MELBOURNE, May 5 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) CVX.N has appointed a new chief executive for its Australian operations after starting production at its $54 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which last month ran into trouble after shipping one cargo.
Chevron promoted its deputy managing director in Australia Nigel Hearne to take over from long-time managing director Roy Krzywosinski, who will be moving to Houston as head of engineering in Chevron's Energy Technology Company.
"Nigel's appointment reflects his strong downstream and upstream operating experience, combined with his proven record of leading large, complex operations, such as our Richmond refinery," Steve Green, president of Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production said in a statement on Thursday.
The Gorgon LNG project, Chevron's all-time largest investment, was forced to stop production in April due to a mechanical problem in a cooling unit. It is set to restart this month, the company said at its quarterly results last Friday. returns to Houston after more than eight years heading the Australian operations, overseeing the development of Gorgon and the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project, which is due to start producing in mid-2017.