Baraka Petroleum has announced the appointment of current director Peter Cockcroft to the position of chairman. As part of a planned succession, incumbent chairman Shane Doherty will step down to take on the role of deputy chairman. Mr Cockcroft, who has been a Baraka director since the company’s formation, has more than 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, where he has held various management and senior technical roles. In the next 12 months he will guide the management of Baraka’s existing international projects in Mauritania and Mali. Mr Cockcroft is a life fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a life member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, a member of the Institute of Directors (UK), and a non-executive director of Australian Oil Company Ltd.