Following his resignation as president of ExxonMobil’s Venezuelan arm, Cutt will be based in Houston and direct the company’s petroleum production assets spanning six continents.

BHP’s chief executive-petroleum Michael Yeager said Cutt brought extensive experience in petroleum production operations from a wide range of operational conditions and challenging environments.

“Tim will be responsible for the leadership and management of our producing operations worldwide, allowing us to continue our drive for greater performance in the areas of safety, equipment reliability, reservoir depletion and unit operating costs,” Yeager said.

“As we move forward in the coming year with new and expanding production operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Australia and Asia – including an increasing number of projects where BHP Billiton Petroleum is the operator – Tim’s experience and functional excellence in production will help us achieve those goals.”