People
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has appointed Jochen Eickholt as CEO.
Spirit Energy has appointed Chris O’Shea as chairman of the board and Neil McCulloch as interim CEO.
The Borr Drilling Ltd. board of directors has elected Tor Olav Troim as chairman.
ExxonMobil has appointed Karen McKee to lead ExxonMobil Product Solutions, Linda DuCharme to lead ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company, and Liam Mallon to lead ExxonMobil Upstream Company.
McDermott International Ltd. has appointed Michael McKelvy as president and CEO. He will also serve as a member of the company’s board of directors. Lee McIntire, who served as interim CEO since June 2021, will continue as a member of the board.
Shell plc has appointed Ed Daniels to the newly created role of Strategy, Sustainability and Corporate Relations Director.
Andy Samuel will step down as chief executive of the Oil and Gas Authority in December.
Mohamed Mounes Shahat, managing director of Neptune Energy, Egypt has passed away.
APA Corp. has appointed Retired Lieutenant General Charles Hooper to its board of directors. He will serve on the Corporate Responsibility, Governance, and Nominating Committee and the Management Development and Compensation Committee.
Fabrice Nze-Bekale has joined the VAALCO Energy Inc. board of directors. He will serve on the Audit, Compensation, Strategic and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. Also, Bradley Radoff has resigned from the board.
BW Ideol has hired Christopher Dorman as the Head of Development – US.
ABS has appointed Stamatis Fradelos as vice president of Regulatory Affairs.
Blue Ocean Seismic Services has appointed Graham Philip as non-executive chairman and Abdul Khan as CFO.
John Pearson, COO of Petrofac’s New Energy Services business, has joined the Offshore Energies UK board.
Jim Profit has joined Paradigm Drilling Services as vice president of business development.
DeepOcean has hired Bill Smart to lead business development efforts in emerging markets.
Applied Petroleum Technology has named Eric Michael chief geochemical advisor.
Roy Rødningen has joined PG Flow Solutions as managing director.
isol8 Ltd. has appointed Kevin Giles as chief commercial officer, Sarah Sly-Christie as senior design drafter, and Jonathan Fraser as chief field engineer.
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has promoted Heather Castleman to director, Mergers & Acquisitions for Marketing Americas Industrial.
East of England Offshore Wind Cluster Forum has appointed Andrew Harston as chair and Denise Hone as vice-chair.
DeltaTek has promoted Lori Angus to office manager, Jonas Taverne to senior service supervisor, and Gregor McLellan to design engineer.
Fugro has appointed Céline Gerson as group director for the Americas region.
Dr. Grant Crow has joined 3t Transform as managing director.
AIS Technical has hired Ian Fishpool as technical sales manager, Gavin Clark as planning and performance manager, and Adam Donaldson as technical design specialist.
The 2021-2022 elected officers for the AADE Lafayette Chapter are Jude Boudreaux, president, Offshore Energy Services LLC; Rick Farmer, first vice president, Double R Engineering; Scott Boudreaux, second vice president, Intracoastal Liquid Mud Inc.; Sharon Moore, treasurer, Halliburton Energy Services Inc; and Shawn Guidry, secretary, Crescent Safety Services LLC. The 2021-2022 steering committee includes: Al Wambsgans, steering committee chairman, retired; Bruce Jordan, Stokes & Spiehler; Alden Sonnier, FDF Energy Services; Rick Voth, retired; Jeffery Svendson, Advanced Logistics LLC; Kristy Bonner, Foster Marketing; and Joe Bernard, Pro-T.
United States Steel Corp. has named Daniel R. Brown senior vice president of Advanced Technology Steelmaking and COO of Big River Steel Works.
Company News
Equinor has contracted Data Gumbo to provide the ‘smart contract network’ GumboNet service. The goal is to ensure transactional certainty with Equinor’s drilling and wells services (IDWS) providers, starting on the Norwegian continental shelf. The frame agreement also provides the basis for company-wide application for all relevant contract categories.
Fugro is building a remote operations center at its office in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The new communications hub, due to be completed later this year, will allow offshore operations to be completed onshore using remote and autonomous technologies.
Aramco Overseas Company B.V. has purchased 100% of Aker BP’s shares in Cognite.
UK offshore trade association OGUK has renamed itself Offshore Energies UK, as it extends its oil and gas remit to hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and offshore wind. The change follows a strategic review that was approved by the association’s members last December.
Aker Solutions has agreed to acquire Unitech Power Systems. The all-cash transaction is expected to be completed during 1Q 2022, at an undisclosed value. The acquisition is expected to enhance its capabilities related to high-voltage electrical power systems and drive growth in markets supported by the energy transition.
Wilhelmsen has acquired a 21% stake in Reach Subsea ASA.
Strategic Marine has acquired the fixed infrastructure as well as the lease of the shipyard at 5 Benoi Road in Singapore and has completed the lease transfer from JTC Corp.
Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation has expanded its manufacturing and sales office facility in Qingdao, China. It is now more than 23,000 sq m (247,570 sq ft).
Blue Ocean Seismic Services has opened a new office in London.
Vår Energi and Equinor have started a five-year helicopter-sharing agreement in the North Sea.
Nexans has negotiated a €200-million ($225.6-million) loan facility with European Investment Bank, allowing the company to finance R&D and new product developments. The company plans to speed up digitalization and energy-efficiency measures of its facilities and expand its cables plant in Halden, Norway.
ENTEGRA has opened a new operations hub in Houston.
Bilfinger Salamis UK and Altera Infrastructure have awarded Craig International service contracts. It will source and supply oilfield consumables for Altera’s UK and Brazil operations, and the company will provide third-party procurement for goods and services to Bilfinger Salamis UK’s offshore and onshore business.
Adepth Minerals AS has received a NOK 11.7-million ($1.3-million) grant from Innovation Norway. Together with cooperation partners Seabed Solutions and DeepOcean, Adepth Minerals will develop FlexiCore – a flexible and efficient core sampling technology. The company said the system will be able to core in sloping and variable terrain, core at a vertical angle, change drill bits at the seabed, and be able to take core samples on multiple locations without recovery to the surface due to its inherent mobility.
Eco Wave Power and Ocean Power Technologies Inc. are working to use their complementary technologies and skills to accelerate wave energy projects. They will work together on several fronts, including knowledge sharing, joint grant submissions, and collaborative assistance in entry to new markets. eDrilling and Automatic Control Engineering are jointly offering AI-based drilling technologies to E&P companies in Southeast Europe. They plan to offer an all-encompassing service based on eDrilling’s AI and machine learning-powered software for well construction to help companies in the region prepare for, conduct, and optimize drilling. Petronas has signed a joint study and collaboration agreement with Sarawak Shell Berhad to explore carbon capture and storage projects and opportunities in Malaysia and the region.
New offshore history book
Dr. Jason Theriot’s new book, Pelican Brand Oysters to Pioneer Tug and Barge, explores the history of Cenac Towing Company, one of the pioneering firms in the offshore marine industry. Theriot says that Cenac Towing was the first tug and barge operator to enter the offshore oil and gas arena in the US Gulf of Mexico and was also the first to deploy a “super barge” for deepwater well testing. This history provides an inside look into how the leaders of this family-owned towing company built a market-leading marine enterprise by perpetuating the ideals and traditions of the “Cenac Way” of doing business.
