Sept 5 (Reuters) - Australian energy giant Santos

has appointed former Woodside and Newcrest

senior executive Sherry Duhe as its finance chief, the company

said on Thursday amid rising market speculation about a

potential change at its top job.

Duhe, who led gold miner Newcrest Mining on an interim basis

during its sale to U.S.-based Newmont Corp ( NEM ), will take

over as chief financial officer from Anthea McKinnell, who

leaves after more than a half a decade at Santos.

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher in 2021 signed a controversial

A$6 million incentive package that had made him stay back at the

oil and gas firm until the end of 2025.

"In discussions with investors on Santos, one push back has

been there was uncertainty on the tenure of CEO Gallagher," Citi

said in a note.

"In the instance CEO Gallagher were to retire, we could see

Duhe stepping up into the CEO role seamlessly," Citi analysts

said, adding that her appointment as CFO should reduce some

fears in the market about the CEO succession.

Duhe began her career with U.S. oil major ExxonMobil ( XOM )

and also worked for over a decade at British energy firm Shell

.

Her appointment comes several months after Santos was caught

in market speculation about buyout interest, especially from

buyers in the Middle East like Saudi Aramco and Abu

Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Last year, Santos chief operating officer Brett Woods moved

to Seven Group as that company's chief. In 2023, Jane Norman,

vice president of strategy, joined smaller peer Cooper Energy ( COPJF )

.

Santos shares fell as much as 2.7% to A$6.88 and hit

their lowest since early December 2023, in line with losses in

the energy sub-index.