Excelerate Names New Chief

Excelerate Energy, the pioneering LNG midstream company, announced late March 6 that Steven Kobos was appointed managing director with effect from March 1.

The statement said tersely that the position of its president/CEO had been eliminated, without mentioning Rob Bryngelson who held the top job at the company for nearly 11 years since July 2007.

Bryngelson led the company, which is now 100% owned by US billionaire George Kaiser, during its expansion – including a period up to mid-2013 when it was 50%-50% owned by Kaiser and German utility RWE.

The statement said: "Kobos joins Excelerate in this capacity after serving the company for the last 11 years as an attorney for Frederic Dorwart Law. During that time, Kobos focused on Excelerate's operational, development and contractual transactions. His full 27 years of experience encompasses a concentration on complex energy and infrastructure development projects, shipping, operational agreements and related project finance and tax matters in the Middle East, Asia, South America, Europe and the US." The new managing director, who holds a doctorate in law and BA both from the University of Oklahoma, remarked: "I'm thrilled to be a part of the respected and innovative Excelerate Energy team."

In response to a specific query from NGW, an Excelerate spokesperson responded: "Mr. Bryngelson's last day was February 28. While the company appreciates Mr. Bryngelson's years of service, the owner and board believe this to be the best course of action to position the company for continued growth in the regasification sector as demand for natural gas remains high around the world."

Excelerate Energy has floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) deployed on behalf of third parties from Argentina and Brazil in the western hemisphere to Dubai, Kuwait, Israel and Pakistan in the east, with more projects including in Bangladesh planned.