Last week, the global oil and gas industry was taken unawares by the announcement that Chris Finlayson, chief executive officer of UK’s third-biggest oil and gas producer BG Group, had resigned with immediate effect for personal reasons.
Finlayson joined BG Group in August 2010, and became managing director of BG Advance and a main board director of BG Group in 15 November 2011.
He succeeded Frank Chapman as group chief executive on 1 January 2013. He was previously employed by Shell for over 30 years, rising to executive vice president of global solutions upstream, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
BG said that Andrew Gould, the company’s chairman, would take Finlayson’s place as interim executive chairman until a permanent replacement is appointed.
Gould said in a statement: “I would like to thank Chris for his contribution to the group over the past four years and we wish him well for the future. The board of directors is fully committed to the group’s strategy, which is built upon a portfolio of high-quality assets. The company must accelerate the creation and delivery of the longer-term value for our shareholders, while delivering the group’s business plans. The board felt that it was in the best interests of the group to accept Chris’ resignation and seek fresh leadership to deliver both of these priorities.”
BG said that good progress continues in its Australian operation, with the start up of the Ruby Jo central processing plant. In its Brazilian operation, the firm said that all four buoyancy-supported risers are in position on FPSOs 2 and 3 with two new permanent wells connected. The group’s other first quarter milestone, the commissioning of Bongkot South Phase 4b, was completed in February.
BG said that Egypt “remains challenging”, with volumes in the first quarter declining 35 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013 to 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The firm said this was a result of deteriorating reservoir performance and the high level of diversions to the domestic market, where the group is entitled to a lower share of production.
BG’s 2014 production guidance remains unchanged at between 590,000 and 630,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, although production is now expected to be at the lower end of the range because of the issues in Egypt. The Egyptian issues will similarly affect 2015 production, it added.
Finlayson graduated in 1977 from the University of Machester with a BSc in Physics and Geology
