Sources say that US energy company Talos is set to name Shell CEO Goodfellow its next CEO
Two people with knowledge of the matter confirmed on Sunday that Talos Energy is preparing to appoint veteran Shell executive Paul Goodfellow, as its new CEO.
Sources said that the appointment of Goodfellow who is currently the chief internal auditor for Shell is expected to be made this week. They requested anonymity as the matter was confidential.
Goodfellow succeeds Tim Duncan, the long-time founder and CEO of Talos. Duncan abruptly left the firm in August after 12 years of service. He had helped it become the fifth largest oil and gas producer in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Goodfellow, a Shell veteran of over 34 years, has served in a variety of roles within the energy giant, the largest operator of the Gulf of Mexico. According to his LinkedIn profile, Goodfellow has held various positions at Shell including executive vice president of deep-water operations as well as chairman for Shell Midstream Partners.
Talos and Shell didn't immediately respond to comments.
Talos in Houston, with a market cap of $1.8 billion and a surprise departure by Duncan, is searching for a replacement chief executive. Talos announced on Jan. 6 that it had found a new chief executive, but did not name the individual. This was at the same moment interim CEO Joseph Mills decided to step down and pursue other opportunities.
Since Duncan's exit, the company has also been involved in a dispute with Carlos Slim, who owns a 24 percent stake. Talos briefly used a poison pill to stop the Mexican billionaire trying to gain control of the company.
Duncan founded Talos in 2012 with private equity firms Apollo Global Management, and Riverstone Holdings investing a total of $600 million.
According to the company's most recent quarterly earnings report, the oil producer went public through a reverse merge with Stone Energy in 2018. It produced an average of 96,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter. (Reporting from David French in New York, and Andres González in London; editing by Jamie Freed.)
(source: Reuters)
