British energy executive from Canada takes helm of Ukrainian oil giant Ukrnafta's oversight board

British executive Duncan Nightingale has been appointed as the new chair of the Supervisory Board of PJSC Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil producing company, as announced on the company's website on Wednesday.

Nightingale has been a member of the board and chief executive officer of the Canadian oil and gas company Blacksteel Energy since October 2022.

Before that, he was a top manager of other Canadian companies – CGX Energy, Inc., which is engaged in mining on the shelf of Guyana and Suriname in South America, as well as Frontera Energy Colombia.

In total, he has more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, and is an international expert in the search for oil and gas reserves in Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Nightingale was elected to the vacant position due to the early termination of the powers of the previous supervisory board of Ukrnafta.

Ukrnafta is the largest oil producer in Ukraine, the company is also the operator of one of the largest networks of gas stations. The company belongs to Naftogaz of Ukraine and the state represented by the Ministry of Defense, which on November 5, 2022, by decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, received the shares of private shareholders. After the end of martial law, the shares must either be returned to the owners or they will be reimbursed for their value.

The previous composition of the supervisory board of Ukrnafta was elected on November 7, 2022. It includes Nataliya Boyko, Roza Tapanova, Oleksandr Hryban, Andriy Hota and Dmytro Abramovych. In March 2024, following a competition, the company's shareholders appointed a supervisory board for the first time, where the majority are independent directors.