The highly regarded McEvoy brings almost 40 years of experience in global petroleum exploration and development to Seven, which has been building a new oil and gas portfolio, comprising some unconventional assets in the US, Nexus Energy's assets in the Browse and Gippsland Basin and stakes in major Cooper Basin producers such as Beach Energy and Drillsearch Energy.

McEvoy was employed for almost 34 years with ExxonMobil, concluding his executive career at as vice president of business development at the ExxonMobil Exploration Company from 1997 to 2002.

He earlier guided ExxonMobil's exploration activities in the Far East, US, Canada and South America.

He joined Esso Australia in 1969 after graduating from the University of New South Wales with a degree in science and has a graduate diploma in applied geophysics.

Aside from his interest with AWE and Woodside he has also served on the boards of juniors Acer Energy, which is now part of Drillsearch, and Italy-focused Po Valley Energy.

In welcoming him to the board Seven executive chairman Kerry Stokes described McEvoy as "one of Australia's most highly experienced executives in petroleum exploration and development.

"He has a strong track record as a director of companies and he brings great experience and knowledge to our businesses as it develops a significant presence in oil and gas developments both here in Australia and North America."

McEvoy said he looked forward to having the opportunity to contribute to the continued strong performance of the company.

"I am particularly pleased to be joining at a time when Seven Group Holdings has assembled an impressive portfolio of high quality oil and gas assets and is seeking to further strengthen this position."