Ricardo Darre will take the role of chief executive officer of Argentina’s 51% state-owned YPF SA effective July 1.
He succeeds Chief Financial Officer Daniel Gonzalez, who has served as interim chief executive officer since the departure of Miguel Galuccio in April under the direction of new Argentinian President Mauricio Macri.
Darre has led Total SA’s US exploration and production unit based in Houston since August 2014, overseeing its shale and ultradeepwater operations in the country.
He joined Total in 1987 and served in technical roles in Tierra del Fuego, France, and Thailand before becoming the head of drilling offshore Argentina and in the country’s onshore Neuquen basin. He also has worked in Norway, Russia, and the UK.
He began his career at Schlumberger Ltd. in various roles covering oil and gas production in Angola, Zaire, and the Neuquen basin.