UK-listed oil and gas company Afentra—short for African Energy Transition—aims to revitalize mature oil fields with a focus on efficiency. With existing assets in Angola, the company is seeking additional opportunities across West Africa. CFO Anastasia Deulina has served as the group’s finance chief since its inception in 2021.
Global Finance: What are the main challenges you’ve faced as CFO?
Anastasia Deulina: The biggest challenge has been the fact that we’re a startup. The three of us—myself, Paul McDade [CEO], and Ian Cloke [COO]—all came from a much larger company, Tullow Oil. We left Tullow and founded Afentra in 2021. That was the most challenging period, because there was no certainty that we could raise financing or successfully acquire assets.
On a personal level, my journey as CFO has also been unique. I’m not a traditional CFO: I didn’t come up through the accounting ranks or firms like PwC or Deloitte. My background is more technical, with a mix of economics, engineering, and business. Stepping into the CFO role meant embracing responsibilities I hadn’t specifically trained for throughout my career.
Taking on the full CFO remit meant I was suddenly responsible for fundraising, audit processes, and other key functions that don’t traditionally fall under a business-development role. I would say the challenge has been twofold: first, coming together as a team to build something new and lead others through uncertainty; and second, personally transitioning into a role that pushed me far beyond my previous experience.
GF: What specific CFO skills does the oil and gas industry require?
Deulina: The oil and gas sector is somewhat unique in that it isn’t primarily concerned with selling the product in a traditional sense, nor do we have control over its pricing. What we can do, and what some companies manage better than others, is to mitigate the price risk associated with selling oil. At Afentra, we’ve been both persistent and consistent in our approach to hedging. As a relatively small company, it’s especially important for us to manage risk prudently; we want to ensure financial stability, pay our bills on time, and ultimately, sleep well at night. Capital discipline is critical, which is why we apply our hedging strategy with such rigor.
GF: There’s a general view that global risk has increased significantly. Where do you see the main risks emerging over the next couple of years?
Deulina: If I truly knew, I’d probably be doing something else for a living. What I can say is this: I’ve been in the oil and gas industry for 28 years, and there has never been a time when you could predict the future with certainty.
When I was writing my thesis back in 1998-99, the entire oil industry seemed on the brink of collapse. Oil prices had dropped to $10 a barrel. Everyone was consolidating; companies were buying each other out, Houston was becoming the hub and the industry was shrinking. It felt like the end of the world.
Today, the challenges are different. Oil is no longer $11 a barrel, but the volatility remains. This industry has always been a roller coaster, with different dynamics, different players, and different geopolitical forces driving change. Right now, the global landscape is heavily influenced by decisions coming out of the US. With the Trump administration, certain decisions that have surprised the market—though perhaps not entirely—such as trade negotiations and policy shifts, continue to evolve.
GF: What makes Africa a logical focus at such a time?
Deulina: The truth is, no one knows exactly what will happen. But what we do know is that the world will continue to need oil and gas, and that isn’t going to change any time soon. Africa, in particular, needs a robust and sustainable oil and gas industry to support its population and economic development.
If you’re living in London, Houston, or New York, your perspective is very different from someone on the ground in Brazzaville, Nigeria, or Uganda. Travel to those places, and you’ll see the world through a very different lens.
Angola is a proud country with deep traditions in oil and gas. That industry will continue, regardless of what happens between Russia and Ukraine, or the US and Canada. For us at Afentra, our mission goes beyond creating value for shareholders or supporting our employees. We are deeply focused on serving our primary stakeholders: the people and government of Angola. That’s where our business is rooted.