Kennedy has been a director of Oil Search since 1993 and was appointed chairman in 1994.
He presided over the company's merger with Orogen Minerals in 2002, the acquisition of ChevronTexaco's Papua New Guinea assets in 2003, and the assumption of operatorship of the oil fields in that country.
"I am resigning my directorships of all public companies forthwith," Kennedy said in a statement released last night.
"This is not a result of pressure from any of the fine companies and wonderful colleagues I am associated with. It is quite the contrary.
"I do not believe that I have broken any laws nor that I have done anything dishonest at all, but the speculation in relation to the allegations against me leads me to the view that these companies will suffer," he said.
The move came soon after Kennedy's office was raided by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Federal Police (along with those of stockbroker Rene Rivkin and former federal Labor minister Graeme Richardson) as part of investigations into the ownership of Offset Alpine Printing.
