McDermott International Inc. has tapped Andrew F. Gould, the former head of Schlumberger Ltd.—the world’s largest oilfield service provider, to serve on its board of directors.

Gould, who served as chairman and CEO of Schlumberger from 2003 to 2011, said in an Aug. 27 statement that he was pleased to be joining the McDermott board at “this critical moment in the company’s story.”

“I have seen what McDermott can achieve in many parts of the world and look forward to contributing to their future success,” he said.

Recently, McDermott, a Houston-based oilfield service company with operations in over 54 countries, emerged from bankruptcy. In total, the company shed $4.6 billion of debt through a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring completed June 30 that included the sale of its Lummus Technology business.

The company’s restructuring also included a newly constituted board of directors comprised of:

  • David Dickson, president and CEO of McDermott since December 2013;
  • Nils Larsen, a senior operating adviser working with The Carlyle Group’s U.S. equity opportunities fund who will serve as lead director of the McDermott board;
  • Craig Broderick, a senior director of Goldman Sachs;
  • Barbara Duganier, a board member for MRC Global, Noble Energy Inc. and West Monroe Partners;
  • Alan Hirshberg, a director at Falcon Minerals Corp.;
  • Lee McIntire, former CEO of Terrapower; and
  • Paul Soldatos, a board member and senior adviser in the industrial, service and consumer/retail sectors.

In a statement commenting on Gould’s appointment to the McDermott board, effective Aug. 27, President and CEO Dickson said: “Andrew’s decades of experience in operations and financial leadership in the global oil and gas industry make him an invaluable addition to our board of directors. We look forward to leveraging his expertise leading multinational companies and extensive industry knowledge as we advance McDermott’s strategic direction.”

Gould has more than 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry including 37 years with Schlumberger. He had begun his career at Schlumberger in 1975 in its internal audit department.

In addition to his career at Schlumberger, Gould served as non-executive chairman of BG Group from 2012 until its sale to Royal Dutch Shell Plc in 2016. He also served as interim executive chairman in 2014.

Gould currently serves on the board of directors of CSL Capital Management Energy Council and Houston-based independent E&P company Occidental Petroleum Corp., which he joined in January 2020. He was previously a member of the boards of Saudi Aramco, Rio Tinto Plc and Rio Tinto Ltd.

Additionally, Gould is a member of the board of trustees of The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He served on the U.K. Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology from 2004 to 2007. He was vice-chairman of technology for the U.S. National Petroleum Councils’ 2007 report “Facing the Hard Truths about Energy.” He was also awarded the Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 2014.

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