Board Appointment Raises Bar for Corporate
Governance Standards
Far East Energy has Appointed Independent Board
Committees and Announces the Addition of Randall Keys to Board of Directors
as a Financial Expert
Friday, July 23
Randall Keys |
Far East Energy Corporation has named
Randall D. Keys to its Board of Directors. Keys is the fifth experienced
energy industry executive to join Far East Energy's board as an independent
director in 2004 and comes to Far East Energy with a wealth of experience
as an energy sector financial executive. Far East Energy also announced
the formation of Audit, Compensation and Nominating Committees all charged
with the responsibility to finalize each committee charter by August
2004.
These appointments serve to further
the commitment at Far East Energy to impeccable corporate governance
standards with the Board and management strongly committed to utilization
of the recently appointed independent directors in these critical leadership
roles.
Randall Keys is a partner with Tatum
CFO Partners LLP and has been a financial consultant and independent
CFO since 2001. He has recently served as Chief Financial Officer of
Transmeridian Exploration, Inc., a public oil and gas company with operations
in Kazakhstan. Mr. Keys has over twenty years of financial management
experience in the energy industry. From 1998 to 2001, he served as Chief
Financial Officer of Core Laboratories N.V., a NYSE — listed global
oilfield service company and one of its acquired entities. Prior to
Core Labs, he served as CFO for 3DX Technologies, Inc., a NASDAQ —
listed oil and gas exploration company, Treasurer for Norcen Explorer,
Inc. and in progressive financial management roles at Santa Fe Energy
Resources and one of its predecessors, Adobe Resources. Keys began his
career with the public accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick and is a
Texas CPA.
Michael McElwrath, Chairman |
"Randall Keys will be a tremendous
asset to the company as we organize our audit committees and adopt an
appropriate corporate governance committee structure," said Michael
McElwrath, Chairman and CEO of Far East Energy. He continued, "This
addition of an experienced financial executive to our board allows us
to create the type of highly capable Audit Committee that is so important
in today's corporate world."
The company also announced the board
members who will serve on each of the corporate governance committees
which includes the following: Audit Committee - Chairman Randall Keys,
John Mihm, Thomas Williams; Compensation Committee — Chairman
John Mihm, Thomas Williams, Thomas Cavanagh; Nominating Committee -
Chairman Donald Juckett, Thomas Cavanagh, Randall Keys. Each of these
committees is comprised of independent directors who have been added
to the board during 2004.
"Our independent board members are
all drawn from the senior ranks of the international oil and gas industry,
and they are all committed to playing an active role in assuring that
we achieve the full potential of our prospects in China," said McElwrath.
"They are not only engaged in appropriate corporate oversight, but have
already had significant impact upon our technical program and field
operations. We have over 1.3 million acres of coalbed methane acreage
in China, and these gentlemen will have a direct impact on the steps
we take to develop the maximum value of these assets." Based in Houston,
Texas, with offices in Beijing and Kunming, China, Far East Energy is
focused on the acquisition of, and exploration for, coalbed methane
through its agreements with ConocoPhillips and China United Coalbed
Methane Company (CUCBM).
