A towering figure in the Queensland natural gas industry has abruptly quit his latest gig and it’s not entirely clear why.
Richard Cottee bailed out of Central Petroleum this week after six years of serving as MD of the loss-making outfit.
Adding to the intrigue was the fact that only two months ago Cottee had agreed to stay on for another two years at the helm of the Brisbane-based firm as it shook up the management team.
His departure comes at a critical time for Central as it aims to ramp up gas production ahead of the launch later this year of an $800 million pipeline connecting the Northern Territory to the eastern states.
Dramas have also flared on his watch, including last year’s failed attempt at a board spill by rebel shareholders and a blocked $87 million takeover attempt by Macquarie Group.
Cottee has been an active player in the resources games for nearly 40 years and made a fortune in 2008 when he sold Queensland Gas Company to the BG Group for $5.7 billion.
But Central has been a harder slog as it pivots from exploration to production.
Forced to raise $25.5 million in the December half, the company suffered $3.9 million in red ink over the period. That came after losses of more than $20 million in each of the 2016 and 2017 financial years.
Cottee, who we hear jets off to England next week, did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.
Stepping in to the void as acting CEO is Leon Devaney, who has served as chief financial officer since 2012.
Devaney is a long-time associate of Cottee and toiled with him at QGC back when it was a struggling minnow with a market cap of just $30 million.
ABSOLUTE GENIUS
Martin Kriewaldt, who stepped up as chairman of Central in May, hailed Cottee yesterday as “an absolute genius of the industry after once being derided as a crackpot’’.
But he stressed that Cottee was always going to be leaving at some stage and the board simply decided now was the right time since the company’s strategy and drilling efforts are “humming along’’.
