Helge Lund has joined BG Group a month earlier than had previously been announced, the UK's third-largest oil and gas company said Monday.

In a statement the company said: "Mr Lund’s start date has been brought forward following agreement last week from his former employer to release him from his contractual commitments."

He will immediately take over duties from Andrew Gould, executive chairman, who stood in following the departure of Chris Finlayson last year.

Mr Lund joins BG Group from Statoil, which operates in 36 countries. Prior to that he was chief executive of Aker Kvaerner, an industrial conglomerate with operations in oil and gas and shipbuilding.

BG's previous chief executive, Mr Finlayson, left last April after less than a year and a half in the job. The company had been struggling with a number of production issues and profit warning.

Mr Lund, a former management consultant at McKinsey and an Arsenal fan, has been described as Norway's "Mr Oil".

He joins BG Group as the company struggles to adjust to the current slump in energy prices.

The company said on February 3 that it had taken an $8.9bn (£5.9bn) hit on the value of its gas pipelines and oil rigs partly due to lower oil prices.

As a result, BG said its earnings for the three months ended December were $915m (£606m), down 19pc from $1.1bn a year ago.

The energy company slumped to a loss before tax of $2.3bn for the full year, down from a pre-tax profit of $3.9bn in 2013.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Please leave comments and feedback below