Oil & Gas UK has officially announced the appointment of Deirdre Michie as the organisation’s new Chief Executive, following a comprehensive search led by The Curzon Partnership.
Deirdre Michie will take up her position from 1 May 2015, replacing the current Chief Executive Malcolm Webb who formally retires on 31 May 2015. She will be based in Oil & Gas UK’s Aberdeen office and will also have an office in London.
Deirdre Michie joins Oil & Gas UK from Shell where her career has spanned almost 30 years in senior UK and global upstream and downstream management positions. Having worked extensively in both operator and supply chain orientated roles, she brings significant experience of the upstream oil and gas industry, with a strong and proven background in strategic contracting and procurement, commercial negotiation and communications. A graduate in Scots Law from Dundee University, she has built an impressive track record while at Shell leading multi-disciplinary teams to deliver robust and sustainable business outcomes.
She joins Oil & Gas UK at a crucial time for the UK offshore oil and gas industry. The trade body is currently spearheading industry collaboration on cost reduction and efficiency initiatives as well as leading discussions with the UK Government on tax and regulatory reform, playing a vital role in the implementation of the Wood Review recommendations on maximising economic recovery of the UK’s oil and gas offshore resource.
Deirdre Michie said: “I am really delighted to have been appointed to this important industry role and look forward to working with the high-performance team that is Oil & Gas UK. This is a hugely challenging time for the industry that will require us all – industry, government and the new regulator – to work co-operatively and collaboratively to ensure we address the issues that face us.
“This is a great industry, a key part of the British economy and with a UK-based supply chain that is world-class. Oil & Gas UK has a crucial role in helping the industry to emerge from the current downturn on a stronger, fitter and more sustainable footing that will see the UK producing oil and gas from its offshore areas for decades to come. It is a role I will greatly relish.”
Oil & Gas UK co-chairman, Trevor Garlick, Regional President – BP North Sea, said he was very pleased by the appointment. “Deirdre Michie’s strong oil and gas industry background will help her represent the broad spectrum of our membership, whilst also providing the strategic thinking and direction the industry needs from its trade association, especially in these challenges times.
“Oil & Gas UK has been transformed under Malcolm Webb’s leadership into a highly influential trade association widely accepted as the voice of the UK offshore oil and gas industry. With Deirdre Michie at its head, our representative body will be in good hands.”
John Pearson, Group President Amec Foster Wheeler, Northern Europe and CIS, and Trevor’s co-chairman on the Board of Oil & Gas UK, agreed: “Deirdre is an accomplished business leader with a proven record of delivering results. She is a skilled communicator and well-practised in building the positive, collaborative relationships with government and other external stakeholders that will help to solve complex, multi-stakeholder issues. Oil & Gas UK is a high performing organisation and its members expect a lot of it; Deirdre is the right person to take up the helm and steer it to meet those expectations.”