A committee is to be appointed to manage the day-to-day affairs of state-owned Heritage Petroleum.
This is according to government officials who confirmed to Guardian Media that the company’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Wiley is recovering from major surgery and has been advised by his doctors not to travel to T&T until his treatment is complete.
Wiley has been out of the country for the last two months following a diagnosis of a serious illness but sources say his prognosis looks good and he has been working from his home in Texas.
While board member Nigel Campbell has been acting in the CEO’s position, the board met last week and agreed that the arrangement was not good enough and that a committee including senior management, board members and Wiley would be formed to oversee the day-to-day operations of the state company.
Government sources say the directive for the appointment of the committee is expected to take place shortly.
Wiley, who has decades of experience in the international oil and gas sector, was hired as CEO of Heritage the company that replaced the exploration and production of the former Petrotrin.
In a previous interview the Guardian Media, Wiley said his mandate was to get Heritage to the Top 25 international competitor level (from Petrotrin’s bottom 25 ranking) and ensure exploration and production (E&P) drives the restructured entity as the Government plans.
Last week, the Opposition spokesman on energy David Lee questioned Wiley’s absence from work.
In a press release Lee demanded that the Minister of Energy and the Board of Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL) to account for the absence of the company’s CEO.
The Government has been tight-lipped on the issue and several calls to the cellphone of Heritage Chairman Wilfred Espinet went unanswered.