KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin today retired as Sapura Energy Bhd's group chief executive officer (CEO) after helming the group for 25 years.

This follows the succession plan in Sapura Energy that was announced last year, ahead of Shahril reaching the retirement age of 60 on March 22, 2021, Sapura Energy said in a statement today.

He will be succeeded by former Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Pertronas) vice president and upstream CEO, Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, who will take over the position tomorrow (March 23).

"On behalf of the board of directors, we wish to record our gratitude to Tan Sri Shahril, whose vision and determination turned Sapura Energy into a Malaysian multinational company capable of competing and winning on the global stage," said chairman Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas.

"His leadership enabled Sapura Energy to grow from a domestic focused player into a renowned energy company serving the entire upstream value chain; and his foresight set the foundation for the group to progress beyond oil and gas into renewables," the chairman said.

"Shahril founded Sapura Energy in the mid-90s, building the group from its humble beginnings as a diving contractor, into the global integrated energy company that it is today," the statement said.

"His legacy includes Sapura Energy's wide range of technical capabilities and strategic assets in drilling, engineering and construction, exploration and production, and more recently, offshore wind farm construction," it said.

The group, which has Malaysians making up 86% of its 11,000-strong human capital, contributed about RM89 billion to the Malaysian economy over the last five years, with more than RM15 billion worth of work awarded to Malaysian vendors. In the last three years, Sapura Energy repatriated home more than US$2 billion in foreign currencies, the statement added.

"We have seen a profitable turnaround in 2020 despite the challenging environment for the industry and the false narratives of a fickle market," Shahril was quoted as saying.

"It gives me great comfort to know that he (Anuar) has been well received by the organisation, and that he has been able to hit the ground running. This is a measure of both Datuk Anuar's qualities, and the Sapura Energy values embedded within our people," he added.

Prior to Anuar's appointment as CEO, he served as chief operating officer and CEO designate in Sapura Energy.

At Petronas, Anuar was instrumental in improving the delivery of capital projects, reduction in operating costs and the set-up of the successful low-cost and marginal field subsidiary Vestigo Petroleum.

Prior to his stint at Petronas, Anuar was chairman of Shell Companies in Malaysia.

Shares of Sapura Energy traded unchanged at 15.5 sen on Monday, valuing the group at RM2.4 billion.