LUX Assure has appointedMax Rowe as an advisor.

Ithaca Energy has namedFergus McGhie as project delivery manager for its combined Stella, Harrier, and Hurricane fields development in the UK central North Sea.

Red Spider has appointedEuan Fraser as sales engineer and Richard McKimmie as senior sales engineer.

Sky Petroleum has appointedSheikh Jabor Bin Yusef Bin Jassim Al-Thani to its board of directors. H.E. Sheikh Jabor is the chairman and director of several privately established companies in Qatar and chairs the Energy and Environmental Holding, and United Group for Projects.

The Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions has appointedBranko Terzic as executive director. Annette Proctor will join Terzic in the Center for Energy Solutions, serving as director of operations.

Hyperdynamics has appointedKenneth A. Nibbelink as chief geologist, Donald E. Rice as senior geophysicist, and Dennis Morton as operations manager, based in Conakry, Republic of Guinea.

RPS Energy has appointedDavid Coursey as site investigation manager.

Entek Energy has appointedTrent Spry as CEO and MD. Spry has been with the company since 2008. He replaces Russell Brimage, who will remain on the company’s board as executive director of operations.

FoundOcean has appointedJohn Hudson as client services director with responsibility for high-level business development, technical supervision of project management, and quality assurance. The company has also named Paul Burns as operations director with focus on plant investment strategy, personnel organization, training, safety, and integration with overseas partners. In addition, John Paul O’Sullivan and Erlen Christiansen have been appointed as project engineers.

Enterprise Products Partners has appointedA.J. “Jim” Teague as COO. Teague will continue to serve as an executive VP and director on the board of the general partner of Enterprise.

TD Williamson has appointedBruce Thames as VP – Eastern Hemisphere. In his new role, Thames has full profit and loss responsibility for all product and service lines and oversees operations, marketing, and financial management of the company throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

InterMoor has namedJoe Hebert as operations manager. Based in InterMoor’s new Morgan City, Louisiana, facility, Herbert will be manage the operations department, and work with clients and project management.

Wison Floating Systems has appointedL. Dwayne Breaux as president and CEO; Pat McCelvey as president of Wison Offshore Leasing; Francisco Noyola as executive VP; Greg Navarre as VP of projects; Marshall DeLuca as VP of sales and marketing; and Robert Bollich as general counsel. The company has also appointed Ken Davies as technical director; Phil Hawley as project director; and Chris Hutchinson and Phil Winsor as project managers.

Knowledge Ops has appointed former Alaska GovernorSteve Cowper as a senior fellow for Government Affairs. In this role, Cowper will advise on local, state, and federal governmental matters, including regulatory aspects of oil and gas drilling, production, and maritime operations.

GDF SUEZ E&P UK has appointedJean-Claude Perdigues as UK MD. Perdigues will be responsible for the successful development of Cygnus field and all other UK projects.

RBG has appointedGarry Lewis as UK continental shelf key account director and Roger Esson as sales director. In his new role, Lewis will focus specifically on HSE, people, and operational excellence. Esson will focus on group business opportunities as well as strengthen the company’s business development capability.

Stewart & Stevenson has appointedJohn B. Simmons as CFO and director. Simmons has 30 years of experience in the oil service business.

Cosco Corp. (Singapore) has appointedLow Siew Tian as joint secretary of the company. She succeeds Lin Moi Heyang.

Kongsberg Maritime has appointedGeir Håøy as president. Håøy has worked for KONGSBERG since June 1993, holding various management positions since 1996. He succeeds Torfinn Kildal, president of Kongsberg Maritime since 1999.

CNOOC has appointedZhong Hua as CFO. He succeeds Yang Hua.

TAM International has appointedMike Machowski as director of its Canadian operations. He is based in the company’s Calgary office.

Cudd Energy Services has appointedTodd Regalado to its technical and management teams. Regalado has lead well control operations in 42 countries. In 1998, he was the first well control team leader to control a blowout in deep water through vertical intervention.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. has appointedHoward I. Atkins to its board, effective immediately. Atkins serves as senior executive VP and CFO of Wells Fargo & Co. The company has also appointed Stephen I. Chazen as CEO, effective May 2011. He replaces Dr. Ray R. Irani, who will continue as executive chairman.

Santos has appointedAndrew Seaton as deputy CFO, effective at the end of the year. Seaton joined Santos in 2005 and has over 20 years oil and gas experience, encompassing finance, banking, and engineering roles.

Company news

Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations has acquired 27 Gulf of Mexico properties from JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp.The purchase includes 19 fields with an estimated 15 MMbbl equivalent in proved reserves, says Black Elk.

ABS has created a fifth operating division for its activities in The People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, and Taiwan.

GE has acquired Dresser, Inc. for $3 billion. GE says Dresser’s gas engines will give it low-emissions, fuel-flexible mechanical-drive technology that can be applied to the small-scale compression segment of the oil and gas sector.

TSC Offshore Group has inaugurated a new, larger warehouse and office complex and a fully dedicated manufacturing facility in Houston. The new warehouse will house the company’s maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) supply and service business, while the office houses its engineering and integration teams, as well as marketing and sales for North America and corporate management.

GE Oil & Gas and Allied Wireline Services have signed a long-term partnership agreement to serve the global wireline logging industry. According to the agreement, signed through the Downhole Technology unit of GE Oil & Gas, Drilling & Production, Allied will purchase a broad range of logging tools and related equipment from GE, and the companies will cooperate in the continued development of GE’s Open-Hole Ultrawire Formation Evaluation tool suite.

Schlumberger has signed a letter of intent with Eurasia Drilling Co. Both parties have agreed to sell and acquire each other’s drilling and service assets, while entering a strategic alliance in the countries of the former Soviet Union (CIS).

Deloitte has moved to a new office in Aberdeen. The new facility will house the company’s oil and gas, renewable energy, transport, real estate, private equity, and entrepreneurial business teams.

Bowleven has agreed revised terms with Vitol E&P concerning the Etinde permit offshore Cameroon. Under the new agreement, Vitol has an option to farm into 10% of block MLHP-7, Etinde, in return for funding a $50-million program of appraisal work. The arrangement does not extend to blocks MLHP-5 and MLHP-6, Etinde, where Bowleven currently is drilling the Sapele-1 exploration well.

Repsol and Sinopec have agreed to develop jointly the projects of Repsol Brasil, creating a new company valued at $17.773 billion.

Hess Corp. has acquired an additional 20% interest in the Tubular Bells oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico from BP for $40 million. The increased ownership will bring Hess’ working interest in Tubular Bells to 40%. The company also gains operatorship of the field. Chevron holds a 30% interest and BP will retain 30%.

M-I SWACO has acquired Idrabel Italia, an environmental technologies company based in Italy. The company specializes in production tank cleaning and petroleum sludge treatment as well as oil recovery and volatile organic compound (VOC) control for the petroleum and petrochemical industries.

US and Norwegian authorities have granted theAcergy and Subsea 7 merger anti-trust clearance.

The founders ofRubicon Response have established Altor Risk Group, a new company specializing in risk control, emergency response, crisis management, and business continuity.

Maritime Industrial Services has agreed to acquire Litwin PEL LLC from EMDAD Abu Dhabi. MIS says the acquisition builds on its decision last year to bolster its engineering capability and to grow its EPC business via the establishment of its Energy Projects International (EPI) division.

Ithaca Energy has completed an earn-in agreement signed last October with Challenger Mineral (North Sea) . This was related to drilling of the Stella appraisal well in the UK central North Sea early this year.

MacDermid Offshore Solutions has opened a new laboratory facility in Takoradi, Ghana, for production and drilling control fluid monitoring and testing. The new facility will serve production operators, drilling contractors, OEMs, and service companies in West Africa.

Halliburton has acquired The Permedia Research Group, a supplier of petroleum systems modeling software and services. Permedia’s tools enable oil and gas companies to better assess exploration risk and to manage the cost of developing deepwater, subsalt, and unconventional resource plays, says Halliburton. Permedia will become a part of the Landmark Software and Services.

Agora Oil & Gas has pre-qualified as a licensee on the Norwegian continental shelf, and acquired stakes in its first two licenses. The permits are PL 370 and PL 418, where Agora has taken 30 % and 20% equity respectively from Wintershall Norge. Prospects on these licenses will be drilled during 2011/2012.

GL Noble Denton has opened a new office in Perth, Western Australia. From its new location, the company will provide services covering assurance and verification, risk and safety studies, advanced engineering and consulting, marine operations, and project execution.

Hertel Offshore has acquired offshore accommodation design specialists Quest Worldwide. The acquisition, which secured around 50 jobs in Aberdeen, has led to Hertel opening larger offices in the city to support the expanded business, with Bob Jack named Regional Director.

Baker Hughes has acquired Meyer & Associates, a petroleum industry software developer. Meyer & Associates’ software provides design and evaluation simulations, including three-dimensional fracture geometry and integrated acid fracturing solutions for hydraulic fracturing, produced water, and cuttings reinjection applications.

Oil and gas field logistics specialistsASCO Group has opened its new Middle East business venture, based in Oman.

20|20 Business Insight has opened a new training and project delivery center in Aberdeen. Trainees from across the oil and gas industry will be taught by 20|20’s Association of Project Management (APM) and Project Management International (PMI) accredited lecturers at the site.

Halliburton has completed acquisition of Boots & Coots Inc.The merger combines Halliburton’s coiled tubing and hydraulic workover operations with Boots & Coots’ well intervention services.

McMoRan Exploration Co.has agreed to acquire Plains Exploration & Production Co.properties in the Gulf of Mexico. The deal involves $75 million plus McMoRan common stock. The properties being acquired include PXP’s 27.7% interest in the significant ultra-deep discovery at Davy Jones, 5% interest in Blackbeard West and all of PXP’s interests in deep gas and ultra-deep exploration prospects on the shelf of the GOM, including Blackbeard East which is currently being drilled; PXP’s 30.0% working interest in the multi-well Flatrock field, 47.9% interest in Blueberry Hill, and 30.0% working interest in Hurricane Deep.

Deep Sea Intervention has opened an ROV tooling manufacturing facility in Singapore. The new 5,500 sq ft (510 sq m) facility in Loyang Industrial Estate includes a dedicated manufacturing area equipped with the latest CNC 4-axis milling machine, CNC lathe, conventional lathe and mill, 3D CNC routers, 3D digital scanning laser, 3D CAD/CAM computer design software, and in-house engineering department.

TAM International North Sea has opened a new, $2.8 million Aberdeen base. Servicing Europe, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East, the facility will act as the primary training center for the region. It also provides a warehouse, permanent display area, and offices.

Baker Hughes is building an advanced electrical submersible pumping (ESP) system testing and development center in Macaé, Brazil. The facility — set for completion by year’s end — is designed to test deepwater and subsea ESP completions prior to installation offshore Brazil.

BMT Argoss has introduced a year-round, 24-hour maritime weather forecasting service designed to support operations such as platform installations and maintenance, near-shore cable lay, dredging works, ship to ship transfers, LNG terminal operations, and port monitoring.

Norwegian fabricator Aibel plans to open a branch office in Harstad to support its new maintenance contract for Statoil’s Norne field facilities in the Norwegian Sea.

TDW Offshore Services AS (TDW) has joined with Offshore Independents BV to offer integrated solutions for pipeline services and emergency pipeline repair systems.

Sureclean has opened a new base in Egypt to serve the oil and gas industry. The company has appointed Richard McDonald as business development manager for North Africa to spearhead expansion in the region. In addition, Sureclean has formed a strategic alliance agreement with TIPCO, which has operations in both North Africa and the Middle East.

CorDEX Instruments, makers of the world’s first explosion proof digital camera, has opened a new base in Aberdeen.