People
Newfield Exploration has appointedLee K. Boothby as CEO. The company has also named Gary D. Packer as executive VP and COO and Terry W. Rathert as executive VP and CFO. Newfield has also appointed Daryll T. Howard as VP of Rocky Mountains and Samuel E. Langford as VP of corporate development.
Saudi Aramco has appointedKhaled A. Al-Buraik as VP of Saudi Aramco affairs; Dawood M. Al-Dawood as VP of marketing, supply, and joint venture coordination; Zuhair A. Al-Hussain as VP of drilling and workover; Majid Y. Al-Mugla as VP of project management; Ahmad A. Al-Sa’adi as VP of pipelines, distribution, and terminal operations; and Saad A. Al-Turaiki as VP of southern area oil operations.
Occidental Petroleum has appointedAnita Powers as VP. Powers also has been named executive VP of worldwide exploration for Oxy Oil and Gas.
Mott MacDonald has appointedDr. Charles Ellin as MD of the company’s global oil, gas, and petrochemicals business. Vinod Shah, Hisham Alami, Sam Mathew, Colin Gamblin, Kevin Anderson, and Azfar Shaukat have been promoted to become directors of the team reporting to Ellinas.
Ensco International has appointedSean O’Neill as VP of investor relations. He is responsible for investor relations, public relations, corporate communications, and branding. O’Neill replaces Richard A. LeBlanc, who is retiring.
EV Offshore has appointedSandy Adamson and Glenn Crouch as international sales managers.
The Shipbuilders Council of America has appointedHerschel Vinyard as its new chair.
Schlumberger has appointedPaal Kibsgaard as product group president for reservoir characterization, which includes WesternGeco, wireline, drilling and measurements, and well testing technologies. The company has also appointed Doug Pferdehirt as product group president for reservoir production, encompassing well services, completions and artificial lift products and services. Jeff Spath has been named product group president for reservoir management, which includes data and consulting services, Schlumberger Information Services, Schlumberger Business Consulting, and Schlumberger Water and Carbon Services.
Baker Hughes has appointedBelgacem Chariag as VP and president - Eastern Hemisphere operations.
Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) has appointedAlan Curran as CEO. According to the company, Curran will manage the company’s portfolio of long-term contracts for production facilities in the North Sea, while leading the pursuit of new business opportunities.
Noble Energy has appointedDavid L. Stover as president of the company in addition to continuing as COO. Stover will be responsible for the daily operations of the company including all exploration, production, drilling, and marketing activities.
Reinier Zwitserloot, chairman of Wintershall Holding, is retiring effective Sept. 30, 2009. Dr. Rainer Seele will be proposed to the supervisory board of the company as his successor. The company has appointed Martin Bachmann to the board of executive directors. Bachmann is responsible for exploration and development.
Dana Gas has appointedAhmed Al-Arbeed as CEO. The company also has appointed Rashid Saif Al-Jarwan’s as executive director. Both will continue to serve on the company’s board.
Origin Energy has appointedJohn Akehurst as an independent non-executive director.
AVC Media Enterprises has appointedCraig Douglas as manager for offshore and security services. Douglas will be responsible for the design, installation, and maintenance of projects.
Sensornet has appointedRichard Kluth as GM. Kluth previously
Aker Qserv has appointedGraeme Wood as operations director – process and pipeline. The company has also promoted Garry Michie from GM to operations director – well services UK.
S. M. Cassiani, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Research, has elected to retire on May 31, 2009, after more than 40 years of service. It is anticipated that the company’s board of directors will elect S. M. (Steve) Greenlee as president, effective June 1, 2009.
MCS has appointedRafael Martins de Castro as business development manager for its Brazilian office. The company also has appointed Rafael Lima as subsea engineering team leader. He is charged with developing and supervising the company’s Rio de Janeiro team as it grows.
SeeByte has appointedJohn Stout as offshore business manager. Stout is responsible for SeeByte’s product and service offering to the offshore industry worldwide.
Deepflex has appointedDr. Thomas J. Walsh and Mathew Lutz to its executive management team. Walsh is VP of Engineering. He directs all aspects of engineering within DeepFlex and chairs the company’s Intellectual Property Committee. Lutz is VP of Sales, Marketing, and Strategic Planning.
Tendeka has appointedMartin Perry as chairman. The company also has appointed Neale Carter as CEO.
Brinker has appointedKevin Stewart as group CEO. Stewart manages the company’s ongoing growth activity in the oil and gas sector and bolsters its presence in the water industry through the diversification of its proven oil and gas technology into the water sector, the company says.
DOF Subsea UK has appointedBrian Leith as business acquisitions manager, Ken Irvine
Fugro Gravity & Magnetic Services has appointedAlessandro Colla to its business development team. Colla will focus his efforts on the European-African-Middle Eastern region.
Company News
Offshore Containers has entered into agreements to acquire Vertec Engineering and the hire division of Labtech Systems from Sovereign Oilfield Group, subject to the approval of the sellers’ shareholders.
Songa Offshore SE has transferred its registered office from Oslo, Norway, to Limassol, Cyprus. As a consequence of the transfer, Songa Offshore SE is now subject to the laws of Cyprus.
Wintershall and GDF SUEZ have agreed to exchange company interests in the German North Sea. GDF SUEZ E&P Deutschland GmbH will receive 40% of the H&L sections, which lie northwest of the East Friesian island of Borkum. In exchange Wintershall will receive 25% of the Cuxhaven concession, which directly adjoins the Schleswig-Holstein Mittelplate oil field.
RWE Dea plans to invest $315 million in its Egyptian operations, a 20% increase on last year’s budget. One of the main investment projects is the North Idku gas field development, northeast of Alexandria and 30 km (18.6 mi) offshore in the Mediterranean. Construction of the two platforms to develop the reservoir should start this fall, with completion expected next spring.
Small and large US companies may benefit from a nonbinding preliminary commitment of $2 billion in financing from the Export-Import Bank of the US to encourage purchases of US goods and services. Pending final approval, the financing is anticipated to support more than $2.2 billion of US exports toPetrobras.
Schlumberger Information Solutions has received the Service & Support Professionals Association’s Excellence in Service Operations certification.
C-MAR Group has formed a new engineering division, named C-MAR Engineering. The division will be led by COO Dan Endersby. C-MAR Engineering will focus on subsea and well control; classification and assurance; and electrical and instrumentation.
Expro plans to open a multi-service base in Kenai, Alaska. The facility, scheduled for completion late this year, will integrate well testing, surface sampling, and data acquisition sub-departments for testing and commissioning.
Triton Group has added Brazil to its international network. Since joining forces with Brazilian company Robotica Ramos Consultoria, Triton Group has secured contracts totaling $5 million to deliver ROV pilot training and project simulation, rental of ROV tooling equipment, simulation of subsea projects, and product sales.
Aberdeen-basedCorpro and Houston-based DOWDCO are teaming to provide advanced coring services to operators in the Gulf of Mexico.
A subsidiary ofJohn Wood Group has acquired Proteus Global Solutions, a Perth-based provider of commissioning, operations support, and engineering services. Proteus provides its services across the Asia-Pacific region to a range of sectors, including oil and gas.
ODIM has acquired Singapore-based Marine Services & Engineering for $1.5 million.
Caledus is forming a joint venture with Malaysian oil and gas service sector company Deleum Berhad. Caledus has also established a new product line – the DragonBITE Drill Shoe.
Emerson has acquired Roxar. Roxar becomes part of Emerson Process Management, adding subsea reservoir management and production optimization for global upstream exploration and production customers.
Mustang’s business unit has received ISO 9001:2008 certification for its quality management system.
Fairfield Betula has completed the acquisition of acreage adjacent to the Dunlin field from Shell UK, Esso Exploration and Production UK, and Statoil (UK) . The acreage includes the undeveloped discoveries Skye and block 6, and has been acquired jointly by Fairfield (70%) and its partner in the Dunlin Area, MCX Dunlin (UK) (30%).
Subsea 7 says it is on target to open its new pipeline fabrication spoolbase in Port Isabel, Texas, in June. Construction on the buildings and quayside is on schedule and nearing completion, the company says. Welding on the facility’s first project, a 58-km (36-mi) pipeline for Marathon’s Droshky development, is scheduled to begin in early June.
Tracerco has invested $1.5 million to launch two regional service centers in Asia and Australia. The move to new facilities in Kuala Lumpur and Perth will see Tracerco offer its full range of products and services to the regional oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.
ITS Group and Shoaibi Group have formed a new company, ITS Arabia, following a joint venture agreement. Based in Saudi Arabia, ITS Arabia will provide drilling equipment and associated services to regional oil and gas organizations.
International Marine Contractors Association is establishing a Central & South America Section. The section will focus on Rio de Janeiro and Brazil initially, and gradually develop to encompass the entire region. This is IMCA’s fifth regional section.
Texas ReExcavation has acquired GSPE Engineering. The company has also formed T-Rex Engineering & Construction. The new company will focus on the construction of offshore oil and gas equipment including build-to-specification pipeline end terminals and manifolds, umbilical termination assembly frames, pig launchers, process piping, in-line sleds, manifolds, jumpers, spreader bars, and other related equipment.
EnerMech has invested more than £6 million ($8.9 million) in a new global headquarters and regional hubs. The company has agreed to a 15-year lease on the former Acergy site at Bucksburn, which consists of workshops, office space, and an extensive open storage yard.
PHI Inc. has unveiled the first dedicated 24-hour offshore air medical helicopter for the oil and gas industry, according to PHI. The Sikorsky S-76 C++ helicopter is equipped with cardiac monitors with 12 lead EKG capabilities, defibrillator with pacing capability, transport ventilators and IV pumps, and a dedicated life port medical interior with two-patient capability. This service is the first to offer advanced critical care life support capabilities to those working hundreds of miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, the company says. The helicopter also is equipped with advanced avionics and safety features such as enhanced ground proximity warning system, automatically deployed emergency locator, and externally deployable rafts. It has an extensive radio system, satellite tracking, and satellite phone capability. The crew onboard can remain in constant contact with PHI’s communication centers, the offshore facility, and the receiving hospital. PHI’s new service is certified and equipped with night vision goggles, also a first in the GoM, the company says.
