Bounty Oil & Gas N.L. (ASX:BUY) has appointed Mr Rob Benkovic as Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect, the company disclosed on 5 November 2026, alongside the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with AGR to establish a framework for operational and drilling support.

Key Points

  • Rob Benkovic appointed Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect, bringing 28 years of upstream oil and gas experience including more than 14 years in senior leadership roles.
  • Benkovic previously served as Chief Operating Officer of 88 Energy Limited, where he led frontier exploration in Alaska and completed the company's first producing acquisition in Texas.
  • Bounty has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with AGR to provide a framework for well planning, drilling programme design, operational readiness and execution support.
  • The company is undertaking due diligence on Block LB-32 offshore Liberia and negotiating Production Sharing Contract terms, with a further detailed announcement to be made in due course.

Rob Benkovic COO Appointment Details

Mr Benkovic is a petroleum engineer with 28 years of upstream industry experience, covering exploration, field development, reservoir engineering, reserves and resources evaluation, production optimisation, acquisition screening, farm-in and farm-out transactions, drilling and completion oversight, and capital markets support. His prior roles include Chief Operating Officer of 88 Energy Limited, where he led frontier exploration and operations in Alaska, identified bypassed pay that informed the Hickory-1 discovery, completed 88 Energy's first producing acquisition in Texas and supported entry into onshore Namibia. He also brings experience from Apache, including operational and reservoir engineering roles across Egypt and Australia encompassing waterflood programmes, infill drilling recommendations and fracture stimulation.

COO Responsibilities Across Bounty's Operational Priorities

As Chief Operating Officer, Mr Benkovic will be responsible for supporting Bounty's operational planning and execution across three key areas: the company's proposed involvement in Block LB-32 offshore Liberia; field development planning and production recommencement activity across Bounty's Surat Basin assets; and the establishment of a disciplined operating framework to assess, develop and execute further oil and gas opportunities. Mr Benkovic will work alongside oil and gas executive Mr David Wall and the broader Bounty team as the company progresses technical and commercial due diligence for Block LB-32 and continued negotiations in relation to Production Sharing Contract terms. Executive Director Sachin Saraf was quoted in the filing commenting on the appointment.

AGR Memorandum of Understanding Framework and Scope

Under the AGR MOU, AGR may provide support to Bounty across areas including well planning, drilling programme design, operational readiness, drilling and completion project management, contractor and service company coordination, technical assurance, HSE and operational risk review, logistics planning, cost and schedule estimation, and execution support for future well operations. The filing states the MOU does not commit Bounty to undertake drilling or incur material expenditure. Any work undertaken with AGR will be subject to agreed work scopes, approvals, funding and project-specific contracting arrangements. The AGR relationship is intended to provide Bounty with access to scalable operational and drilling capability without the need to immediately build a large internal execution team.