Exploration & Production | People

InterOil Corporation Appoints New CEO, Chairman

Share Print Bookmark    |    Tuesday,August 12,2014

InterOil Corporation has appointed former BG Group Chief Executive Officer and Shell executive Chris Finlayson as Chairman-designate.

Mr Finlayson, 58, joins the board immediately, and will replace Dr Gaylen Byker, after an appropriate handover.

InterOil is an independent oil and gas company operating in Papua New Guinea where it has discovered one of Asia's largest gas fields, Elk-Antelope, which it is developing as a liquefied natural gas project with Total of France and Oil Search Limited of Papua New Guinea.

The company also recently began Papua New Guinea's largest exploration and appraisal campaign across about 16,000sqkm of its licences that surround the Elk-Antelope discovery.

Mr Finlayson, who is a director of Lloyd's Register, is the former Chief Executive of FTSE 100 company BG Group and a former Executive Vice President and Managing Director with Royal Dutch Shell.

Extensive global experience

He has nearly 40 years' global experience and has led exploration and production ventures in Russia, Nigeria, Brunei, UK North Sea, Europe and Asia with BG Group and Shell, overseeing production of more than one million barrels of oil equivalent a day and directing several major capital projects.

Mr Finlayson has more than 15 years' senior level experience in the LNG industry, covering upstream development through to LNG shipping and marketing, and he has worked successfully with customers, joint venturers, national oil companies, and governments, particularly in major LNG-importing countries such as China, Japan and Korea.

Mr Finlayson, a geologist, physicist and petroleum engineer, said he was excited to join InterOil as it moved into development of Elk-Antelope.

Mr Finlayson said: "This is one of the most significant upstream LNG projects globally and I look forward to working with the board, management, shareholders, and the Government of Papua New Guinea to continue the transformation of InterOil into a major Asian energy player."

Dr Byker, who announced at the company's annual meeting in June that he would retire after 17 years on the board, said Mr Finlayson was a perfect fit for InterOil's next phase of growth.

Dr Byker said: "Chris's global experience and network will be invaluable during this phase, which includes development of Elk-Antelope. 

His appointment continues InterOil's transformation to a world-class explorer and producer, particularly as we build our relationship with super-majors such as Total."

New leader in an exciting phase of growth

InterOil Chief Executive Dr Michael Hession said Mr Finlayson's appointment strengthened the board's capacity as it moved into project development and built on the pioneering work of directors such as Dr Byker.

Dr. Hession said: "In the past year, we have signed a multi-billion-dollar LNG agreement with Total, streamlined our business to focus on exploration and development, strengthened our balance sheet, assembled a first-class senior management team, and begun a fully funded drilling program that is one of the biggest in Papua New Guinea's history.

Chris will assist us to build on these achievements and is ideal for guiding us through the next exciting phase of growth."