Venture Global LNG hires Morgan Stanley Vice Chairman William M. Wicker as Chief Executive Officer

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Venture Global LNG, Inc. has hired William M. Wicker to lead the company as CEO. Mr. Wicker previously served as Morgan Stanley's Vice Chairman of Investment Banking in the Natural Resources Group. Mr. Wicker's track record in the energy industry and finance is highly accomplished, having served in senior positions previously at both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and as a Senior Vice President at Texaco.

In addition to general management responsibilities, Mr. Wicker will focus on leading the company's international lines of business and project finance. As an investment banker and energy industry executive, Mr. Wicker has conducted business in 26 countries including: Brazil, Russia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Canada, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.  

Bob Pender, Venture Global's Co-Chairman, stated, "We are truly excited to have Bill join Venture Global. We believe Bill is the perfect leader for our growing team and that his extensive international energy experience will complement our global growth plans."

"Bill's experience as a leading senior international investment banker and advisor will be critical to the success of our capital markets and financing strategy," said Mike Sabel, Co-Chairman of Venture Global.

Mr. Wicker came to Venture Global from Morgan Stanley, where his clients included several major oil companies, state owned energy companies and large U.S. independents. Prior to working at Morgan Stanley, Mr. Wicker spent seven years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Partner Managing Director in the Natural Resources Group in New York. In 2005 and 2006, Mr. Wicker served as Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities Company Limited and Co-Head of Investment Banking in Asia Ex-Japan, based in Beijing. Before Goldman, Mr. Wicker was a Senior Vice President at Texaco, responsible for worldwide refining and marketing, natural gas marketing, lubricants, power and gasification, alternative energy and corporate development.  Prior to joining Texaco in 1997, he was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse First Boston and Co-Head of the firm's Global Energy Group. Previous to this position, Mr. Wicker was a consultant with McKinsey & Co.

Mr. Wicker holds a B.A. from Union College, an M.A. from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

About Venture Global LNG

Venture Global LNG is currently developing the Calcasieu Pass project, a liquefaction and export facility in Cameron Parish Louisiana, south of the city of Lake Charles. Pending regulatory approval, the project will serve LNG markets by exporting ten million metric tonnes per annum of LNG to customers around the world. Venture Global LNG plans to be a long-term, low-cost producer of LNG, capitalizing on low-cost natural gas production in the United States. Venture Global LNG's strategy utilizes a highly efficient, low-cost, mid-scale LNG liquefaction technology in a base-load configuration. Venture Global LNG intends to develop, own and operate additional LNG liquefaction and export facilities in the future.

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SOURCE Venture Global LNG, Inc.