The Board of Directors of Italian contractor Saipem has appointed Stefano Cao as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.

Stefano Cao will replace Saipem’s previous CEO Umberto Vergine, who was appointed back in December 2012.

The appointment comes expected, after Italy’s oil & gas major Eni, which owns 43% of Saipem, nominated Cao for this position.

Furthermore, during the company’s shareholder’s meeting , the new Board of Directors was appointed, with Paolo Andrea Colombo as its Chairman.

Cao was born in Rome in 1951, and graduated in Mechanical Engineering. He began his career with the ENI group in 1976, initially with Saipem, which he left in 2000 as executive chairman and subsequently at ENI, which he left in 2008 as chief operating officer of the exploration & production division.

He serves as a non-executive director at Petrofac, a director at Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A. and Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A. and is a member of the advisory board of Ambienta SGR.