InterOil appoints Finlayson as Chairman-designate

InterOil Corporation has appointed Chris Finlayson, former BG Group CEO, as Chairman-designate.

Finlayson joins the board immediately, and will replace Gaylen Byker. Finlayson, who is a director of Lloyd’s Register, is also the former CEO of BG Group and a former Executive Vice President and Managing Director with Royal Dutch Shell.

Global experience

He has nearly 40 years’ global experience and has led exploration and production ventures in Russia, Nigeria, Brunei, UK North Sea, Europe and Asia with BG Group and Shell, overseeing production and directing several major capital projects.

Finlayson has over 15 years’ senior level experience in the LNG industry, covering upstream development through to LNG shipping and marketing, and he has worked successfully with customers, joint partners, national oil companies, and governments, particularly in major LNG-importing countries including China, Japan and Korea.

LNG projects

Commenting on the appointment, Finlayson said: “This is one of the most significant upstream LNG projects globally and I look forward to working with the board, management, shareholders, and the Government of Papua New Guinea to continue the transformation of InterOil into a major Asian energy player.”

Byker, who announced at the company’s annual meeting in June that he would retire, said Finlayson was a perfect fit for InterOil’s next phase of growth.

“Chris’s global experience and network will be invaluable during this phase, which includes development of Elk-Antelope. His appointment continues InterOil’s transformation to a world-class explorer and producer, particularly as we build our relationship with super-majors such as Total,” Byker said.

Growth phase

InterOil CEO, Michael Hession, added: “In the past year, we have signed a multi-billion-dollar LNG agreement with Total, streamlined our business to focus on exploration and development, strengthened our balance sheet, assembled a first-class senior management team, and begun a fully funded drilling program that is one of the biggest in Papua New Guinea’s history. Chris [Finlayson] will assist us to build on these achievements and is ideal for guiding us through the next exciting phase of growth.”

Image courtesy of BG Group.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/11082014/interoil-appoints-chris-finlayson-to-board-1178/