The chief executive of the new Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), Andy Samuel, is poised to become UK’s best-paid public sector boss.
Mr Samuel, BG Group’s managing director for exploration and production in Europe, was unveiled as the OGA’s boss on Friday as the new regulator for the UK’s North Sea oil and gas industry gets up and running.
He has been hired on a three-year contract on an annual salary of £280,000, plus a bonus of up to £50,000 a year, it was reported yesterday.
The overall package will put him above the likes of Green Investment Bank chief Shaun Kingsbury and Prime Minister David Cameron in the ranks of best-paid public sector bosses.
Aberdeen-based OGA was set up on the back of a key recommendation in Sir Ian Wood’s Maximising Economic Recovery Review.
Sir Ian said a new watchdog was need as the previous regulatory oversight by the Department for Energy and Climate Change was “no longer adequate” to meet the challenges of managing an “increasingly complex” sector.