Harbour Energy's Phil Kirk steps down

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.

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