Maersk CEO To Leave When Total Takes Over

Maersk Oil CEO Gretchen Watkins will step down once the company is taken over by Total, it was announced September 27.

Hers is the second resignation by a woman upstream CEO this month following an agreed takeover bid. Engie E&P’s Maria Moraeus Hanssen said September 4 she will become DEA’s CEO in early 2018.

Danish producer Maersk Oil announced September 27 that she had decided to pursue other career opportunities following the expected 1Q2018 closure of Total’s $7.45bn acquisition, but that she would “continue to lead Maersk Oil until deal closure, leading the pre-integration process.”

Martin Rune Pedersen, chief operating officer (COO) at Maersk Oil will, following a successful closure, become vice president of Total’s operations in Norway, Denmark & Netherlands. Prior to his appointment as COO, he held executive positions heading Maersk Oil's Danish, then later UK, units.

Troels Albrechtsen, Maersk Oil’s chief technology officer, will be appointed vice president for the Total technical centre to be established in Copenhagen. It will supplement Total’s similar existing centres at Paris and Pau.

AP Moller-Maersk group head of energy Claus V Hemmingsen said: “Gretchen has in her roles as CEO and prior to this, as COO, played a decisive role in steering a transformation in Maersk Oil’s operational performance. I am glad that she will be here to continue leading successful and safe delivery of the business, placing Maersk Oil in the best position possible, until the deal closes.”

He also said he was “pleased to see Total’s continued commitment to maximise the full value of Maersk Oil’s operational and technical capabilities and the positioning of a strong Danish leadership team in their North Sea business.” AP Moller-Maersk will be Total’s third largest shareholder when the deal completes.

Watkins, who joined Maersk in 2014 becoming CEO in October 2016, admitted it had been a “difficult” decision to step down: “I couldn’t be prouder of the way Maersk Oil has successfully navigated what I believe will come to be judged as historically challenging conditions for the industry, emerging as a high performing business.”

Gretchen Watkins (below) joined Maersk Oil as Chief Operating Officer in January 2014 and has been CEO of Maersk Oil since October 2016. She joined Maersk from Marathon Oil Corporation where she led North American and international production operations.

Photo credit: Maersk Oil

Mark Smedley