IOG plc has appointed Esa Ikaheimonen as chair, initially on an interim basis, following today’s company general meeting.
He replaces Fiona MacAulay who has retired from the post.
Mr Ikaheimonen has been the company’s senior independent non-executive director since March 2019 and is at present chair of the audit committee.
He has 30 years’ oil and gas industry experience and strong board level expertise as chief financial officer (CFO) at ADNOC Drilling Company PJSC and non-executive director of Averda International.
Mr Ikaheimonen’s previous experience as a public company chair includes Transocean Partners LLC and Lamor Corporation plc.
His other experience includes CFO and executive director at exploration and production company Genel Energy plc, executive vice president and CFO of Transocean Ltd, and non-executive director at offshore drilling contractor Vantage Drilling International.
Prior to Transocean, Mr Ikaheimonen had a 20-year career at Royal Dutch Shell, culminating in the role of vice president finance for Shell Africa E&P.
IOG said it had started a process to recruit two further non-executive directors to strengthen the board for the next phase of the business.