The Board

R. Blair Thomas

Chair

R. Blair Thomas

Chair

Appointed 31 March 2021

Skills and experience: Blair was appointed as Non-Executive Chair of the Company in March 2021. Blair has more than 30 years’ experience in the investment management business, with a focus on energy and energy-related infrastructure. Blair’s industry experience and knowledge of Harbour are invaluable and his leadership of the Board is of significant benefit to the company and shareholders as a whole.

External appointments with public companies: None

Committee membership: Nomination (Chair)

Linda Z. Cook

Chief Executive Officer

Linda Z. Cook

Chief Executive Officer

Appointed 31 March 2021

Skills and experience: Linda has significant experience in building and managing large-scale, global energy businesses at both Royal Dutch Shell where she worked for almost 30 years and subsequently in private equity at EIG and Harbour Energy. She has a track record of successful strategic execution and growth, including through M&A, major project delivery and raising capital. Linda’s experience in international oil and gas, and in disciplined capital allocation within the sector is of great value to Harbour as the company works to implement its strategy.

External appointments with public companies:

  • BNY: Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee

Committee membership: n/a

Alexander Krane

Chief Financial Officer

Alexander Krane

Chief Financial Officer

Appointed 15 April 2021

Skills and experience: Having spent a large portion of his career as CFO of Aker BP, including during the merger of Det Norske Oljeselskap and BP Norge, Alexander has experience leading a large finance function through integration processes. He brings extensive listed company experience and understanding of debt and equity capital markets, which enhances the Board’s ability to maintain balance sheet strength and deliver its growth and investment plans through the commodity price cycle.

External appointments with public companies: None

Committee membership: n/a

Margareth Øvrum

Independent Non-Executive Director

Margareth Øvrum

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed 1 April 2021

Skills and experience: Margareth has extensive experience of international oil and gas operations, having worked for almost 40 years at Equinor and its predecessor companies. At Equinor, Margareth spent almost 17 years on the executive committee with global responsibility for HSES, project development, drilling, procurement, technology and new energy. Margareth’s extensive leadership experience of major projects, health and safety, sustainability and the role of digital technology in engineering is invaluable to the Board. As Chair of the HSES Committee, Margareth has a passion for safety and the environment which is essential to her role.

External appointments with public companies:

  • FMC Corporation: Non-Executive Director
  • Technip FMC plc: Non-Executive Director

Committee membership: HSES (Chair); Audit and Risk

Alan Ferguson

Independent Non-Executive Director

Alan Ferguson

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed 31 March 2021

Skills and experience: Alan is a chartered accountant and brings current and relevant financial experience to the Board and Audit and Risk Committee following his executive career in finance roles including being CFO of three FTSE 100/250 companies. Alan has over a decade of experience leading audit committees of listed companies including the Weir Group, Croda International and Johnson Matthey plc. The Audit and Risk Committee also benefits from Alan’s insight from his position as a Board member of the Audit Committee Chairs’ Independent Forum, and his expertise in corporate governance, audit and accounting is of great value to the Board and the company.

External appointments with public companies:

  • AngloGold Ashanti plc: Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee

Committee membership: Audit and Risk (Chair); Remuneration

Anne L. Stevens

Independent Non-Executive Director

Anne L. Stevens

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed 31 March 2021

Skills and experience: Anne brings a wealth of experience built up over a long career in engineering and executive roles in large global companies. In recent years, she has served on remuneration committees, including as Chair, in a number of large organisations, including Anglo American plc, expertise that she brings to her role as Remuneration Committee Chair. Anne also has significant experience engaging with investors to deliver remuneration outcomes that are of benefit to all stakeholders.

External appointments with public companies:

  • Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc: Non-Executive Director, and Chair of the Remuneration Committee and the Sustainability Committee

Committee membership: Remuneration (Chair); Nomination

Belgacem Chariag

Independent Non-Executive Director

Belgacem Chariag

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed 1 May 2023

Skills and experience: Belgacem has extensive experience in the energy, materials and chemicals industries, having held a variety of leadership positions within oil field services companies, including Baker Hughes and Schlumberger. Most recently Belgacem was Chairman and CEO of Ecovyst Inc, a leading global provider of speciality catalysts, materials, chemicals and services. Belgacem brings extensive global industry expertise to Harbour, including in the area of health and safety, which enhances the Board’s ability to support and oversee the delivery of the strategy.

External appointments with public companies:

  • Helmerich & Payne, Inc: Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee

Committee membership: HSES; Nomination

Louise Hough

Independent Non-Executive Director

Louise Hough

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed 1 May 2023

Skills and experience: Louise has a wealth of experience and deep understanding of both financial and energy markets. Following 25 years at UBS, Louise played a lead role in preparing Saudi Aramco for its first public bond issuance and IPO as Head of International Investor Relations. At Saudi Aramco Louise was also a member of the Sustainability Steering Committee, working extensively on all aspects of ESG reporting. Louise’s experience advising investors, boards and executive management teams on capital markets-related activity, sustainability and governance issues is of great value to the Board and its committees.

External appointments with public companies: None

Committee membership: Audit and Risk; Remuneration; Nomination Committee

Hans-Ulrich Engel

Non-Executive Director

Hans-Ulrich Engel

Non-Executive Director

Appointed 3 September 2024

Skills and experience: Hans-Ulrich was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the company pursuant to the relationship agreement with BASF. Hans-Ulrich holds a doctorate in law and has decades of experience in the chemicals and energy sectors including as former CFO and Vice Chairman of the Board of BASF SE. His expertise includes M&A, major restructuring projects and business development skills, which provides the Board with valuable insights to drive strategic growth and the success of the company.

External appointments with public companies:

  • DHL Group (Supervisory Board member and Chair of Audit Committee)

Committee membership: Health, Safety, Environment & Security Committee

Dirk Elvermann

Non-Executive Director

Dirk Elvermann

Non-Executive Director

Appointed 3 September 2024

Skills and experience: Dirk was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the company pursuant to the relationship agreement with BASF. Dirk holds a doctorate in law and has gained broad international business expertise in various roles at BASF since 2003. As the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Digital Officer of BASF, Dirk brings a wealth of experience and understanding of finance and digitalisation. His deep expertise provides valuable insights to the Board, helping to drive operational efficiency and supporting the company’s continued growth and innovation.

External appointments with public companies:

  • BASF SE: CFO and Chief Digital Officer

Committee membership: Nomination Committee

Rachel Rickard

Company Secretary

Rachel Rickard

Company Secretary

Rachel is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute with more than 20 years’ experience gained across a variety of industries and sectors in FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 listed companies, including three years within the financial services sector.

As Company Secretary, Rachel is responsible for advising the Board, through the Chair, on all governance matters.

Leadership team

Linda Z. Cook

Chief Executive Officer

Linda Z. Cook

Chief Executive Officer

Linda has extensive experience in the global oil and gas industry gained over a more than 40-year career in which she has held senior roles in management, exploration, production, operations and engineering.

Before becoming CEO of Harbour Energy in 2021, Linda was Chairman of the Board of Chrysaor Holdings Ltd, one of Harbour's heritage companies, and a member of the Investment and Executive Committees of EIG, positions she held since 2014.

Prior to that Linda had a 29-year career at Royal Dutch Shell, where she was a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. During her career with Shell, she held positions including CEO of Shell Gas and Power (London); CEO of Shell Canada Limited (Calgary); and Executive Vice President Strategy and Finance for Global Exploration and Production (The Hague).

Linda also has extensive corporate governance experience having served on the boards of Royal Dutch Shell, Boeing, Cargill, Marathon Oil and KBR Inc. Today, she serves as a non-executive director on the board of BNY.

Alexander Krane

Chief Financial Officer

Alexander Krane

Chief Financial Officer

Alexander has over 20 years of experience in senior accounting, controlling and executive roles in the energy industry.

Prior to joining Harbour in 2021, Alexander was Investment Director at Aker ASA where he was responsible for all oil and gas investments.

Before that, Alexander was CFO of Aker BP/Det Norske Oljeselskap, where he was responsible for all financial functions, strategy and M&A.

Alexander started his career with KPMG, and he is a State Authorised Public Accountant in Norway.

Nigel Hearne

Chief Operating Officer

Nigel Hearne

Chief Operating Officer

As COO of Harbour Energy, Nigel is accountable for safe and responsible business delivery across Harbour’s seven Business Units in Norway, Germany, UK, MENA, South East Asia, Argentina and Mexico.

Nigel is a highly experienced oil and gas executive, with over three decades of experience, working on three continents, in upstream and downstream operations.

Immediately prior to joining Harbour Energy, Nigel was executive vice president, Oil, Products and Gas at Chevron responsible for Chevron's international upstream, downstream and midstream operations and investment programme. During his 35-year career at Chevron, he led several businesses including Chevron's Australia LNG Assets, its EurAsia E&P business, and refineries in California. He has experience in a wide range of operational, strategic, capital project and management roles in both the upstream and downstream sectors. Nigel began his career at Texaco as a facilities engineer at a refinery in Pembroke, Wales.

An engineer by training, Nigel has a BSc in mechanical engineering from the University of Sussex and an MSc in engineering management from the University of Glamorgan.

Andrea Pinarel

EVP Strategy and Business Development

Andrea Pinarel

EVP Strategy and Business Development

Andrea has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector in both industry and advisory roles.

Prior to joining Harbour Energy, Andrea was Head of M&A at Wintershall Dea and its predecessor company DEA Deutsche Erdoel.

His previous experience includes investment banking roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS.

Andrea started his career at Eni and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Philip Whittaker

EVP Business Services

Philip Whittaker

EVP Business Services

Philip has 30 years of experience in exploration and production in both industry and advisory roles.

Prior to joining Harbour, Philip was a partner and director at Boston Consulting Group, where he co-led the firm's upstream oil and gas activity globally. At BCG he gained extensive experience in strategy, performance improvement and transaction-related activity with leading majors, independents and oilfield service companies. Philip began his career as a drilling engineer at Shell, where he managed front-line operations in the Netherlands, Peru and Oman.

Howard Landes

General Counsel

Howard Landes

General Counsel

Prior to joining Harbour, Howard was General Counsel at Chrysaor, one of Harbour's heritage companies.

His previous experience includes more than 10 years at BG Group where he led a team of lawyers responsible for the group’s corporate and M&A matters globally.

Howard trained and qualified at the international law firm, Clifford Chance.

Gill Riggs

Chief Human Resources Officer

Gill Riggs

Chief Human Resources Officer

Gill has extensive experience of managing human resources in the energy industry, including many international postings.

Prior to joining Harbour, Gill was the Vice President Human Resources for Chevron's global upstream business in the US. During her 20-year career with Chevron, Gill took on increasing responsibility in human resources including Regional HR Manager, Middle East, and East Africa (UAE), Regional HR Manager, Africa and Middle East (South Africa), General Manager HR, gas and midstream (US), and General Manager HR, upstream Asia Pacific (Singapore).

Alan Bruce

EVP Technical Services

Alan Bruce

EVP Technical Services

Alan is an energy professional with over 20 years of experience in subsurface, operations, asset management and business planning roles.

Prior to joining Harbour, Alan was CEO of Ithaca Energy where he led the transformation into one of UK’s largest independent E&P companies and listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Earlier in his career Alan held various asset and corporate leadership positions in the UK, Canada and USA with ConocoPhillips. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh and a master's in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College, London and is a Chartered Petroleum Engineer.

Graeme Davies

EVP CCS

Graeme Davies

EVP CCS

Graeme has significant experience in the oil and gas industry including leading Harbour’s Viking CCS project. 

Graeme is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and has previously held leadership roles in operations, asset management and development delivery in Harbour’s legacy companies ConocoPhillips and Chrysaor. 

Graeme holds a Master of Science degree from NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, and an Honours degree in Mechanical and Offshore Engineering from Heriot Watt University.

Related pages

Board responsibilities

Board committees

Policies