Chevron Shakes Up Exploration With New Hire From TotalEnergies

(Reuters) – Chevron on Tuesday named a new head of global exploration as CEO Mike Wirth works to improve the company’s track record in discovering new sources of oil and gas.

Kevin McLachlan will become vice president of exploration effective Nov. 1, succeeding veteran executive Liz Schwarze, who will retire in February after 36 years with Chevron, the U.S. oil major said on Tuesday.

McLachlan has experience at several rival oil firms, most recently as senior vice president of exploration at French oil major TotalEnergies. He also previously held positions at Murphy Oil, Nexen and Exxon Mobil.

Wirth has expressed disappointment with recent exploration results. The company closed its acquisition of smaller oil producer Hess in July, giving a much-needed boost to Chevron’s oil and gas reserves. Wirth said exploration needs to play an important role in the strategy going forward.

“I’m not happy with the results out of exploration over the last few years,” he said in August during the second-quarter earnings conference call. He did acknowledge that the exploration team had been operating in a narrow range with reduced investment as Chevron focused on growing U.S. shale and balancing capital discipline.

Countries where Chevron will pursue frontier exploration include Suriname, Namibia and Egypt, said vice chairman Mark Nelson during the August conference call.

In January, Chevron said it did not find commercial hydrocarbon reserves at an exploration well in Namibia’s Orange Basin. UK-based Shell was also dealt a blow in the country, writing down $400 million over an oil discovery it deemed commercially unviable.

Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Anil D’Silva and David Gregorio

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