Aker BP’s SVP of exploration jumps ship to join Neptune

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has appointed a new vice president and group head of exploration as well as a group human resources director.

Neptune said on Wednesday that both senior appointments would be based in London.

The company named Gro Gunleiksrud Haatvedt as its vice president and group head of exploration.

Haatvedt joins Neptune from Aker BP where she has been the senior vice president of exploration for the last four years.

Previously, she was the senior vice president for the Norwegian Shelf at Equinor. During this period, Equinor made several significant discoveries, including Johan Sverdrup, one of the five largest fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

During her career in Equinor, Haatvedt was also responsible for business development in the Middle East and was the country manager for Libya. In 2016, she was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Group Petroleum Medal from the British Geological Society.

Also, Amanda Chilcott will take up the position of the group human resources director. She joins Neptune from Aggreko where she was the human resources director of the Power Solutions division.

Chilcott brings more than twenty years of international HR experience gained at BP and Ford, both organizations that are recognized for their HR management and talent development.

Jim House, CEO of Neptune Energy, said: “Gro and Amanda have exceptional track records in their fields, and each will play a major role in our plan to become a leading independent international E&P company.”

These two appointments follow four recent appointments by the company. Namely, David Hemmings was appointed by Neptune to the position of vice president of business development in June with a starting date in early July 2018.

Neptune Energy also made three senior appointments in its Aberdeen and London offices in early August.

Pete Jones was named as the UK managing director. Bruce Webb was appointed to the global position of vice president of operations while Andrea Guerra was named as the corporate vice president of reservoir engineering.