Statoil’s acting chair to join Premier Oil as chairman

Premier Oil, a UK-based oil company, has named Statoil’s acting chairman as a new non-executive chairman of the company’s board of directors.

Premier said on Thursday that Roy Franklin would join the company’s board as a non-executive chairman with effect from September 1, 2017.

He succeeds Mike Welton who, after eight years as chairman, announced in March 2017 that he would step down from the board after a successor was appointed.

According to Premier, Roy Franklin has more than 40 years of experience as an executive in the oil and gas industry. He spent 18 years at BP after which he was group managing director of Clyde Petroleum and then CEO of Paladin Resources, until its acquisition by Talisman Energy in 2005.

Since then, Franklin served on several international energy boards in non-executive roles. He is currently the acting chairman of Statoil and a non-executive director of Santos Limited. Franklin is a non-executive director of Amec Foster Wheeler and, on completion of the proposed combination with Wood Group, will be appointed deputy chairman and senior independent director of the combined Group.

Also, Dave Blackwood and Mike Wheeler will join the board with immediate effect as new non-executive directors. These appointments follow the retirement of Joe Darby and David Lindsell at the company’s AGM in May.

Welton said: “I am delighted to welcome Roy, Dave, and Mike to Premier’s board. It has been a privilege to have been chairman of Premier for some eight years. It is a company with great potential, and I am sure that Roy is an excellent choice to chair the Board for the next phase of its development.”

Blackwood worked in various global roles within BP, including heading up BP’s upstream business in the UK and Norway. He also worked for Valiant Petroleum where he was a senior independent director and is a currently a senior advisor with Evercore, a global independent investment banking advisory firm.

Mike Wheeler held roles in businesses in a variety of sectors including KPMG which spanned thirty years. He is currently a non-executive director and chairman of the Audit Committee at Citadel Securities Europe, a non-executive chairman of Glitnir, and a non-executive director and chairman of the Audit Committee of Sunseeker International.

Regarding his appointment, Franklin said: “I very much look forward to joining the board and chairing Premier, a company I have known well for many years. I would like to congratulate Mike Welton on leading the company through a very challenging industry downturn and very much look forward to working with the Board, the management team and all stakeholders.”