People

3i, a European venture capital and private equity company, has appointedMike Sibson as investment director. Sibson has moved to 3i’s Aberdeen-based oil and gas team from the company’s venture capital team based in Cambridge, where he worked for four years.

Amber Pappas has joined the NACE Foundation as executive director. Pappas recently relocated to Houston, Texas, from Athens, Greece, where she was the general manager of an international advertising/public relations agency.

Horizon Offshore Inc. announced thatJ. Louis Frank resigned as chairman of the board and was named chairman emeritus. Frank will continue to serve on the board of directors and will remain an employee of the company for the remaining term of his employment agreement, which expires in May 2006. The company also named John T. Mills chairman of the board of directors. Mills has served on Horizon’s board since June 2002 and currently serves as chairman of the Audit, Compensation, and Financing and Re-capitalization committees and as a member of the Nominating and Governance committee.

Keppel Corp. Ltd. appointedTow Heng Tan, managing director of strategic development of Temasek Holdings Ltd., as director. He will also serve as a member of the executive committee and remuneration and share option committee.

Quantapoint Inc., provider of as-built documentation, has hiredJames McGill as vice president of marketing. McGill will be responsible for the company’s global marketing efforts.

Strata Control Services Inc., a provider of specialty drilling fluid additives to the oil and gas industry, has appointedRichard L.Boyd general manager.

Dave Rees, president of CorrOcean Inc. ASA, Houston-based subsidiary of CorrOcean ASA, has appointed Joergen Pedersen to US sales manager - topside systems. Pedersen was previously project manager for CorrOcean’s corrosion, sand erosion, and pressure/temperature sensor deliveries to US offshore and onshore clients.

Pride International announced the departure ofJohn C. G. O’Leary, its president. Paul A. Bragg, the company’s CEO, assumed the additional position of president. Bragg held the position of president from 1997-2003 and was both CEO and president of the company from 1999-2003.

Companies

AVEVA Group Plc, a lifecycle engineering IT solutions and services provider, has launched version 9.5 of its Vantage Project Resource Management (VPRM) product, a comprehensive solution for the management and control of materials for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors, clients, vendors, and sub-contractors.

International drilling and engineering contractorKCA Deutag, a subsidiary of Abbot Group Plc, has acquired the assets of specialist engineering company Rig Design Services Ltd.

GE Energy’s oil and gas division is extending through October 2006 its partnership with one of Germany’s leading research centers to develop new technology used in pipeline inspection tools. GE Energy’s work with Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, which began in 1985, will focus on developing smaller, more powerful electronic components used on pigs.

Sonsub Inc. recently completed a 180-day contract with Oceanografia SA de CV, working in the Bay of Campeche on Pemex’s pipelines using the 75-hp work class ROV Discovery 3. Meanwhile, Sonsub’s Scorpion 22 ROV, mobilized in May 2003, is continuing work on a three-year contract for Oceanografia for inspection, survey, and CP monitoring on 623 submarine crossings, 266 submarine interconnections, and 5,040 km of submarine pipeline, including risers.

Employing the Innovatum tracking system (also used on Sonsub’s Sedna trenching system), the ROVs have been able to perform the work in 0.2-0.4 m of visibility at 0.9 km/hr.

The state oil company of Malaysia,Petronas Carigali, has awarded a major full field review study of one of the key fields offshore Malaysia to Uzma Engineering in Kuala Lumpur, working in partnership with Knowledge Reservoir. The study will comprise a comprehensive review of the field with respect to its ability to deliver hydrocarbons as well as the investigation of techniques to enhance the recovery of hydrocarbons from the asset.

Engineering specialist to the oil and gas industry,Labtech Modular Engineering, has completed a fully winterized cabin to combat the extreme weather conditions on Sakhalin Island in a contract for Baker Hughes Inteq. The multi-purpose, high-specification unit can withstand the harshest climatic conditions and ranges in temperature from -40° C to +40° C.

Houston-basedParagon Engineering Services Inc. has joined with Nigerian firm International Trading & Logistics Co. Ltd. (Intralog) to form Paragon-Intralog Engineering Ltd., a new engineering services company based in Lagos, Nigeria. Paragon-Intralog is structured to enhance local engineering infrastructure while supporting Paragon’s continued participation in Nigeria’s oil and gas production facility and pipeline projects.

Petroleum Geo-Services ASA has reached an agreement in principle with the PL 038 license owners on the main terms of a new compensation structure for the FPSO Petrojarl Varg producing the Varg field on the Norwegian continental shelf. The main terms of the revised agreement consist of a fixed base day rate of $90,000 and a variable rate of $6.30/bbl. PGS is entitled to terminate the agreement if the production of the Varg field falls below 15,700 b/d. The new tariff structure is effective from May 29, 2004.

ImpactWeather Inc. and Horizon Marine Inc. have created a strategic alliance to benefit the clients of both companies. Knowing that oceanography and meteorology go hand-in-hand, the decision was made to pool the efforts of the two specialty companies, both of which focus on mitigating risk and fostering business continuity for their clients. The alliance results from the fact that the two companies already share a large number of customers.

Enventure Global Technology has completed the world’s longest ever solid tubular expansion in the Southern North Sea. The expansion by the Shell/Halliburton joint venture company, which recently established a permanent European base in Aberdeen, is the first in excess of 2 km. The 2,020-m solid expandable tubular has been deployed for the Netherlands-based operator NAM.

Asset Performance Networks, a company that implements best practices to drive superior capital project and turnaround performance for chemical, gas, power, refining, and upstream (exploration and production) industries, is expanding its services to the Middle East. As part of the expansion strategy, the company has signed a partnership agreement with Project Solutions, provider of total project management services to the government and organizations in construction, engineering, oil and gas, petrochemical, shipbuilding, and information technology, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.