Industry veteran Richard Cottee has taken up the reins as chief executive at conflict-ridden Central Petroleum, saying it’s the company’s massive exploration acreage that appeals to him.

Mr Cottee takes on his new post after quitting Nexus Energy eight months ago following a stoush with the board.

At Central, he’ll encounter shareholders including the larger-than-life billionaire Clive Palmer, who has has taken legal action to increase his stake, and others who have moved to spill the board.

Former chief executive John Heugh was dismissed unceremoniously early in 2012, prompting him to sue the board for unfair dismissal.

Despite the controversies surrounding the company, Mr Cottee has his eye on Central’s 72 million acre area in South Australia and the Northern Territory, the largest holding of exploration acreage in Australia.

It is equivalent to about half the size of Texas or double the size of the United Kingdom.

“There have been two areas have always excited me: Eagle Ford in the US, which I am involved in through my chairmanship with Austin (Exploration) and the Amadeus, Pedirka and Georgina basins in Central Australia,” Mr Cottee told AAP on Tuesday.

“I see this as one of the last frontiers in the (Australian) oil and gas industry.”

The problem is Central Petroleum’s board and management and its inability to commercialise its oil, gas, helium and coal assets.

Mr Cottee is the former chief executive of oil and gas explorer and producer Nexus Energy who tried to spill Nexus’ board himself.

He now hopes Central Petroleum’s shareholders will back his appointment at an extraordinary general meeting in June.

Mr Cottee said he would bring either gas or oil into production within three years, if shareholders ratified his appointment.

Mr Cottee is also the former head of the Queensland Gas Company, which he transformed from an explorer to a coal seam gas producer, which was sold to the BG Group for $5.7 billion.

“The position as I saw it was I could unite the board, management and shareholders to focus on developing an acreage that’s the largest in Australia … you can see it in space type stuff,” he said.

Mr Cottee is attempting to install two aligned new directors on to the Central Petroleum board, former colleague Mike Herrington and mining engineer Wrix Gasteen.

“You can tell from this (board) structure that I’ve learnt a bit from Nexus,” he said.

“As I tell my children: `the fool is a person who repeats mistakes, a wise man is alert to what lessons you can learn from your mistakes’.”

So far only one oil discovery has been made at the Surprise-1 well and the company is expected to look for farm-in partners.

Central Petroleum shares closed 0.3 of a cent higher at 9.6 cents.