People in the industry

Halliburton promoted Jeff Miller, currently the company’s executive V.P. and COO, to president, and appointed him to the company’s board of directors, both effective Aug. 1. In this new role, Miller will complement the leadership of Dave Lesar, Halliburton’s chairman and CEO. Miller has served as Halliburton’s executive V.P. and COO since 2012, after beginning his career with the company in 1997, holding various senior management roles in the company’s global operations and business development areas.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) has appointed the leadership team for its subsidiary, California Resources Corporation (CRC), including Todd A. Stevens as president and CEO, and William E. Albrecht as executive chairman of the board. CRC will be an independent E&P company focused on high-growth, high-return, conventional and unconventional assets exclusively in California. Stevens, a 19-year OXY veteran, has served as V.P., corporate development, since August 2012. Albrecht has been president, Occidental Oil and Gas - Americas, and V.P., Occidental Petroleum, since 2011.

Tore D. Langballe announced that he will resign from his position as senior V.P., corporate communications, at Petroleum Geo-Services ASA by the end of the year, to take a position as senior V.P., corporate communications and IR, and chief of staff, at Akastor ASA, an Aker-owned company. 

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has named D. Nathan Meehan, senior executive adviser at Baker Hughes, as 2016 president of the international professional society. Based in Houston, Meehan will take office as president-elect on Oct. 29, at the close of SPE’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is a World Oil editorial advisor.

Desh Deepak Misra has taken over as the director of human resources at India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC). Misra took over the role Aug. 1, and oversees a workforce of 33,000-plus individuals. He received a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Lucknow, and joined ONGC in January 1985. Misra began his career in the company’s Baroda office and later relocated to Dehradun.

Weatherford International has appointed Dianne B. Ralston as executive V.P., general counsel and corporate secretary. Ralston joins Weatherford with more than 20 years of combined legal, compliance and contractual experience in the oil and gas industry. Her most recent positions with Schlumberger were deputy general counsel, corporate, as well as deputy general counsel, government affairs and litigation. William B. Jacobson, senior V.P., co-general counsel and chief compliance officer, and Alejandro Cestero, V.P., co-general counsel and corporate secretary, have both left to pursue other opportunities, said Weatherford.

Sergey Gustov has been appointed director general of Gazprom LNG Saint Petersburg. He has a doctorate in engineering, and is a graduate of Plekhanov Saint Petersburg State Mining Institute. From 1998 to 1999, Gustov was deputy director for cooperation with state-funded entities of Mezhregiongaz, a Gazprom affiliate in the Leningrad Region. He was later deputy director general of Peterburgregiongaz (1999 to 2004) and director general of PeterburgGaz (2004 to 2008). Most recently, Gustov was director general of Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniye, serving from 2008.

Sigma Cubed Inc. has appointed Dr. Alan J. Cohen as chief technology officer (CTO) and Reservoir Characterization Center of Excellence (COE) leader. Cohen brings more than 37 years of multi-disciplinary reservoir characterization, interpretation and seismic processing experience to his new role. 

Borets, U.S., has named Keith Russell president; Jeremie Alley as the company’s global marketing manager, in Houston; and Mark Wynot as V.P. of operations in Tulsa, Okla. Russell was promoted to president after six months as V.P. of international marketing. Alley joins Borets with extensive sales and marketing experience, including eight years with John Crane Production Solutions in two directorial positions. Wynot has 25 years’ experience in consumer products, and a decade of experience in the manufacturing field.

Randi Martinsen, principal with Hydrocarbon InSight in Laramie, Wyo., has assumed the presidency of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). Her one-year term began July 1. Martinsen is a former longtime senior lecturer on petroleum geology at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. She previously served on the AAPG Executive Committee as treasurer in 2006–08, and received the AAPG Distinguished Service Award in 2009. She began her association with the University of Wyoming in 1981, and started Hydrocarbon InSight in 2012. Joining Martinsen on the Executive Committee is John Hogg, president of Skybattle Resources Ltd. in Calgary, Canada, who was voted president-elect, and will serve as AAPG president in 2015–16.

Cummins Inc. has announced that Steve Charlton, V.P. and CTO - Engine Business, retired from the company, effective July 1. The company also announced that Jennifer Rumsey had been named V.P., Engineering for the Engine Business, succeeding Charlton. Charlton joined Cummins in 1993 as the director of Advanced Engineering. He became executive director, Research, in 1999, and was named executive director, Advanced Engineering in 2001. In 2004, Charlton was appointed technical leader on the project to develop Heavy Duty Engine products to meet the 2007 EPA emissions standards. He was named V.P., Heavy Duty Engineering, in 2008 and went on to become V.P. and CTO for the Engine Business in 2010.

The board of directors for the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) has named James M. Pappas, P.E., as acting president, effective June 1. His appointment follows the resignation of Dr. Robert W. Siegfried II. Pappas most recently served as V.P., Ultra-Deepwater Programs, for RPSEA since 2011. Prior to his employment at RPSEA, Pappas held various positions with Devon Energy, including global technology coordinator; as well as drilling, completions, production, reservoir, and A&D engineering positions with Santa Fe Snyder, Fina, UPRC and Amoco.

The board of directors of UK independent Premier Oil has appointed Tony Durrant as CEO. He joined Premier in June 2005, and has served as finance director since then. Prior to joining the company, he worked at Lehman Brothers, most recently as managing director and head of the European Natural Resources Group.

As the 2014 Energy Services Entrepreneur Of The Year, Blackhawk Specialty Tools, LLC President and CEO Billy Brown is now eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year National Program, with winners to be announced in November. Honored at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award Gala for the Gulf Coast area, Brown was recognized for leading his company through a shift in focus from the Gulf of Mexico to the U.S. shale markets, following the Deepwater Horizon drilling moratorium.