McDermott International, Inc. announced that Stephen M. Johnson will retire from his positions as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer— and as a director of McDermott in December 2013. David Dickson has agreed to join McDermott and to succeed Johnson as president and chief executive officer. Dickson has been appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer, a position he will hold until December.
Dickson, age 45, has 23 years of offshore oilfield engineering and construction business experience, including 11 years of experience with Technip S.A. and its subsidiaries. Since September 2008, he has been serving as president of Technip USA Inc., with oversight responsibilities for all of Technip’s North American operations.
Dickson will begin his employment with McDermott on October 31, 2013. He will initially serve as McDermott’s chief operating officer, succeeding John T. McCormack, whose retirement from that position was previously announced. Dickson will succeed Johnson as President and chief executive officer on or before December 16, 2013, and will lead the search effort for a new chief operating officer. Concurrent with Dickson’s appointment as president and chief executive officer, McDermott’s board of directors will elect him as a member of the board.
The search for a successor president and chief executive officer began in January of this year, as part of McDermott’s regular succession planning process and following Johnson’s expression of interest to retire by year-end. Johnson and Roger A. Brown, the chairman of the governance committee of the board, led the search effort for Johnson’s replacement.
“I am confident that, with his depth of experience and breadth of knowledge relating to conventional offshore marine construction projects and subsea projects, David is the right person to lead the McDermott team in its business strategy, which is focused on providing the full range of engineering and construction services in key offshore oil and gas producing regions around the world,” Johnson said. “I am looking forward to working closely with him to ensure an orderly transition.”
The company also announced that Gary P. Luquette has been appointed to its board of directors, effective October 18, 2013. Luquette will serve on the compensation and finance committees of the board of directors.
Luquette, age 57, retired from his position as president of Chevron North America exploration and production in September 2013, following 35 years of service with Chevron. He held that position since 2006, and his duties included serving on Chevron’s upstream executive leadership team. Previously, he held key exploration and production positions with Chevron in Europe, California, Indonesia and Louisiana.
"We are pleased to welcome Gary to McDermott's board of directors," Johnson said. "His managerial and operational experience in the global energy industry will be very helpful to us. We should especially benefit from his upstream customer perspective and his experience and understanding of the subsea sector. The board looks forward to working with Gary and to his future contributions."