The CEO of BP who became the focal point of community anger after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the US coast in April 2010 has not just faded into obscurity. Tony Hayward, who famously incited anger with his “I’d like my life back” comment and various other statements which were perceived as selfish and insensitive, resigned from BP later in 2010. Less than a year later, he was one of the founders of a new resources company, Vallares.
A few months later, in November 2011, Vallares completed the reverse acquisition of a Turkish oil company, Genel Enerji, with the merged company being a British listed company Genel Energy plc, and Tony Hayward as the CEO. Genel has significant exposure to high-risk oil investments, with a major part of its operations in Kurdistan, a troubled part of Iraq that is considered highly susceptible to sovereign risk.
Genel Energy has now received a licence from the Somaliland government to search for oil and gas, and has agreed to invest $40 million in exploration efforts, starting this month. According to most countries, Somaliland forms part of Somalia, up until recently one of the most troubled countries in the world. According to the Somaliland government, however, Somaliland is a different country. Genel’s investment in Somaliland follows the launch of a $17 million Coca-Cola plant earlier this year.