KCA Deutag announces retirement of Chief Executive Officer

The Board of KCA Deutag announced the appointment of Joseph Elkhoury as its new Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 July 2019. Mr Elkhoury takes over from Norrie McKay who has confirmed his intention to retire later this year. Mr McKay will remain with the group in an advisory capacity until 31 December 2019, working closely with Mr Elkhoury to ensure a smooth transition.

Mr Elkhoury brings with him 26 years of experience in a wide variety of operational and leadership roles in the oilfield services industry. Most notably, he spent 21 years with Schlumberger, originally joining the group in 1993 as a Wireline Field Engineer in Abu Dhabi. During his time there he held a number of senior positions and had responsibility for several of Schlumberger’s businesses including Microseismic Services, Production Services, Information Solutions and Global Supply Chain.

In 2014, Mr Elkhoury left Schlumberger to join stock exchange listed oil and gas services company, Tetra Technologies, as its Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, with a mandate to improve its financial performance and to build a long-term strategy for the company. During his time with Tetra, profitability increased significantly and transformation of the company was accelerated to capitalize on the growing US shale and other land markets.

Most recently, Mr Elkhoury was an Operating Partner, focusing on investment opportunities in the energy technology sector at Apollo Global Management, one of the world’s largest alternative investment managers. He is also currently Chairman of the Board of Express Energy Services, one of its portfolio companies.

In each of his senior leadership roles Mr Elkhoury has demonstrated a strong client focused commercial acumen, and an outstanding ability to lead from the front, working with his teams to set the strategy and vision for the future, with the aim of delivering long term profitable growth. He is also extremely focused on tactical execution and driving continuous performance improvement across an organization, introducing value-add initiatives, and embedding a strong safety and quality culture.

Originally from Lebanon, Mr Elkhoury has a degree in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut. He has, throughout his career, worked in various countries around the world and has an exceptional understanding of working across and with different cultures.

“We are extremely pleased that Mr Elkhoury is joining KCA Deutag,” Bob Ellis, KCA Deutag Chairman, said. “He brings with him an impressive range of international experience and a deep understanding of the dynamics of our market which we believe is essential as we take KCA Deutag into the next phase of its development.”

“On behalf of the board of directors, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr McKay for the huge contribution he has made to the business since he joined KCA Deutag eight years ago,” Mr Ellis added.

“Under his strong leadership the group has continued to flourish despite the worst downturn the oil and gas industry has ever experienced. He has not only led KCA Deutag from the front with his unwavering drive to deliver safe, effective and trouble-free operations, but he has also spearheaded our successful growth strategy. This culminated in the acquisition of the Omani and Saudi Arabian businesses of Dalma Energy in 2018, and the establishment of Turan Drilling & Engineering, the group’s new joint venture in Azerbaijan,” Mr Ellis concluded.