Peter Coates to chair Santos

Minara Resources chairman Peter Coates will take over from current Santos chairman Stephen Gerlach when he retires from the board at the end of this year.

"By the time of my retirement, I will have been fortunate enough to have served as a Director of Santos for 20 years and acted as Chairman for eight years," Mr Gerlach said on Tuesday in a statement.

Mr Coates takes over at a time when Santos submits its draft environmental impact statement for a proposed $7.7 billion project to convert coal seam gas to liquified natural gas in Gladstone, Queensland.

Mr Gerlach said he remained passionate about Santos and excited by its future prospects.

Mr Coates has been a Santos director since March 2008 and was appointed deputy chairman in December.

He is the former chief executive of Xstrata Coal, Xstrata Plc's global coal business, and is currently a director of Downer EDI. Mr Coates was appointed chairman of Minara in May last year.

Mr Coates' term as chairman of Xstrata Australia will come to an end prior to his assuming the new role.

Santos also said another of its long standing directors, Professor Judith Sloan, will also be retiring from the board.