PIRA Energy Group founder Gary Ross stepped down as the energy research firm’s CEO on Jan. 22, allowing COO Gemma Postlethwaite to take the helm of the 39-year-old organization.

Postlethwaite, who joined PIRA in April, is a 15-year veteran of information-services companies like Thomson Reuters Corp. and Altegrity Inc. Ross is staying with the firm as executive chairman and head of oil.

“She has a keen sense of how clients’ needs are changing and how best to address those needs,” Ross said of Postlethwaite in a written statement. “In a short period of time, we’ve rebuilt our online platform and created a road map for better delivering data and analysis to more types of energy professionals.”

Founded in 1976, PIRA provides analysis of energy market supply-and-demand and macroeconomic factors for more than 500 companies in more than 60 countries.