liquids-rich natural gas
conventional resource plays in Canada and the
United States, the exploration and development of high
impact natural gas opportunities in the
Netherlands and Germany,
and through oil drilling and workover programs in France and Australia. Vermilion holds a 20% working
interest in the Corrib gas field in Ireland.
Vermilion's priorities are health and safety, the environment,
and profitability, in that order. Nothing is more important to us
than the safety of the public and those who work with us, and the
protection of our natural surroundings. We have been recognized as
a top decile performer amongst Canadian publicly listed companies
in governance practices, as a Climate Leadership level (A-)
performer by the CDP, and a Best Workplace in the Great Place to
Work® Institute's annual rankings in Canada, the
Netherlands and Germany. In
addition, Vermilion emphasizes strategic community investment in
each of our operating areas.
Employees and directors hold approximately 5% of our fully
diluted shares and are committed to delivering long-term value for
all stakeholders. Vermilion trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange
and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VET.
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SOURCE Vermilion Energy Inc.