Archer Limited : Archer's Board of Directors appoints David King as CEO and elects new chairman
Hamilton, Bermuda (July 15, 2013).
Saad Bargach, chairman of Archer Limited has decided to step down from his position but will remain a Director of the company. The Board has elected John Reynolds as new chairman. John Reynolds is the co-founder and Managing Director of Lime Rock Partners and has significant experience in the oilfield service sector.
Archer's Board of directors is pleased to announce the appointment of David King as Chief Executive Officer.
Mr King has over 30 years of experience in international oilfield services and replaces Fredrik Halvorsen who has been Archer's interim CEO since January 2012.
Having built a distinguished career with Halliburton, Mr King held numerous executive leadership roles and worked most recently as president of Halliburton's Completion and Production Division. He left Halliburton in 2010 after 32 years with the company, to become an independent consultant and currently serves as director on several boards in the United States.
John Reynolds, chairman of Archer's board of directors, said: "David has an impressive background in the oilfield service industry, deep experience in creating value in Archer's core business lines, and a vision for leading Archer to the next level. The Board of Directors is excited that he has joined as our new CEO. We would like to thank Fredrik Halvorsen for his leadership during what has been a challenging period for Archer and the global oilfield service business. We are confident that the recent capital raise and the sale of the rental and tubular business combined with the commitments given from Seadrill as the major shareholder has created a solid financial foundation for our Company.
Speaking about his appointment Mr King said: "Archer is a mid-sized oilfield services company with financially strong, experienced and committed major shareholders and has great potential. The company has an impressive client list, a strong track record for safety, a wide geographical footprint, as well as a skilled and passionate workforce of 8,300 people. As Fredrik hands over the reins, I look forward to further building the company and making Archer an even more essential service partner to our customers. We clearly have short term challenges linked to present oversupply of capacity in the US domestic oil service market, but I see solid business opportunities for our services including our technology in the global oil & gas market. It is going to be a lot of hard work where all business areas will have to be thoroughly reviewed, but I am ready to roll up the sleeves, and together with all its employees make Archer into a reliable and profitable major oil service company."
David graduated from the University of Alabama with a BSc in Civil Engineering and also completed the Advanced Management Program, an executive education program at Harvard Business School.
Archer specializes in well integrity and intervention products and services, unconventional wells and production drilling. The company employs over 8,300 personnel through 118 global locations, with key regional bases in the North Sea, Middle East, Asia, North and Latin America.