Tullow Oil appoints Rahul Dhir as its new chief executive

Tullow Oil, the troubled oil and gas exploration company with Irish roots, has appointed Rahul Dhir as its new chief executive officer, with effect from July 1st.

Dorothy Thompson, currently executive chair of Tullow, will return to her position as non-executive chair after a limited period of handover.

The company share price finished down 7.6 per cent at 16.28p.

Mr Dhir is currently chief executive of Delonex Energy, an Africa-focused oil and gas company that he founded in 2013. Tullow has been without a chief executive since Paul McDade left the business in December.

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Before Delonex, Mr Dhir served as managing director and chief executive of Cairn India from its IPO in 2006 until 2012. His started his career as a petroleum engineer, before moving into investment banking where he led teams at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, advising major oil and gas companies on merger and acquisition and capital market related issues.

Mr Dhir is a UK citizen and was educated at the Indian Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, and the Wharton School.

‘Unique position’

Mr Dhir described Tullow as a company with “high-quality assets”, and a “unique position in Africa”.

“ I am looking forward to working with the team and the board to rebuild an exceptional business,” he said.

Earlier this month, Tullow said it had identified further cost savings of about $85 million (€78 million) while its lenders have approved its credit facility with a debt capacity of $1.9 billion. The company has licences across Africa and South America. In February, it announced plans to cut a third of its global workforce and closing its office in Dublin, which has about 55 staff.