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Economy

Minmet replaces its group finance director

Friday, 21 December 2007

AIM-listed Irish oil, gas, mineral, mining and exploration firm Minmet PLC has announced the resignation of Brian Gibbs and the appointment of Denis Barrett as group executive financial director with immediate effect.

Barrett, 52, is a chartered accountant who spent most of his career with Shell, where he has worked on a wide range of international assignments.

He worked latterly as Corporate M & A Manager with Shell International E&P, Netherlands, where his responsibilities included the detailed evaluation of corporate acquisition targets and the execution of acquisition projects.

Minmet said that he is also experienced in the financial control and management of large scale oil and gas operations.

Peter Maddocks, chairman of Minmet (LSE:MNT), said that Barrett’s senior management experience in Shell and in the oil and gas industry together with his network of contacts in the industry will enable him to make an important contribution to the development of the company.

Trading in the group’s shares was temporarily suspended on 11 October 2007, until Minmet announced that it had terminated all arrangements with Gold Oil plc concerning oil and gas interests in Cuba and Latin America following a re-evaluation. Gold Oil had an interest of 24.76 per cent in Minmet.

The company said in a statement that as some of the oil and gas opportunities which the company was reviewing were in the US, the Minmet board considered that opportunities in the US and Cuba could not be pursued by the same company due to the longstanding US embargo on doing business in Cuba.