Nick Walker is appointed the chief executive officer of Vedanta’s Cairn Oil & Gas, India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production company, effective from January 5, 2023. Prior to joining as CEO of Vedanta’s Cairn Oil and Gas, Walker was the president and CEO at Lundin Energy, one of the leading European independent E&P companies. Walker had previously worked with energy majors such as BP, Talisman Energy and Africa Oil.
Vedanta, in a stock exchange filing on January 3, giving out production numbers, stated that its oil and gas production during the October-December quarter was 144,789 barrels per day. According to the release, Walker will be leading all aspects of Cairn’s strategy, including development of strategic alliances with global partners to fast-track business delivery. He will drive adoption and deployment of best-in-class oil and gas technologies and processes, with focus on innovation and digitalisation, for business transformation. Walker will be the sixth CEO of the company since the Anil Agarwal-led group bought the company from Scottish explorer Cairn Energy, now known as Capricorn Energy, in 2011. Walker came into Cairn Oil & Gas after Prachur Sah quit the firm to join Indus Towers (formerly Bharti Infratel) as managing director and CEO effective January 3, 2023.
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Walker has taken over at a time when Cairn Oil & Gas is committed to increase India’s domestic crude oil and gas production with a vision to contribute 50% of the country’s production and adding reserves and resources. According to official data available from the ministry of petroleum, India produced 22.1 million tonne or 442,000 barrels per day of crude oil during the first nine months of the current fiscal.