Cairn Hires Former BP Exec Smith as COO

Cairn Oil & Gas, India’s largest private exploration and production company, said it has appointed former BP executive Martyn Smith as chief operating officer.

Smith is joining Cairn with 35 years' experience in reservoir and petroleum engineering and subsurface geoscience disciplines. Having worked across various technical, commercial and research roles in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Africa, he has held leadership roles at global companies, including BP, where he led as the Global Head of Reservoir Development. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Geophysics from Cardiff University and has done his MBA from Henley Management College, U.K.

Prachur Sah, Deputy CEO, Cairn Oil & Gas, said, “We are delighted to appoint Martyn as our chief operating officer. At Cairn, we are focusing heavily on hiring the best global talent across levels of our organization. Martyn is joining us at an exciting time as we pace ahead with the next phase of growth. He will work closely with the SBUs, focus on driving production volumes and help realize the full potential of our assets – from existing fields as well as new acquisitions under successive OALP and DSF bids. Martyn’s global experience will add particular value to our goals of doubling production capacity and also recruiting the brightest minds in the industry to carve an efficient path to that end.”

Smith said, “Cairn Oil & Gas has made rich gains from successive OALP auctions and is now poised to realize its vision of doubling production capacities. Today, Cairn hosts great potential, unmatched across the globe. With fresh investments and global technology tie-ups, the company is determined to augment capacities and secure energy autonomy for India. My goals here at Cairn will be to drive innovation, introduce new ideas and ease the adoption of modern-age digital technology for faster growth. I am thoroughly excited to join the company at this cusp of growth and work in India – as an oil and gas professional, this is an opportunity I am looking forward to.”