In an unexpected announcement, Northern Oil and Gas said Oct. 1 that President Ryan Gilbertson would be retiring immediately to pursue a range of personal interests.
Through a consulting agreement announced the same day, Northern said Gilbertson, 36, would continue to advise the company’s board of directors through October 2014.
Northern said Gilbertson resigned to have more time for other interests, including “charitable activities and various business opportunities.”
In a statement, Gilbertson said, “After careful consideration, I have decided that the time has come to spend more time pursuing personal interests. I am grateful for all the experiences Northern Oil has given me and I am confident in the future of the company and the current team’s ability to maximize shareholder value. I continue to be a substantial shareholder of Northern Oil and I look forward to providing perspective in my new role as a consultant to the board.”
Northern said it did not plan to fill the vacant president position.
Along with CEO Michael Reger, Gilbertson helped launch the Minnesota-based company in 2006. Gilbertson served as chief financial officer before becoming president in 2010.
With 180,000 net acres in North Dakota and Montana, Northern claims to be the tenth largest leaseholder in the Bakken, where its operating partners produces 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Marshall Carver of CapitalOne Southcoast told Upstream magazine online he sees the Gilbertson’s departure as “a loss for the company based on his role in the company’s growth.”
Curtis Trimble of Global Hunter Securities called the move “peculiar,” but downplayed the impact, saying Northern “has reached sufficient scale and retains sufficient managerial capacity to maintain the company’s momentum despite his departure.”
—Eric Lidji
