Ascent Resources plc said it intended to appoint Gilles Thieffry to the board as non-executive chairman.
The company also created a new joint venture special purpose vehicle with Delta Energy Corp SARL, focusing on new development opportunities in “world-class proven hydrocarbon basins”.
Mr Thieffry has four decades’ legal experience with expertise in capital markets, structured finance and commodity trading.
He began his career in the City of London, holding senior positions at international law firms, including Norton Rose and Andersen Legal (Garretts).
He became a leading practitioner in capital markets and structured finance before relocating to Geneva to establish his own practice, GTLaw which focuses on commodity trading, finance, capital markets and international arbitration.
At GTLaw, Mr Thieffry continues to provide counsel to major multinational corporations.
He also has a “prolific” body of published work, including leading articles in legal journals and the Financial Times, and contributes to academic discourse in these fields.
Mr Thieffry is a graduate of the Université de Franche-Comté, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
He is admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, an avocat of the Geneva Bar, an honorary member of the Paris Bar, and a member of the New York Bar.
Mr Thieffry has additionally served as a non-executive director on the boards of several public and private companies, including listed oil and gas companies.
His appointment to Ascent’s board will be with the support and instead of Ibrahim Diab’s announced in June.
Mr Diab, who is a principal partner of Ascent’s significant shareholder MBD Partners SA, founded Delta along with former Perenco executive and former MD of Carlyle International Energy Partners, Eric Faillenet.