Canopius Group Appoints Lobo as Head of Upstream Oil & Gas Engineering
Zurich-headquartered Canopius Group AG announced the appointment of Francis Lobo as head of Upstream Oil and Gas Engineering, effective immediately.
Lobo will report to Steve Warren, Group Head of Energy & Engineering, and will be working with the company’s team in London*.
With 18 years’ experience in the oil industry and 13 years in the insurance market, Lobo is a highly experienced petroleum engineer and engineering risk manager, said Canopius in a statement.
Lobo began his career at Texaco where he spent eight years in the key oil field disciplines of reservoir, drilling and production engineering. He then moved to Denmark to lead a team of engineers responsible for managing the Tyra gas field. Following that, Lobo joined Repsol where he held a variety of senior management positions internationally for nine years, including managing director of Khalda Petroleum Company.
Lobo moved from the oil sector to insurance in 2002, joining AIG with responsibility for worldwide risk assessment and risk management functions for the oil rig team. In 2008, he moved from AIG to be a founding member of Berkley Offshore, where he held the position of head of claims and chief engineer. In 2011, he joined Catlin, where his most recent role was head of engineering.
Lobo’s appointment supports Canopius’ strategic growth ambitions for its energy business “and represents a significant competitive advantage in this specialty area,” the company said, noting that his arrival will allow Canopius to enhance its services and products and provide considerable additional risk mitigation expertise for its clients.
“Francis is highly regarded throughout the upstream energy insurance market, and has exceptional expertise in this field,” commented Steve Warren. “His deep knowledge of the technical aspects and issues around oil and gas extraction will provide us with tremendous insight into understanding the risk mitigation needs of our clients in the petroleum industry, enabling us to tailor our products more closely to their needs.”
* Canopius is the global specialty lines platform of Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Inc., which underwrites in the U.K. through Lloyd’s Syndicates 4444 and 958.
Source: Canopius