Moulsdale

The Artificial Lift Co. Ltd. (ALC) has promotedPeter Moulsdale as director and VP, Operations. Moulsdale joined ALC in 2007 and has played a key role in the development and commercialization of the company’s Rigless ESP (electric submersible pump) solution.

Offshore Design Engineering (ODE) has promotedStephen Stuart-Matthews as regional director for the London office. He replaces John Eckhart, who is retiring.

HB Rentals has made a number of recent appointments.Jill Adams has been named to the corporate sales team. Adams will be based in the company’s Houston office and will be responsible for managing the daily sales activities on a corporate level. Clayton George has been appointed as technical division manager. George will manage project teams for the design of modular offshore living quarters and will be based in the company’s Broussard, Louisiana, office. Ken Ferguson has been named the director of global business development. Ferguson will be based in the company’s Houston office. Tim Murphy has been appointed as technical sales and marketing manager. Based in Houston, Murphy will manage the technical sales and marketing operations for the company’s operations in the Western Hemisphere.

Paul Illingworth has joined SSP Offshore Inc. as CEO. Illingworth will be based in the company’s Houston office. Daniel Wilson, the interim CEO, will remain with SSP Offshore in a senior executive capacity.

BMT Scientific Marine Services Inc. has promotedJeffrey Lewis to the position of VP of  Operations. Lewis will continue to provide his specialized expertise on BMT projects as well as continue to monitor the technical direction of software development.

WFS Technologies has appointedDr. Jon Davies, formerly of Sonardyne and QinetiQ, as DSP manager.

Knight Oil Tools has made a number of recent appointments.Norman Henry has been   named sales manager for the Louisiana region. Henry will coordinate existing corporate and field sales efforts in Louisiana for the various services that make up Knight and its operating companies – including oil tools, fishing services, manufacturing, and well services. Chris Rosson has been named business development manager and Pat Clark has been named business manager. Rosson will work to identify and enhance new business opportunities for Knight – including the oil tools, fishing, manufacturing, and well services business units. Clark will oversee the day-to-day billing and inventory management operations.

Jon Khachaturian, founder and president of Versabar, is among the 68 new members  and nine foreign associates recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Khachaturian was elected for developing innovative, safe, reusable, and economical heavy-lifting systems to advance the international marine industry. He is currently the holder of 44 domestic and international patents.

David Wilson, who joined Cutting & Wear at the end of January, is their new quality and technical resource engineer. Wilson will be responsible for all quality issues including managing the company’s auditing procedures and developing their quality system.

MODEC has appointedNorio Nagata as director and Kiyoshi Nakamura and Akira Nishihata as corporate auditors.

Clough has appointedMark Goodwin as group manager of corporate finance and John Whitehand as company secretary.

Companies

BP and Devon Energy Corp. have signed a $7 billion agreement whereby BP will acquire all of Devon’s deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, and Azerbaijan assets. BP also will take Devon’s leases for the Seadrill West Sirius and Transocean Deepwater Discovery drilling rigs.

Devon says the closings on various properties will be at different times, but should be completed by year-end, pending the closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Vallourec subsidiaryVallourec & Mannesmann Tubes plans to build a new $650-million rolling mill in Youngstown, Ohio. The project includes heat treatment and threading facilities. The mill will have capacity to produce 2 3/8-in. to 7-in. diameter OCTG. Start-up is expected in 4Q 2011.

VAM USA has started construction of a new 54,000-sq ft (5,017-sq m) R&D testing facility in Houston. It is expected to open in early fall of this year.

Ashtead Technology is partnering with Seanic Ocean Systems. The agreement covers the exclusive rental of Seanic tools in the North Sea, Africa, Mediterranean, and Singapore (including Australia and Southeast Asia) territories.

Offshore fabricatorGrenland Group has signed a letter of intent to acquire Bergen-based contractor CIC Engineering. Grenland plans to relocate the company and its 23 employees to its new office complex in Bergen, Norway, as part of the Grenland Group Offshore Partner division.

Castrol Offshore has commissioned a new product plant in Australia for Transaqua HT2 water-based subsea control fluid. The new facility is directed at supply of the control fluid across the Asia-Pacific region.

AF Decom Offshore UK and Lerwick Port Authority have agreed to develop a deepwater quay facility at Lerwick, Shetland, as a decommissioning center for major Northern North Sea structures.

Rolls-Royce has agreed with the board of ODIM ASA to make a cash offer for all outstanding shares of ODIM.

GL Noble Denton has opened an office in Trinidad and Tobago offering technical assurance, advanced consulting and specialized engineering, marine consulting, and operations and project execution.

There was a 40% increase in upstream oil and gas merger and acquisition value in 2009 to nearly $150 billion, saysIHS Herold in its annual review. Two-thirds of the action was in North America.