Northern Drilling’s CEO heads for the exit

John Frederiksen’s offshore drilling contractor Northern Drilling is gearing up to disclose a successor to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position after its current CEO decided to step down from the role.

Thanks to the resignation of Scott McReaken, Northern Drilling‘s current CEO, the firm expects to announce his replacement shortly. McReaken, who has over 15 years of experience in the offshore drilling industry, holds a degree in business administration from the University of Texas.

He was a part of the Seadrill group companies from 2012, where he served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Sevan Drilling Ltd. and Chief Financial Officer of North Atlantic Drilling Ltd., amongst other roles, before he was appointed CEO of Northern Drilling and Northern Ocean Groups in December 2018.

Furthermore, McReaken has served as the Treasurer and Secretary of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) since 2013. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor, who started his career at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Gary W Casswell, Chairman of Northern Drilling’s board of directors, commented: “On behalf of the company, I want to thank Scott for his contributions. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

This resignation comes at a time when Northern Drilling is considering the next steps it can take after its attempts to appeal the court’s arbitration ruling related to canceled orders for two drillships with a South Korean shipbuilder fell through.

The firm’s applications for leave to appeal the ruling on points of law have been refused while the company’s applications challenging the ruling on grounds of serious irregularity have been dismissed.