Novus sold its controlling interest in Nido earlier this week. Former director, Charles Morgan, also managing director of West Oil, was reappointed to the board. Lawyer Jeremy Shervington was also appointed.

Novus director Mike Sandy, said Nido had served its purpose for his company, but with Novus' new push into the more benign parts of the Middle East and into the United states, he said it was time to leave Nido to its own destiny.

Henderson, who was appointed to the Nido board during Novus' reign, said Nido still had the same assets and the same people, referring to long time exploration manager, Joe Solomon, and their offshore Filipino acreage in the Palawan Basin.

"We will be acting like a small exploration company," said Henderson, "and trying to increase the share value for shareholders. It is a positive change."

However, Henderson did not rule out leaving the oil and gas sector, after being questioned on whether Nido may become a vehicle for Morgan's other recent business interests, which have included media and biotech startups, and a space launch venture. "We are reviewing all our assets. We hope the new directors - Charlie is a non-executive director - will come to the table with a lot of bright ideas. We're not ruling anything out."