Premier Oil has revealed that Roy Franklin will join the company's board as non-executive chairman, taking over from Mike Welton, on 1 September.
Welton has served as chairman for eight years and announced in March that he would step down from the board on appointment of a successor.
In addition, Dave Blackwood and Mike Wheeler have joined the board as non-executive Directors, following the retirement of Joe Darby and David Lindsell in May.
Franklin has more than 40 years experience as an executive in the oil and gas industry. He spent 18 years at BP after which he was group managing director of Clyde Petroleum and then CEO of Paladin Resources, until its acquisition by Talisman Energy in 2005.
Since then, Franklin has served on a number of international energy boards in non-executive roles. He is currently interim chairman of Statoil and a non-executive director of Santos. Franklin is a non-executive director of Amec Foster Wheeler and, on completion of the proposed combination with Wood Group, will be appointed deputy chairman and senior independent director of the combined group. In 2004, Franklin was awarded the OBE for services to the UK oil and gas industry.
Blackwood has over 40 years experience in the oil and gas sector, 27 years of which were spent in various global roles within BP, including heading up BP's upstream business in the UK and Norway. Blackwood has held various non-executive and advisory roles, including Valiant Petroleum, where he was senior independent director. He is currently a senior advisor with Evercore, a global independent investment banking advisory firm. In 2006, Blackwood was awarded the CBE for his contribution to the UK oil and gas industry.
Wheeler has held senior roles in businesses in a variety of sectors, including serving, as the Global Managing Partner Financial Advisory Services and Member of KPMG's international executive board.