InterOil Corporation announced Tuesday the appointment of Jon Ozturgut as chief operating officer and Donald Spector as chief financial officer, with immediate effect. Ozturgut, a senior executive with 27 years’ international oil and gas experience with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), CMS Oil and Gas Company, and Woodside Energy, replaces William J. Jasper III, who is retiring after seven years as chief operating officer. Ozturgut will also be responsible for mergers and acquisitions, and new business development.

Spector, a senior executive with more than 35 years’ international financial experience, including 30 years in oil and gas, replaces Collin Visaggio, who resigns as chief financial officer, also after seven years with InterOil. As part of his new role, Spector will oversee InterOil’s investor relations team. InterOil CE Dr. Michael Hession, thanked Jasper and Visaggio for their important contributions in the company’s formative years. “Bill and Collin indicated some time ago their intention to leave once we began commercializing our gas resources in Papua New Guinea,” Dr. Hession said. “They leave with our thanks for their service during the formative years of InterOil.”


“We now need people of the caliber and experience of Jon and Don to step into these important roles at this crucial time for the company. InterOil has significant resources, large and prospective exploration acreage, and is developing a large liquefied natural gas (LNG) project with Total. These appointments reflect our determination to assemble a world-class team to extract full value from these assets and realise our vision as a regional LNG player.”

“We are also streamlining our corporate structure and focusing staff resources at the frontline of our operations in Papua New Guinea and Singapore to support our exploration and LNG activities.”

Jon Ozturgut, a senior oil and gas executive brings extensive experience in multi-billion dollar investments in exploration, development, and production across global markets in the Americas, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Ozturgut was the senior vice president at Woodside Energy, the largest Australian oil and gas company, overseeing international corporate strategy, growing the exploration portfolio, mergers and acquisitions, and LNG developments. He has also held a range of executive positions in operations, delivering significant projects and company transforming transactions during his tenure with Pioneer Natural Resources, CMS Oil and Gas Company, and 15 years with ARCO. Ozturgut has a degree in mechanical engineering.

Donald Spector was the vice president of Taxation and Treasury at Woodside, where he managed the treasury, taxation, risk, and insurance functions, and advised on mergers and acquisitions. He successfully developed the capital management strategy to fund the $13.2 billion (AUD 15 billion) Woodside Pluto LNG project in Western Australia. Spector has also held senior roles in BP and CRA (now known as Rio Tinto). Spector has a degree in accounting.