• 25 Oct 2010
  • Global

TAQA Appoints Executive Officer and Head of Upstream

Abu Dhabi, UAE – The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX: TAQA), today announced that it has appointed David Cook as Executive Officer and Head of Upstream to lead TAQA’s global upstream division.David joins TAQA following more than 20 years with BP, TNK-BP, and Amoco. Most recently he was Vice President for BP Russia, and also sat on the Board of Directors for three BP–Rosneft joint ventures. Prior to his last role, David worked in various global roles for BP, based in North America, Russia, and the UK. David holds a PhD in Geological Sciences from Michigan State University.In his new role as Executive Officer and Head of Upstream, David will report directly to H.E. Abdulla Saif Al-Nuaimi, CEO and MD, and Carl Sheldon, General Manager, and will be based at the Group’s corporate headquarters in Abu Dhabi. TAQA’s crude oil and natural gas production averaged more than 132,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first half of 2010, representing more than half of the Group’s revenues for the period. The upstream portfolio had approximately 574 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven and probable reserves at 31 December 2009.H.E. Abdulla Saif Al-Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of TAQA, said: “I am delighted that David is joining us as an Executive Officer and the Head of Upstream. He has extensive experience across the financial, commercial and operational aspects of the upstream sector, and his insight and leadership will prove invaluable as we continue to invest in our global upstream portfolio.”- ENDS -CONTACT TAQA:Tanis Thacker
Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
+971 2 691 4933
tanis.thacker@taqa.comTAQA Media RelationsAllan Virtanen
Group Corporate Communications Advisor
+ 31 64 61 47 448
allan.virtanen@taqa.comTAQA Investor RelationsMohammed Mubaideen
Investor Relations Manager
+971 2 691 4964
mohammed.mubaideen@taqa.comNOTES TO EDITORSAbout TAQATAQA is a global energy company majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.Our activities include oil and gas, power generation and water desalination across five continents. With operations in the UK, the Netherlands and North America, our oil and gas business includes exploration and production, storage and pipelines. We produce over 132,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the North Sea and North America, as well as operating and developing extensive gas storage facilities in the Netherlands.Our power plants are located in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, India, the Caribbean and the United States. TAQA is the majority owner in the facilities that provide 98% of the water and electricity requirements in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.Established in 2005, our entrepreneurial culture has laid the foundations for long-term sustainable growth building on our commitment to people, safety and the environment.About David CookMr. David Cook was appointed Executive Officer and Head of Upstream for the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) in October 2010.
Prior to his appointment, David was Vice-President, BP Russia. In that role, he was responsible for all of BP’s E&P operational activities in Russia outside of TNK-BP, as well as all aspects of BP’s business relationship with Rosneft and oversight of BP Russia’s Business Services and Security. He also sat on the Board of Directors for three BP – Rosneft joint ventures.
David began his career with Amoco as a geophysicist. After completion of his PhD in Geological Sciences in 1988 from Michigan State University, his early career was in exploration and production operations in the United States, Canada, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics.
In 1993 David was appointed Exploration Manager based in Sakhalin, Russia, where he ran the local exploration and business development activities for Amoco. Upon his return to the United States in 1995, Dave worked as Executive Staff for Amoco’s International Exploration business for one year before taking on a production operations leadership role the US Gulf of Mexico. He then joined to Amoco’s Corporate and Strategic Planning group in Chicago (USA) in 1997.
In 1999, as part of BP (Amoco), David led the E&P Growth Portfolio Performance Management group in London, with accountability for a broad international portfolio. In mid-2000, Dave became BP’s US Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Commercial Manager.
Returning to Russia in 2003, David joined TNK-BP as the Executive Vice-President of Planning and Performance Management. He left that role in 2005, returning to the United States as the Commercial Director for BP’s Russia Offshore businesses.
In 2007 BP transitioned the Russia Offshore business to Moscow, and David returned to Russia as Vice President and Commercial Director, before taking a general management role as Vice-President, BP Russia in 2008.

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