SANTOS has raised eyebrows with a stern rebuttal of reports that it’s CEO Kevin Gallagher was destined to replace Chris Ellison as chief executive of Minres.
This came after Ellison, MinRes’s founder and the company’s biggest shareholder fell foul of ASX reporting on tax related issues and the company announced he would be stepping down as CEO within 12-18 months.
The West Australian had reported that Gallagher,59, Australia;’s longest serving energy CEO, over the past 9-years, could be ticked off as a potential candidate.
Santos responded almost immediately, dismissing any such suggestion as “completely fabricated, without foundation and false”.
The masthead handballed responsibility to MST Marquee energy analyst Saul Kavonic who it said had “speculated” in his daily newsletter that Gallagher could be MinRes bound in the not-too-distant future.
“We wonder if (the crisis) could present an opportunity for (Mr Gallagher) to step into the leadership role (at MinRes) rekindling Gallagher’s ambition to join MinRes in early 2022,” Mr Kavonic had said in his daily newsletter.
