Santos appoints Roc Oil’s chief executive as CFO

Australian oil and gas company Santos has appointed ROC Oil’s Anthony Neilson as its new Chief Financial Officer.

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Roc Oil Company (ROC), Neilson is expected to start duties with Santos in December 2016.

Before working in ROC, Neilson held commercial, financial, and business services roles at Caltex Australia, Credit Suisse First Boston in London, and Arthur Andersen in Sydney.

Neilson holds a Masters of Business Administration from AGSM and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Gallagher, said: “We are very pleased to have secured a high caliber and accomplished executive in Anthony Neilson.”

“Anthony has over 14 years’ experience in upstream and downstream oil and gas. His strong financial and risk management skills will further enable Santos to reduce costs, increase operating cash flow and manage its balance sheet to create value for its shareholders. Anthony will join a new Executive Committee which has the technical capabilities needed to transform Santos into a reliable, low-cost and high-performance business.”

Santos added that its current Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Seaton, who recently announced his retirement from Santos after eleven years of service, will remain with the company to ensure an orderly transition.