Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO has concluded its search for a new CEO with the appointment of Christopher Spencer.
Spencer will take over from the outgoing Bjørn Dale, who is stepping down as part of a planned management transition that began last year, DNO explained in a press release.
Spencer has been DNO’s Chief Operating Officer since 2021. Prior to joining DNO six years ago, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Rocksource and held various commercial and technical roles at Royal Dutch Shell and BP. He is a chartered engineer with the Institution of Chemical Engineers in the United Kingdom.
Dale joined DNO in 2011 as corporate counsel prior to his appointment as General Counsel and CEO. He will continue to advise the company on legal and commercial matters for a period of six months following Spencer’s appointment from September 8, 2023, the company revealed in the statement.
“Chris will provide strong leadership as DNO builds its position in the North Sea, while remaining fully committed to driving our operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and Côte d’Ivoire,” said the president executive, Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. “It’s not just practical, it’s practical.”
DNO has participated in six discovery wells since 2021 offshore Norway, adding a total of 100 million net barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) to DNO, of which 78 MMboe has been added in what we have ‘year, the company highlighted in its statement, adding that it will promote the early commercialization of these discoveries.
Elsewhere, the company recently restarted production from its flagship Tawke field in Kurdistan after a four-month shutdown caused by the closure of the Iraq-Turkey pipeline export route.
Production restarted in July to conduct well integrity tests and synchronize reservoir models, but has continued in response to strong demand for Tawke oil, DNO said in a statement last month, noting that the production of the field is currently on average 40,000 barrels of oil per day. The nearby Peshkabir field under the same license remains closed, DNO revealed in this statement.
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