Hartford-based Magellan Petroleum Corp. said today it has named veteran oilman William H. Hastings as president and chief executive officer and will move its headquarters to Portland, Maine, to be closer to Hastings.
Hastings, 53, succeeds interim CEO Daniel J. Samela, who remains the oil and gas exploration company’s chief financial officer, chief accounting officer and treasurer.
The company, which is traded on Nasdaq, produces about 1.5 million barrels annually and has market capitalization of $25 million. At 11 a.m., its shares traded at 62 cents, up 2 cents, or 3.3 percent.
The company also announced that Timothy L. Largay has resigned from the board of directors after 12 year, and given up his as assistant secretary and a director of Magellan’s principal subsidiary, Magellan Petroleum Australia Ltd.
To fill Largay’s vacancy, the board elected Hastings was elected to a three-year term, beginning with the 2008 annual meeting and expiring at the meeting in 2011. The date of the 2008 annual meeting has yet to be set.
Chairman Walter McCann said Magellan will benefit from Hastings’ experience as it expands its oil and gas explorations in Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom.
“Magellan’s acquisition of a 100 percent interest in our Magellan Petroleum Australia subsidiary two years ago was a major milestone in our company’s history,” Â McCann said in a statement
The company did not give a timetable for moving headquarters from 10 Columbus Blvd. to Portland, Maine.
Hastings, who lives in Falmouth, Maine, most recently was president of Nova Atlantic Group LLC, which develops abandoned or overlooked natural gas reserves. He previously spent 26 years at Marathon Oil in Houston, where he was responsible for new business development and asset growth.
Hastings is a 1977 graduate of Purdue University, with a B.S. in industrial management and a 1980 MBA in managerial finance from Indiana University.
