Tony Durrant has been appointed CEO of UK-based exploration and production firm Premier Oil, with immediate effect.
Durrant replaces Simon Lockett (pictured), who announced his plans to resign from Premier Oil in February this year. Read more: Premier's Lockett to step down
Durrant joined Premier in June 2005 and has served as finance director since then. Before joining Premier, he worked at Lehman Brothers, latterly as managing director and head of the European natural resources group.
Lockett joined Premier in January 1994 from Shell and has worked in a variety of roles for Premier, including the management of investor relations, as commercial manager in Indonesia and as country manager in Albania.
He became a member of the Premier board in December 2003 as operations director. He was appointed CEO in March 2005.
Mike Welton, Premier's chairman, said: "The process to appoint Simon Lockett’s successor has been rigorous and comprehensive, including both internal and external candidates. The board is unanimous that Tony has the right skills and experience to take Premier forward.
"I would also like to express thanks to Simon, on behalf of the Board, shareholders and staff for his enormous commitment and contribution to Premier over the past nine years. The Board wishes Simon well as he moves on to new ventures and thanks him for helping to ensure a smooth transition for the business."
Tony Durrant said: "I am delighted to take on this role and to build on the already strong foundations that have been put in place. Along with the team, I will be driving the business forward by maintaining our good recent momentum and, in due course, will update shareholders on the actions we will be taking to further Premier’s next stage of development."
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