Spirit picks new interim CEO
North Sea producer Spirit Energy, majority-owned by UK energy group Centrica, announced on February 2 that it had appointed Neil McCulloch as its interim CEO, as current boss Chris Cox is set to depart the company at the end of the month.
Centrica CEO Chris O'Shea has also replaced Mark Hanafin as chairman of Spirit's board with immediate effect, the company said.
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McCulloch currently serves as vice president of the company's technical and operated assets. A chartered engineer, McCulloch's former roles include senior vice president of engineering and production at Austria's OMV, leadership positions at BG Group and COO of EnQuest. He is also a director of the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen, a board member at industry association OGUK and a fellow at the London-based Energy Institute.
McCulloch said his appointment came at "a pivotal time for the company and industry." He said he would work with O'Shea and the board to "manage the transition to a more focused company and, more broadly, through the energy transition where we see exciting opportunities as excellent stewards of our existing assets, industry leaders in cost-effective decommissioning, and also in being at the forefront of pursuing net zero opportunities in our portfolio."
O'Shea and McCulloch thanked Hanafin and Cox for their work at the company, which produces oil and gas at over 30 fields in waters of the UK, Norway and the Netherlands. Centrica has a 69% stake in Spirit, while German investor Stadtwerke Munchen owns the remaining 31%.
Spirit announced in early December it was divesting from Norway through two deals with Sval Energi and Equinor worth around $1.1bn combined.