People
Afren has appointedEgbert Imomoh as chairman. He replaces Rilwanu Lukman, who has been appointed Nigeria’s minister of Petroleum Resources.
Santos has appointedPeter Coates as deputy chairman. Coates has been a director of Santos since March 2008. He is chairman of Xstrata Australia and former CEO of Xstrata Coal, Xstrata Plc’s global coal business. He is also chairman of Minara Resources.
Aker Geo has appointedErik Sverre Jenssen as president. Jenssen joins Aker Solutions from StatoilHydro, where he served as platform manager at the Oseberg field center.
Common Data Access (CDA) has appointedChristine McKay as its new council chair and director of the CDA board.
Polarcus has appointedPhilip M. Fontana as chief geophysicist. Fontana will be responsible for development of the company’s geophysical strategy.
Seismic Ventures has appointedStephen R. Rutherford as director of the company’s newly formed direct hydrocarbon detection services division. Rutherford will oversee the division’s AVO and direct detection offerings.
CygNet Software has appointedMike Hill as VP of sales, Steve Robb as VP of business development, and Doug Rauenzahn as director of product management.
Alliance Engineering has appointedScott Leitko as VP of corporate strategy. He has been with Alliance since 2005, most recently as VP of engineering.
Alliance also has promotedRonald Bohannan to VP of engineering. He has been with Alliance since 1998, most recently as Instrument Department manager.
Swagelok has appointedDeric Wallace as regional director, Europe. Wallace will be responsible for all aspects of business development and sales and service support within the region.
Noble Corp. has appointedWilliam E. Turcotte as senior VP and general counsel. Before joining Noble, Turcotte served as senior VP, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Cornell Cos.
M-I SWACO has appointedChris Rivers as president and CEO. Rivers replaces Don McKenzie, who remains with Smith International in an advisory role.
Occidental Petroleum has appointedSandy Lowe as VP. Lowe previously served as executive VP of international production and engineering for Oxy Oil and Gas.
BJ Services has appointedMarco Acosta as Latin America area manager for Tubular Services. Based in Rio de Janeiro, Acosta will oversee all aspects of operations, business development, and management of projects in Latin America that require running casing and tubing or driving conductors.
Ausclad Group of Cos. (AGC) has appointedMike Gibson as executive GM of operations. Gibson will be responsible for activities including mining and resources, oil and gas, and fabrication and construction.
The company also has appointedDavid Gilbert as GM of Eastern Australia. Gilbert will be responsible for identifying growth opportunities for the company in Eastern Australia and Southeast Asia and for the management of its operations in those regions.
Woodside has appointedMelinda Cilento to the company’s board as a non-executive director. She joins Woodside as an independent director. Cilento is the deputy chief executive of the Business Council of Australia.
Minerals Management Service has appointedDavid Trocquet as district manager for the MMS New Orleans District Office, Field Operations. Trocquet will manage several field operations functions within the New Orleans District including drilling permit reviews, production facility and workover completion permits, safety inspections, civil penalty reviews, and accident investigations.
Company News
Noble Denton has acquired Standard Engineering and Brevik Engineering from Strata Marine & Offshore for $38.4 million.
Avana Petroleum and Dubai-based East African Exploration have signed a production agreement with the Seychelles government to search for oil off the Seychelles coast. The companies have selected 15,000 sq km (5,792 sq mi) in three tranches that it believes include a series of high potential drilling targets.
ATP Oil & Gas Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary ATP Oil & Gas (UK) have closed a $407 million sale and purchase agreement with EDF Production UKfor certain ATP UK assets in the North Sea. The agreement transfers 80% of ATP’s UK interest in its Tors (a 68% working interest) and Wenlock (an 80% working interest) properties to EDF.
JSC National Co. KazMunayGas (KMG) has selected AMEC as a technical consultant. The contract covers consultancy services related to field development planning, program management, project management and implementation, and associated activities for KMG’s oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan, including the Kashagan oil field in the north Caspian Sea.
Marathon Oil has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its subsidiary Marathon Oil Ireland for $180 million to Star Energy Group. The companies expect to close the transaction, subject to completion of the necessary administrative processes with Irish authorities, in 1Q 2009.
Caesar Systems and Decision Frameworks have formed a strategic alliance to provide education, training, and consulting services to improve decision making in the upstream oil and gas industry, the companies say. The services will use the PetroVR Toolsuite from Caesar Systems and DTrio decision analysis workflow software from Decision Frameworks.
The Norwegian Ministry of Energy and Petroleum has approvedDet norske oljeselskap’s sale of its 15% interest in Barents Sea production licenses 229, 229B, and 229C to StatoilHydro ASA. The $163-million transaction includes the Goliat field.
Aker Oilfield Services has awarded Grenland Group a two-year, $3-million engineering and supervision contract. The contract scope includes detailed design and integration of the well intervention systems onboard Aker Oilfield Services’ subsea well service vessel currently under construction.
Canamens has signed a suite of agreements, including an association contract, a petroleum agreement, a reconnaissance contract, along with associated permits, and a license with Morocco’s Office National Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM).
Petrolcom Oil has awarded Noble Denton a contract for the provision of hose testing equipment in the Middle East.
Sercel has entered into a private transaction to purchase all existing shares in Quest Geo Solutions, a UK-based software company, for a cash.
Bibby Ship Management has launched a dynamic positioning operator (DPO) training scheme that will provide specialist skills to the offshore marine market. The scheme comprises 12 to 18 months of full-time on and offshore training and a competence assurance program.
Technip is expanding its Angoflex umbilical manufacturing plant in Lobito, Angola, to meet growing demand for longer length and larger diameter products from the West African market. The Angoflex plant expansion will include the installation of two manufacturing carousels, an upgrade to a helical lay-up machine, and a load-out roller path. Expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2010.
