Engie E&P Chief to Head DEA

Hamburg-based DEA announced September 4 that Maria Moraeus Hanssen is to become its new CEO.

The appointment is expected to take effect in January 2018, when she will succeed Thomas Rappuhn who is handing over after 30 years at the company including eight years as its CEO.

She is currently CEO of Engie E&P, the upstream joint venture 70%-owned by French utility and 30% by Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation. As such, she manages production of over 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day in 12 countries with 1,700 employees.

A qualified reservoir engineer, following a career with Norwegian firms Norsk Hydro, Statoil and Aker, she became head of Engie's upstream business in Norway in 2014 and the following year became head of the business worldwide. In May 2017, Engie announced it will divest its 70% controlling interest in Engie E&P to Neptune Energy which is backed by Carlyle Group, CVC Capital Partners and smaller investors.

DEA supervisory board chairman John Browne (former BP CEO Lord Browne) said: "We are delighted that Maria has chosen to join DEA. She is ideally suited to lead DEA in the next phase of its development and growth." The Hamburg-based DEA is owned by Russia-controlled LetterOne. Browne also wished Rappuhn "all good fortune and success in his future pursuits" and thanked him for steering the firm from RWE's to LetterOne's ownership.

Mark Smedley