UK: Sir Bill Gammell Takes Non-Executive Chairman Post at Cairn Energy

Cairn announces a number of changes to the composition of its board of Directors all of which will be effective from 1 July 2011.

The Non-Executive Chairman, Norman Murray, will stand down from the board, as will Malcolm Thoms, Chief Operating Officer and Philip Tracy, Group Engineering and Operations Director. Sir Bill Gammell will step down as the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the board is delighted to announce that he will take over as Non-Executive Chairman. Sir Bill will continue as Chairman of Cairn India and will retain overall responsibility for the current Vedanta transaction.

Simon Thomson, the current Legal and Commercial Director of Cairn, will become CEO.

Dr Mike Watts will continue as Deputy Chief Executive. Jann Brown, in light of her widening responsibilities including Human Resources, Corporate Affairs and Company Secretarial in addition to her current role as Finance Director shall become Managing Director of the Company, reporting to the CEO.

Norman Murray, Chairman, said:

“After twelve years on the Cairn board, nine as Chairman, it is now time to turn my attention and energy to new challenges including my role as Chairman of the board of Petrofac, the international oil and gas facilities service provider.

The board, led by the senior independent director, Iain McLaren, views Sir Bill as overwhelmingly the best choice for Chairman. His 30 years in the oil and gas industry coupled with his knowledge and understanding of operations in South Asia and his experience as Chairman of the publicly listed Cairn India are a unique resource for the company.

Simon’s abilities are of outstanding value to Cairn and are properly recognised by this promotion. Together with Dr Mike Watts and Jann Brown, Cairn has an exceptionally able and experienced team to lead the Group in the future to continue to offer investors significant growth potential.”

Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive, said:

“Norman Murray has contributed enormously to the growth of Cairn during this time and has provided me with constructive challenges, wise counsel and valuable guidance.

Simon has been with Cairn for 15 years and has played an instrumental role in accessing the opportunities that Greenland offers the company as well as in the delivery of value from Cairn’s interests in India. I’m delighted that he has agreed to lead the Company in the next stage of its development.

I look forward to taking on a new and different role as Chairman of the company and to working with the Board to support Simon and the executive management team. I will also continue as Chairman of Cairn India.

In addition, I would also like to place on record my sincere thanks to both Malcolm Thoms and Phil Tracy for their substantial contribution to the success of Cairn over the last twenty two years. Their advice, judgement and contribution at the Cairn Board as well as their leadership on numerous projects including the development of the world class Mangala discovery in Rajasthan have helped transform a small oil company with UK onshore producing interests valued at $10 million in the early 90’s to one of approximately $10 billion today.”

Malcolm Thoms joined Cairn in July 1989 and has held a variety of positions in the company including head of commercial and since 2006 has been Chief Operating Officer responsible for running the day to day business of the company.

Phil Tracy has held a variety of technical, engineering and operations positions with Cairn and its subsidiary companies. Since first joining Cairn in August 1988 Phil has played a key role in the growth of the Company since its inception, serving most recently as overall Project Director for the development of the world-class Mangala discovery located in Rajasthan, North-West India.

Simon Thomson, Legal and Commercial Director, said:

“I am looking forward to leading Cairn as we continue to seek to create and deliver material value for shareholders. Cairn’s key strength of entrepreneurial exploration remains the focus of the Group offering investors significant growth potential in combination with underlying asset value and balance sheet strength.”

Simon was appointed Legal and Commercial Director of Cairn in 2006. His role includes being Head of Assets for the Group and chairman of the Risk Management Committee. He holds a LLB Honours from Aberdeen University and a Diploma in Legal Practice from Glasgow University. He joined Cairn in 1995 during the Bangladesh exploration programme and became Group Commercial Manager in 2000. Prior to his appointment as Legal and Commercial Director, he served on the Group Management Board (now the Chief Executive’s Committee) for six years. Elsewhere, Simon is a non-executive director of Graham’s The Family Dairy Limited and is also a director of the Winning Scotland Foundation.

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Source:Cairn Energy , June 16, 2011;