People
Sondex has appointedDominique Legrand director of group manufacturing. Legrand will be based at the headquarters in Hampshire, UK, and will be responsible for manufacturing strategy, strengthening communication, and spreading best practices. Legrand has a degree in industrial engineering from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Pogo Producing Co. and Third Point LLC. reached an agreement to expand Pogo’s board of directors from eight to 10 members.Daniel S. Loeb and Bradley L. Radoff of Third Point are now members of the board. The agreement gives Pogo the option to appoint Robert B. Rowling of TRT Holdings Inc. to an additional seat on the board at a later date.
Infield Systems Ltd. has appointedSteve Adams as international sales manager. Adams was formerly with OPL-Clarksons where he worked in the offshore marine, survey, drilling, floating production, and subsea engineering markets.
RBG Ltd. has appointedDuncan Bonner as area manager - Middle East, replacing Alan Morrison, who is returning to Aberdeen as international support manager in the Mechanical Services division.
Bonner will operate from Doha, Qatar, and will be responsible for managing and developing the company’s existing business in the Middle East.
Noble Corp.’s board of directors has namedMark A. Jackson chairman of the board. Jackson, who was named a director in 2006, retains his current offices of president and CEO. Jackson holds a BS degree in accounting from Oklahoma Christian University and serves on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute and the International Association of Drilling Contractors.
GEODynamics Inc. has namedMatt Bell VP of technology. Bell graduated from Imperial College, London, with a master’s degree in chemical engineering. He is a member of SPE and the API subcommittee on perforating, an associate member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, and an associate of the City & Guilds Institute of London.
GEODynamics Inc. has appointedTed Price global sales director. Price’s 30-year career in the oil and gas industry has been dedicated to international sales and operations in C.I.S. countries, China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Price is a graduate of St. Johns River College in Florida.
Microsoft has promotedJohn Fikany to vice president of US commercial sector industries, which includes the company’s Houston-based Oil & Gas Industry. Fikany will oversee industry strategy, sales, partnering, marketing, technical strategists, and solution specialists for the commercial industry groups.
Engineering and construction company Clough Ltd. has appointedJohn Smith CEO, effective Aug. 1, 2007. John Cooper, current CEO, will remain in his position until Smith joins the company and will continue as a company director. Smith holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering and serves as director on the boards of Subsea7, Remora Technology, and Orion Comtetentia.
Cameron has electedJohn C. Bartos vice president, development and technology. Bartos is responsible for identifying and implementing new technology that supports Cameron’s engineering processes and product development initiatives. Bartos has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.
Knight Oil Tools has namedHoward Milligan corporate director of quality. Based at Knight’s headquarters in Broussard, Louisiana, Milligan will be responsible for establishing a unified quality management system.
The Pipeline Equipment Division of CRC-Evans Pipeline International, Inc. has appointedFred Lysak president. Lysak will be responsible for pipeline equipment sales and operations worldwide.
STATS UK Ltd. has appointedGarry Allan as finance director with a position on its board of directors. Prior to joining STATS in December 2005, Allan was finance director for Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping. He is a graduate of Aberdeen University.
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have appointedProfessor Andrew Palmer as the Keppel Chair Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. Palmer takes over from Norwegian marine structures expert, Torgeir Moan, who held the first Keppel Chair between 2002 and 2006. Palmer’s tenure as Keppel Professor will be for two years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cambridge University and his doctorate in engineering from Brown University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Chartered Engineer.
Companies
CorrOcean is buying metering equipment and upstream software services provider Roxar for $370 million from Bahrain-based investment group Arcapita Bank. Trondheim-based CorrOcean will merge its operations with those of Roxar.
Statoil and Gazprom Neft have established a working group to evaluate the potential for joint exploration and production projects in Russia and elsewhere. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by senior representatives of the two companies in April.
KS Energy Ltd., through a special purpose vehicle called Sphinx Frontier Ltd., has made an $80-million acquisition of Dubai-based Atlantic Oilfield Services, including a jackup accommodation rig operating in the North Sea. In addition to the operating rig, AOS has three ongoing management contracts for two jackup units and an onshore drilling commitment in Kurdistan.
Socotherm has established the Socotherm Angola Ltd. Marine Base in Luanda to serve the local deepwater market. Socotherm inaugurated Socotherm Angola Ltd. at the end of May.
Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd. has sold Balti ES Ltd., a manufacturer of metal components based in Narva, Estonia, to Finland’s Cargotec Corp. The final company transfer is expected to take place by the end of July 2007.
Pan-United Marine Ltd. has accepted the takeover offer put forward by Dubai Drydocks World Llc. Securing a controlling stake in PUM is part of the group’s investment strategy for Asia, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Dubai Drydocks chairman, said in a statement released on May 28.
AGR Group has signed a worldwide partnership agreement with GE’s pipeline inspection and integrity services operation. The five-year agreement has an estimated value of NOK 150 million ($24.9 million). It covers the deployment of AGR PipeTech’s in-line inspection tools and services. Under the arrangement, AGR will provide inspection services and project management for pipeline inspection projects up to 10 km (6.2 mi). PII will undertake inspection for larger projects and will provide data processing and analyses for the full range of projects.
Dutch shipping groupVroon has acquired North Sea emergency response and rescue vessel contractor Viking Offshore Services. The company will be re-named Vroon Offshore Services. The existing management will stay in place.
