Springett was a BP lifer, who headed up the finance function at the US arm and was also CFO of the upstream division.

He was with BP for 23 years, and he takes over from Tom Hickey.

Taking up his appointment in early September, Springett held several senior finance positions in his 23 years with BP.

Tullow Oil’s main interests are in Ghana. Its share price has soared over the last five years, with the company’s stock now worth ten times what it was in 2003.

There were rumours of a takeover bid earlier this year, with the share price hitting a high in June before the company said that no bid was likely to materialise.

The company boasted record profits for the last six months last week, meaning Springett’s task will be to maintain the momentum. Tullow revealed its net profit was £126m in the first six months of the year up from £37m in the same period in 2007.

Tullow’s chairman Pat Plunkett said: ‘Ian is an experienced CFO and we look forward to working with him.’