Clough names Gallagher as new boss

Engineering and construction group Clough has recruited Woodside Petroleum's Kevin Gallagher as its new chief executive.

Mr Gallagher was believed to have been one of the main internal candidates for the top job at Woodside Petroleum, before Exxon executive Peter Coleman was announced as the successor to Don Voelte last month.

Mr Gallagher, originally from Scotland, has 20 years oil and gas experience, mainly in the North Sea and Australia.

He currently holds the positions of Executive Vice President, North West Shelf Business Unit and CEO of North West Shelf Venture at Woodside.

He will join Clough in August.

Clough chairman Keith Spence, who is also a former Woodside executive, said he was "delighted" to introduce Mr Gallagher, a former WA Business News 40under40 winner, as Clough's new chief executive.

"Kevin has held senior management and executive positions on many high profile Australian oil and gas projects in the past 11 years," Mr Spence said.

"He has an established track record in strategy development, execution and building and motivating high performance teams.

Mr Spence also paid tribute to the performance of John Smith in his time as chief executive.

"During his tenure, John successfully guided Clough through turbulent times to return the company to profitability," he said.

"John leaves the company in an excellent position, with a strong balance sheet and a robust order book of world class projects.

"Under Kevin's leadership I believe we can build on this strong market position to achieve the next phase of growth."

At 11:10AM (WST) Clough's stock had gained 2.94 per cent, to trade at 70 cents.