Todd Kozel, founder and chief executive of Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), has acceded to renewed institutional pressure by stepping down from the board in favour of John Gerstenlauer, previously GKP's chief operating officer. The move attracted broad support, particularly with those shareholders at odds with the inflated level of executive pay. The issue took on a greater degree of urgency as GKP's share price halved over the past 12 months on concerns over financing, together with a reserves downgrade at its key Shaikan field in Kurdistan.
Mr Kozel declined to seek re-election within a month of the sudden departure of GKP's finance director, Ewen Ainsworth. The general exodus was completed by the departure of the three non-executive directors brought in last July to placate leading institutional shareholders M&G and Capital Research Global Investors.
