Spirit Energy has appointed a new interim chief executive and chairman as part of its transition to a “new phase”.
Neil McCulloch, currently the North Sea company’s executive vice president technical and operated assets, will take up the role of interim CEO.
He succeeds Chris Cox, who will step down on February 28 after six years spent with Spirit Energy and Centrica, its parent organisation.
Meanwhile Chris O’Shea, chief executive of Centrica, has replaced Mark Hanafin as chairman of the board of Spirit Energy.
The pair will take up their new positions with immediate effect.
Mr McCulloch said: “It is a privilege to be asked to serve as interim CEO at such a pivotal time for the company and industry.
“I would like to thank Chris Cox for his leadership in forming and building Spirit Energy into the company it is today, and also to Mark Hanafin for his wisdom and guidance as chairman.
“I look forward greatly to working with our new chairman, Chris O’Shea, and the board to manage the transition to a more focussed 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.”
Neil McCulloch
© Supplied by Spirit EnergyMr McCulloch has held leadership roles across operated and non-operated assets in Europe and further afield.
A chartered engineer, his career began as a graduate trainee petroleum engineer working on Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Bay field.
He was previously senior vice president of engineering and production at
OMV and spent 11 years in asset and functional leadership roles at BG Group.
Before joining Spirit Energy, Mr McCulloch was executive director and chief operating officer at EnQuest.
His external assignments include being a non-executive director of the Net
Zero Technology Centre and a member of Oil and Gas UK’s board.
Mr McCulloch is also a member of the Net Zero Steering Group, with leadership of the Decommissioning and Repurposing Task Force, and a fellow of the Energy Institute.
Incoming chairman pays tribute to Chris Cox
In a statement reflecting on his appointment, Spirit Energy’s new chairman paid tribute to outgoing CEO Chris Cox.
Mr O’Shea said he had been “instrumental” in shaping the company and has “embedded a culture” that will be the foundation of Spirit Energy’s future success.
© Supplied by (Photo: Ross JohnstoHe added: “Chris has achieved a huge amount in Spirit, most notably passionately driving Spirit’s safety performance to reach top quartile within our industry, turning around the performance of Morecambe, and delivering the Statfjord field life extension sanction.”
On the other changes at the top, Mr O’Shea said: “Both Centrica and Stadtwerke Munchen are extremely grateful for Mark’s contribution in leading the Spirit Board since the formation of the company.
“Mark has brought tremendous experience, passion and support as he has skillfully guided the Board in delivering its multiple accountabilities.
“Mark leaves the Board in excellent shape for me to take over and, whilst I am honoured to be succeeding Mark, I will miss working with him.
“I am delighted to announce Neil McCulloch as Interim CEO. Neil’s initial priorities will be to lead the Spirit team to complete the Norwegian transactions and to establish our refocussed business for success as a company safely delivering production from our existing assets, meeting and de-risking our decommissioning obligations, and exploring strategic energy transition opportunities from our existing assets.”
Centrica looking to divest
The appointment of a Centrica (LSE: CNA) CEO Mr O’Shea to the Spirit Energy board comes as the London-listed company, which also owns British Gas, is continuing its strategy to ultimately divest the UK exploration and production (E&P) business.
At the end of last year Centrica reiterated its desire to exit the UK North Sea after announcing a deal to sell Spirit Energy Norway for £800 million to Sval Energi.
Centrica’s plans to offload Spirit date back to 2019 as the firm was seeking to reduce its debt, but the pandemic saw the process delayed.
As things stand, Spirit expects to retain its holding in the near term in the UK business, which is operating in “run-off” mode, though it is continuing to assess opportunities..
© Supplied by Spirit EnergySpirit Energy, which employs hundreds of people in Aberdeen, launched in December 2017.
It was the result of a merger between Centrica’s E&P business and Bayerngas Norge, whose former shareholders, led by Stadtwerke München Group, hold the remaining 31%.
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