Former Wood Group director Les Thomas has been named the new chief executive of North Sea oil firm Ithaca after Iain McKendrick quit the post.
Mr McKendrick, who had been chief executive of the company since December 2008, was leaving for ‘personal reasons unrelated to his role’, the company said in a statement today.
He oversaw the Aberdeen-based firm’s takeover of Valiant Petroleum in a £203million deal earlier this year.
“The board would like to thank Iain for his enormous contribution and dedication to successfully growing the company from a market cap of under $40million when he became CEO in late 2008 to over $700 million today,” said chairman Jack Lee.
“Under Iain’s leadership, Ithaca has established itself as a dynamic North Sea oil and gas company with a very exciting future and he leaves with the full support and best wishes of the board.”
McKendrick will step down from the company in October, with Thomas taking over as chief executive from October 1.
Until last summer Thomas was a director of Wood Group and chief executive of its production arm. Prior to that, he spent 22 years with Marathon Oil, including four years heading up its European Business Unit.
“I am pleased to be welcoming Les as Ithaca’s new CEO,” said Mr Lee.
“He brings a wealth of operational experience that is ideally matched to delivering the next phase of growth for the company. I am also particularly pleased that the company has attracted a CEO of such an exceptional calibre and look forward to working with Les on continuing to deliver upon the company’s existing strategy.”
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