Neil McCulloch and Terry Savage have been appointed cochairmen of Oil & Gas UK where they will respectively represent the operator and contractor communities.
Their predecessors, Trevor Garlick of BP PLC and John Pearson of Amec Foster Wheeler PLC, have both stepped down from the board having completed the maximum period of tenure allowed.
Terry Savage is corporate relationship director at Global Energy Group. Neil McCulloch, president of North Sea at EnQuest PLC, commented: “The most important role for my tenure as cochairman is to help drive investment in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), most easily measured by the number of wells being drilled, which is at an all-time low.
“We have to make the UKCS more competitive for investment by streamlining operations and achieving average unit operating costs of $15/boe,” McCulloch said. “We will have to deliver drilling costs of less than half their peak level, and deliver better on our project promises; all the while maintaining our basin’s exemplary safety record.”
Other appointments include:
• Existing board member Ray Riddoch, managing director and senior vice-president Europe at Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd., to vice-cochairman representing the operator community.
• Existing board member Neil Sims, vice-president ECIS Region at Expro North Sea Ltd., to vice-cochairman representing the contractor community.
• Mark Thomas, regional president of BP North Sea, to the board, He has more than 34 years’ experience in operations, strategy, and commercial positions globally.
• Walter Thain, managing director, West, Petrofac Engineering & Production Services business, to the board. He has 25 years’ global oil and gas experience, including senior roles across strategy, business development, and operations within the oilfield services sector.
• Morten Kelstrup, vice-president, managing director of Maersk Oil UK, to the board. He has experience in commercial and leadership roles in a range of oil and gas companies.