Global oil and gas giant Occidental Petroleum has selected Sunil Mathew as its Chief Financial Officer for the upcoming three years, which is a significant leadership move.
Robert Peterson, who served as Senior VP and CFO prior to the leadership change, will be succeeded by Mathew. As EVP, Peterson will now oversee Occidental's chemical segment. Since Occidental frequently changes its financial leadership, no specific cause was given in the exchange filing on August 9, 2023. The exchange filing stated, “Robert Peterson was appointed Executive Vice President, Essential Chemistry, of Occidental Chemical Corporation. Sunil Mathew was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company effective as of August 9, 2023.”
Since 2014, Mathew, who joined Occidental in 2004, has served as acting vice president of strategic planning and analysis. According to the exchange filing, he was crucial to the company's $10 billion large-scale divestiture effort that was disclosed after the acquisition of Anadarko.
Matthew has worked in the oil and gas sector for 25 years. Since April 2020, he has served as Vice President of Strategic Planning, Analysis, and Business Development, where he has been in charge of the planning and international business development activities for the Company. In this role, he assisted management in formulating short- and long-term strategies, allocating annual capital, and monitoring business unit performance.
Mathew previously worked with Schlumberger across the Middle East and Asia in his previous positions. He graduated from Manipal Institute of Technology in India with a bachelor's in electronics engineering and from T.A. Pai Management Institute with an MBA.