Premier Oil and Chrysaor have announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer (CFO) for the merged North Sea oil company.
Alexander Krane, who has spent the last decade of his 20 years in the industry with Aker, will be appointed on April 15 2021.
Joining as CFO he replaces Richard Rose, who will step down as interim CEO and finance director of the merged Premier Oil and Chrysaor, to be known as Harbour Energy, on the same date.
Mr Krane started his career at KPMG, working in Norway and the US between 1999 and 2006 and, after working for junior E&P firm Norse Energy Group, he joined Aker ASA as corporate controller in 2010.
© Thor Nielsen/ AkerBPHe then became chief financial officer of Det norske oljeselskap in 2012, responsible for financial functions as well as strategy, business development and M&A.
Once Aker merged with BP Norway in 2016, he remained CFO of the merged Aker BP ASA then, in 2019, he left Aker BP to become investment director at Aker ASA.
Mr Krane holds a Master of Science in business from the University of Nordland and an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics. He is also a State Authorised Public Accountant in Norway.
Premier Oil has previously stated that the merger between itself and Chrysaor was expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2021.
A new service agreement will be put in place between Mr Krane and Harbour Energy once the deal in completed, with the terms being “appropriate for an executive director of a group of the size, complexity and nature” of the merged entity.
The pair announced in December that the combined firm would take up the name of Harbour Energy – the largest shareholder of Chrysaor.
The merger deal was struck back in October, aimed at creating the largest London-listed independent oil and gas company by production and reserves.
Richard Rose has been acting CEO since December, when Tony Durrant stepped down from the Premier board.
EIG chief executive Blair Thomas will be chairman of the combined group.
In addition to group CEO Linda Cook and Europe CEO Phil Kirk, Harbour Energy’s board will include, Simon Henry, Anne Stevens, Anne Marie Cannon and G. Steven Farris.