Gould made chairman at BG Group
BRITISH gas producer BG Group has named Andrew Gould (below), from Schlumberger as its next chairman, kicking off the process to replace Frank Chapman, who is due to retire as chief executive in 2013.
Paris-based Gould will take up his new role in May after stepping down from his role as chairman at Schlumberger, the world’s largest provider of services to oil companies by market capitalisation.
Chapman has said he plans to retire as chief executive when he turns 60 at the end of 2013, a spokesman said. Under British corporate governance rules, the role of a chairman is primarily to hire and, where necessary, fire, a chief executive. “The chairman’s appointment is part of a properly managed succession process,” the spokesman said.
Chapman, formerly an executive at Royal Dutch Shell, has led BG, which is based in Reading, through a period of strong output growth over the past 11 years, while many rivals shrunk production.
Ashley Almanza had been seen as the hot favourite to succeed Chapman, until he stood down from BG’s board and resigned as finance chief in March this year. He remains a vice president at the company.
Gould, who replaces Robert Wilson, is already a non executive director at BG.