Jeffery officially leaves Tap on Friday, June 1 after just under three-and-a-half years with the Perth-based explorer and producer. He originally gave 12 months notice of his resignation in February, but later the company and he agreed that it would be brought forward. He has been on leave with full pay since January, according to Tap.

At Arc, Jeffery will be a member of the board and have day-to-day responsibility for all operational aspects of the company’s business, including managing its newly acquired interests in the Cliff Head and Wandoo oil fields and the BassGas project.

Jeffery will report to Arc managing director Eric Streitberg, who said the new recruit had the experience and drive to effectively manage the company’s production assets and exploration programs.

Jeffery’s appointment would let Streitberg devote additional time to the company’s business development activities, Arc chairman David Griffiths said.

“Gary has extensive Australian and international experience in the upstream oil and gas business and has been instrumental in delivering a number of significant resource projects from their inception to final completion,” Griffiths said.

“Gary’s appointment provides the company with significant additional management and operational depth to drive the integration and ongoing management of Arc’s newly acquired portfolio of production assets.”

Jeffery originally trained as a geophysicist. He has over 20 years of geological and geophysical mapping and exploration management experience and has been responsible for prospect recommendations that have resulted in proven reserves of over 3 billion barrels of oil and over 60 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to Arc.

He has more than 30 years of experience in the oil, gas and mining industries, including senior positions with Texaco, Oxoco International, Hadson, Apache, WAPET, Normandy Mining and Griffin Energy. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Energy (AIE), chairman of the WA branch of AIE and the Petroleum Club of WA.

As well as being a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the School of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA, Jeffery has been a member of the Business Council of Australia Energy Working Group and the WA Greenhouse Council Energy Supply & Use Technical Panel and other industry advisory groups.

Arc also announced it had extended Streitberg’s current contract for a further year until June 30, 2008. The terms of Streitberg’s contract will remain unchanged.