CALGARY, Dec. 4, 2015 /CNW/ - Connacher Oil and Gas Limited (CLC - TSX; "Connacher" or the "Company") today announced that Merle Johnson, formerly Connacher's Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and a director of Connacher, replacing Brent de Jong who was formerly Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Connacher.

Mr. Johnson has 19 years of combined experience in conventional oil and gas, thermal oil and mining. He has been integrally involved in the growth of Connacher from an oil sands start-up company to an approximately 14,500 barrel per day SAGD producer.

Mr. Johnson joined Connacher in June of 2007 during the construction of Connacher's first SAGD bitumen project at Pod One. He was promoted to Vice President in 2009 and to Chief Operating Officer in 2012. He has been responsible for all aspects of the Company's operations, including project management, production, drilling and research and development.  

Mr. Johnson began his career as a mechanical engineer in oil and gas and moved into production and operations at the Belle Plaine Potash Mine in Saskatchewan. In 2001 he moved to Calgary to work on the construction and start-up of Cenovus' Christina Lake SAGD project and has been involved in thermal oil production for the past 14 years.  

Mr. Johnson, a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, is a P.Eng with a bachelor's degree from the University Of Saskatchewan and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Calgary.

About Connacher

Connacher is a Calgary-based in situ oil sands developer, producer, and marketer of bitumen. The Company holds a 100 per cent interest in approximately 440 million barrels of proved and probable bitumen reserves and operates two steam-assisted gravity drainage facilities located on the Company's Great Divide oil sands leases near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

SOURCE Connacher Oil and Gas Limited