Schlumberger Picks Former BG, Statoil Boss Helge Lund as New CEO
09 June 2016 - 11:19PM
Dow Jones News
By Selina Williams
LONDON--Oil-services giant Schlumberger Ltd has appointed Helge
Lund as its new chief executive, taking on the former CEO of BG
Group PLC just months after the British gas producer was acquired
by Royal Dutch Shell PLC in a roughly $50 billion deal.
The appointment of Mr. Lund by Schlumberger comes as major oil
and gas producers such as Shell have cut back heavily on capital
spending and other costs in the face of lower oil prices, with
serious knock-on effects on the oil-services sector. Schlumberger
has cut around 36,000 jobs, or 28% of its workforce, since November
2014.
The Shell-BG deal, which completed in February this year, was
engineered by BG's Executive Chairman Andrew Gould, the former head
of Schlumberger and one of the biggest names in the oil
industry.
Mr. Lund, 53, became CEO of BG in February last year, only a few
weeks before Shell moved in with its offer for the company. Mr.
Lund came to BG from Norway's Statoil ASA, where he won praise as a
skillful executive, forcing the Norwegian company over his 10-year
tenure as CEO to drill across the world while also revitalizing its
work in the home country's continental shelf.
When Mr. Lund took up the helm at BG last year, the company had
been roiled by years of under delivery on its own output and profit
targets and turmoil at the top level at the company which had been
without a CEO for almost a year. Last year, the U.K.'s third
largest oil and natural gas firm finally came into its own: The
cash started rolling in as its massive LNG project in Australia
came online, production ramped up in Brazil and a phase of mega
investment ended.
While investors welcomed Mr. Lund's appointment, his generous
compensation package immediately drew controversy. Shareholders
objected to a share award, valued at the time at GBP12 million
($17.4 million), for the incoming Mr. Lund in what become one of
the biggest revolts over executive pay in the U.K. in recent years.
BG eventually bowed to investor pressure and scrapped the share
award.
There had been some speculation about what Mr. Lund would do
after the Shell-BG deal closed. He had always said he wasn't
seeking a role at the new combined company and would move on from
BG once the deal completed
Schlumberger said in a statement that Mr. Lund will serve as a
director until the next annual general meeting. The board hasn't
yet determined which committees Mr. Lund will be assigned to.
Write to Selina Williams at selina.williams@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 09, 2016 09:04 ET (13:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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