Gasco Energy Announces Changes in Officers and Directors
February 01 2010 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Mark Erickson Resigns as CEO, President and Director; Chuck Crowell
Named Interim CEO; King Grant Named President & CFO DENVER,
Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gasco Energy (NYSE Amex: GSX)
today announced the resignation of Mark A. Erickson from his
position as president and chief executive officer and as a member
of the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Erickson, whose
resignation became effective January 27, 2010, is leaving the
Company so that he may pursue other business opportunities. As part
of the resignation, Mr. Erickson has agreed to serve as a
consultant for the Company for nine months in order to assist the
Company with the transition process. The Company also today
announced that effective January 29, 2010, the Board of Directors
appointed director Charles B. Crowell to serve as the Company's
interim chief executive officer while continuing to serve as a
director of the Company. Mr. Crowell, who has served on various
committees of Gasco's Board of Directors since July 2002, is a
practicing attorney, a consultant to oil and gas companies and
holds directorships on other public company Boards. His over 30
years of oil and gas industry experience and lengthy service to
Gasco as a lead director make him ideally suited to assume the
responsibilities as interim chief executive officer. Mr. Crowell
holds a BA degree from John Hopkins University and a JD from the
University of Arkansas. Also on January 29, 2010, the Board of
Directors appointed the Company's executive vice president and
chief financial officer, W. King Grant, to serve as the Company's
president. He will also maintain his current position as chief
financial officer. Mr. Grant has served as Gasco's chief financial
officer and executive vice president of the Company since July
2001. Mr. Grant holds a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton
University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania. The Company does not expect to enter into any written
employment agreement with Mr. Crowell or to modify the terms of Mr.
Grant's employment agreement with the Company in connection with
the matters disclosed in this news release. Management Comment
Commenting on the new composition of officer and directors, interim
CEO Chuck Crowell said: "The Board of Directors sincerely thanks
Mark Erickson for his service to Gasco and its predecessors since
its inception in 1999. Mark's efforts as a founding Gasco
shareholder were instrumental in identifying and developing the
Company's principal asset, our Riverbend Project in Utah. The Board
wishes Mark every success in his new endeavors. We will continue to
work closely with him during the transition period. With King
serving as president and continuing in his role as chief financial
officer and Mike Decker continuing in his role as executive vice
president and chief operating officer, we have every confidence
that the transition will be very smooth." "Chuck Crowell and I have
worked closely together during the past several years through his
very active position as vice chairman of the Board and as a member
of the executive committee of the Board," said King Grant, Gasco's
president. "He is well apprised of the efforts we are undertaking
to strengthen our balance sheet and his hands-on approach as a
director allows him to seamlessly step in the interim CEO role. In
addition, his long career in various senior-level management
positions in the oil and gas industry will lend perspective to the
ongoing management of the Company." About Gasco Energy Denver-based
Gasco Energy, Inc. is natural gas and petroleum exploitation,
development and production company engaged in locating and
developing hydrocarbon resources, primarily in the Rocky Mountain
region. Gasco's principal business is the acquisition of leasehold
interests in petroleum and natural gas rights, either directly or
indirectly, and the exploitation and development of properties
subject to these leases. Gasco currently focuses its drilling
efforts in the Riverbend Project located in the Uinta Basin of
northeastern Utah, targeting the Wasatch, Mesaverde, Blackhawk,
Mancos, Dakota and Morrison formations. To learn more, visit
http://www.gascoenergy.com/. Forward-looking Statements Certain
statements set forth in this press release relate to management's
future plans, objectives and expectations. Such statements are
forwardlooking within the meanings of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of
historical facts included in this press release, including, without
limitation, statements regarding Gasco's future financial position,
potential resources, business strategy, budgets, projected costs
and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are
forward-looking statements. In addition, forwardlooking statements
generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "project,"
"estimate," "anticipate," "believe," or "continue" or the negative
thereof or similar terminology. Although any forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are to the knowledge or
in the judgment of the officers and directors of Gasco, believed to
be reasonable, there can be no assurances that any of these
expectations will prove correct or that any of the actions that are
planned will be taken. Forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Gasco's actual
performance and financial results in future periods to differ
materially from any projection, estimate or forecasted result. Some
of the key factors that may cause actual results to vary from those
Gasco expects include inherent uncertainties in interpreting
engineering and reserve or production data; operating hazards;
delays or cancellations of drilling operations because of weather
and other natural and economic forces; fluctuations in oil and
natural gas prices in response to changes in supply; competition
from other companies with greater resources; environmental and
other government regulations; defects in title to properties;
increases in the Company's cost of borrowing or inability or
unavailability of capital resources to fund capital expenditures;
fluctuations in natural gas and oil prices; pipeline constraints;
overall demand for natural gas and oil in the United States;
changes in general economic conditions in the United States; our
ability to manage interest rate and commodity price exposure;
changes in the Company's borrowing arrangements; the condition of
credit and capital markets in the United States; our ability to
complete a sale of our gas gathering system and related assets; and
other risks described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1 of the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2008 filed with the SEC on March 4, 2009 and under "Risk
Factors" in Item 1A of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2009 filed with the SEC on
August 4, 2009. Any of these factors could cause our actual results
to differ materially from the results implied by these or any other
forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. We cannot
assure you that our future results will meet our expectations. When
you consider these forward-looking statements, you should keep in
mind these factors. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking
statements attributable to the Company, or persons acting on its
behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors.
Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. The
Company assumes no duty to update or revise its forward-looking
statements based on changes in internal estimates or expectations
or otherwise. DATASOURCE: Gasco Energy, Inc. CONTACT: Investor
Relations for Gasco Energy, Inc.: +1-303-483-0044 Web Site:
http://www.gascoenergy.com/
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