Circle Oil appoints new general manager in Egypt

Circle Oil announced Monday the appointment of Hassan Hataba as General Manager of the company's Egypt operations.

Hataba will take over from Tarek Elbarkatawy who resigned as general manager and has accepted a role as First Undersecretary for Exploration and Agreements at Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum.

Hataba, who has also worked for Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum, has 37 years of oil and gas experience including at the Suez Gulf Petroleum Company and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. He studied geology at Cairo Univeristy and was Chief Geologist at Gupco.

Chris Green, Chief Executive Officer of Circle Oil, said: "We sincerely thank Tarek for his contribution over the last year and wish him every success in his new appointment in the Ministry of Petroleum. We in turn welcome Hassan to the Circle management teams we continue our strategy to strengthen our management on the ground in the countries in which we operate.

"With his extensive experience and local knowledge of Egypt we look forward to Hassan's contribution to Circle's growth in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region. Hassan's existing role within Circle provides him with an excellent working knowledge of our Egyptian operations and will enable a seamless transition between him and Tarek."

Hataba will start his new role at the oil and gas exploration company on January 1st.

RD