Friday 27 February 2015

Oil & Gas UK Appoints New Chief Executive

The Board of Oil & Gas UK, the leading trade association for the UK offshore oil and gas industry, is pleased to announce 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.”   Deirdre Michie is married, with two sons, both studying Chemical Engineering.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. For further information, please contact Sally Hatch in the Oil & Gas UK Press Office on Tel. 020 7802 2404 or 07976 850996.
2. A digital photograph of Deirdre Michie is here.
3. Oil & Gas UK is the leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry.  It currently has over 500 members.
4. Deirdre Michie has extensive experience as a senior business leader in the oil and gas industry, upstream, downstream and globally. Ms Michie joined Shell in 1986, moving to Shell Exploration and Production UK as Senior Commercial Negotiator where she was responsible for commercial and legal negotiations including acquisitions and divestments.  She subsequently moved into external affairs where, as Business Advisor, she played a leading role in a pan-industry group developing codes of conduct for commercial, contracting and procurement activity. Following four years as Head of Communications for the UK with Shell Europe Upstream, Deirdre was appointed Contracting and Procurement Manager for Europe in 2007, where she was responsible for a multi-billion annual contracting and procurement strategy across Shell’s European exploration and production business.  From 2011 to 2014, Deirdre successfully managed a global team to deliver a business plan and significant savings in relation to a multi-billion annual strategic sourcing programme for Shell International Petroleum Company Limited. In 2014, she developed and implemented a revised sustainable operating model for Shell’s UK upstream operations, heading up a multi-disciplinary team. A former vice-president and current council member of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Deirdre takes an active role in local business and in the community. She is Chair of the Board of Aberdeen Science Centre, a Board member of North East of Scotland College and of Aberdeen Skills and Enterprise Training, and a Burgess of Aberdeen City. Deirdre has an LLB Honours degree in Scots law.  She is married with two sons, both studying Chemical Engineering. She enjoys reading, cycling, skiing and running.
5. Malcolm Webb formally retires from Oil & Gas UK at the end of May after more than 40 years in the oil and gas industry, both in the UK and abroad.  He joined the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) as Chief Executive in 2004 and led the organisation through a major change programme to create a stronger, authoritative trade body to represent the interests of UK operator companies.  He was subsequently instrumental in the opening up of membership to all companies working on the UK continental shelf, both operator and contractor, transforming UKOOA into Oil & Gas UK in 2007, the industry’s leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry.