Mkpoikana Udoma 26 October 2014, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt – French multinational oil giant, Total, has announced the appointment of a new Group CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, following the death of Christophe de Margerie who died tragically in an airplane accident in Moscow on the night of October 20 2014.
Mr. Thierry Desmarest, the new helmsman, currently a member of the Board and Honorary Chairman of the Board, was announced for the new posts following the recommendations of the Governance & Ethics Committee which met,Thursday.
Total E&P in a statement issued in Paris and made available to newsmen by its Deputy General Manager on Policy, Media & Coordination in Nigeria, Mr. Charles Ogan, said the positions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer by Thierry Desmarest would be combined.
According to the statement, ‘‘Following the recommendations of the Governance & Ethics Committee which met Thursday, the Board of Directors made two unanimous decisions: It named Thierry Desmarest Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Desmarest is currently a member of the Board and Honorary Chairman of the Board’’.
‘‘It also named Patrick Pouyanné Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Committee. Until today, he was President of Refining & Chemicals and a member of the Executive Committee. After holding several important executive positions in the Upstream segment in France and internationally over the past fourteen years, Patrick Pouyanné successfully managed the transformation of the Refining & Chemicals segment’’.
The statement also added that Thierry Desmarest’s role as Chairman of the Board of Directors will conclude at the end of 2015 in accordance with the age limits stipulated in the Group’s bylaws, while The positions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer will then be recombined.
Following the designation by the Central Works Council of a Board member to represent employee shareholders, which is scheduled for November 4, 2014, the Group’s Board of Directors will consist of fourteen members, including one employee shareholder representative.
The statement further stated that late Christophe de Margerie joined Total Group in 1974, and was appointed to the Executive Committee in 1999, then named CEO of Total on February 14, 2007, and Chairman and CEO on May 21, 2010.