Wulff becomes Oil Search managing director

Oil Search Ltd., Port Moresby and Sydney, has reported that long-serving Managing Director Peter Botten will step down from the board on Feb. 25, 2020. He will be succeeded by Keiran Wulff, who is now Oil Search’s executive vice-president, Alaska, and president of Oil Search Alaska.

Botten will stay on with Oil Search until full retirement from the company on Aug. 25, 2020. To ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities, Wulff has been appointed chief executive officer designate effective Sept. 30. Wulff will retain his Alaskan responsibilities until mid-December to manage the company’s entry to front-end engineering and design for the Pikka Unit oil development on the North Slope.

Wulff will join the Oil Search board and commence his role as managing director. Bruce Dingeman, currently chief operating officer of the Alaska business unit, will take over Wulff’s role as president, Alaska.

Between Feb. 25 and Aug. 25, 2020, Botten will focus primarily on the LNG expansion projects in Papua New Guinea as the coventurers move towards final investment decision. After leaving the company, he will be subject to a single-year noncomplete clause until August 2021.

He will continue his association with Papua New Guinea through his pro bono roles as chairman of the Oil Search Foundation and the Hela Provincial Health Authority and as a member of the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council Executive Committee.

Wulff, a geologist, first joined Oil Search in 1993 and held several senior technical, operational, and executive roles until 2008, including chief operating officer and president of Oil Search Middle East. He left the company to pursue other directorship positions before returning to Oil Search in 2015. From that point he led negotiations with InterOil and Total to enhance Oil Search’s position in the Papua LNG Project and was instrumental in Oil Search’s recent expansion into Alaska.