Parker Drilling Company announced that its Board of Directors, following a global search led by Heidrick & Struggles, has appointed Sandy Esslemont, a veteran of the oil & gas industry, to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Esslemont will also join the Company's Board of Directors. He succeeds Gary Rich, who retired from the Company at the end of 2019.

Mr. Esslemont has more than 37 years of international oil & gas industry experience in drilling operations, petroleum technology, and executive management. He has held leadership roles at privately held, publicly-traded, and venture-backed companies in roles based in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Europe, Australasia, and the Middle East, the majority of which are in the oilfield services and related industries. Prior to joining Parker, he served as CEO for Abrado, a Houston-based company he helped found, and before that was CEO and Chairman of SensorTran Inc., which was sold to Halliburton under his leadership.