Chief executive Kevin Gallagher said the appointment of six new executives was a move to a new operating model focused on lifting productivity and driving shareholder value “in a low oil price environment”.
The new “asset-focused model” would have “strong technical capabilities in our primary business of exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas both onshore and offshore,” Gallagher said.
Earlier this month Santos rejected calls by some shareholders to drop the Narrabri coal seam gas project in northwest NSW.
The shareholders were concerned by the current financial state of Santos, which recently reported a full year net loss of $2.7 billion, and the “high level of uncertainty” around the Narrabri project, due to community opposition and a related Land and Environment Court challenge over a wastewater treatment facility.
Santos also operates onshore projects in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The transition to the new model will take place over the next few months and the executive team will be based in Adelaide.
The new executive team is:
- Bill Ovenden – Vice President Exploration, accountable for developing and executing a targeted exploration strategy
- Brett Woods – Vice President Development, accountable for delivering projects, sustaining capital work programs and non-operated assets
- Vince Santostefano – Chief Operations Officer, accountable for the profit and loss of all our operated producing assets
- John Anderson – Executive Vice President Commercial and Business Development
- Andrew Seaton – Chief Financial Officer
- Angus Jaffray – Executive Vice President Strategy and Corporate Services
– with AAP
