SBM Offshore is to have a new boss after 12 years.
Long-serving chief executive Bruno Chabas is stepping down after deciding not to seek a fourth term in the top job at the Dutch floating production storage and offloading unit owner.
He will replaced by chief operating officer Oivind Tangen on 12 April.
The company will continue with a two-person management board consisting of Tangen and chief financial officer Douglas Wood.
Chabas, who will act as an adviser to ensure a smooth transition, said: “It has been a huge privilege to serve the company as CEO for the last 12 years, where I had the honour to lead a team of dedicated people who supported me in transforming and turning this organisation around.”
He said SBM has a well-established vision, purpose and structure, together with a leading market position and strong growth prospects.
“I am especially proud that SBM Offshore has a leadership team which makes an internal succession possible; I am extremely pleased to hand over my responsibilities to Oivind, who, I am sure, will successfully guide the company to achieve its ambitious energy transition targets,” he added.
SMB has a fleet of 15 FPSOs, plus a multipurpose platform supply vessel owned through a joint venture with Solstad Offshore.
There are also three FPSOs on order for delivery this year and in 2025.
Tangen, who will also become management board chairman, joined SBM Offshore 21 years ago and has been chief operating officer since 2022.
“It is a great honour to have been selected as the successor to Bruno,” he said.
Transformative leader
“Bruno is handing over a company that is in a very strong position, and it is with great enthusiasm I commit to working with the whole SBM team to continue to successfully deliver the company’s strategy for the years to come.”
Supervisory board chairman Roeland Baan said Chabas had transformed SBM.
“Under Bruno’s leadership, the company navigated numerous challenges, and Bruno leaves the organisation as a leader in the FPSO market and an established energy transition company with a clear strategy and strong financial position,” Baan added.
In 2018, former SBM chief executive Anthony Mace was jailed in the US for three years for his part in an “international bribery conspiracy”, TradeWinds reported.
He was also fined $150,000 for the scheme, which involved payments to government officials in Brazil, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Robert Zubiate, a former sales and marketing executive at SBM USA, was given a 30-month sentence and a fine of $50,000.
The year before, SBM entered into a $238m, three-year deferred prosecution agreement in the US over its role in the conspiracy. SBM USA pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Federal Corrupt Practices Act.
SBM also revealed an agreement with Brazil’s Federal Prosecution Service in 2018 to reach a final settlement over “alleged improper sales practices” up to 2012.
