By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Harbour Energy's Europe Chief
Executive Phil Kirk will step down at the end of the month,
after helping transform the company from a small North Sea oil
and gas firm to the basin's largest producer.
Harbour, which is led by CEO Linda Cook, is unlikely to
replace Kirk's role, a company spokesperson told Reuters.
"Phil has been instrumental in the building of Harbour
Energy over the past years," Cook said in a statement. Kirk will
step down from his role on Feb. 28, the company said.
Kirk founded Chrysaor in 2007, which with the backing of
private equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners acquired large
North Sea-focused oil and gas portfolios from Shell in
2017 and ConocoPhillips in 2019 for a total of nearly $6
billion.
In 2021, Chrysaor acquired Premier Oil in a reverse takeover
which allowed it to list on the London Stock Exchange under the
name Harbour Energy, in which Kirk became head of the European
operations.
Harbour is today the largest North Sea producer with around
200,000 barrels of oil equivalent produced daily. The Premier
Oil acquisition gave Harbour assets in other regions including
Southeast Asia and Mexico.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso, Editing by Louise Heavens)