People in industry

Vol. 232 No. 12

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has named Rear Admiral James A. Watson IV as Director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Watson will succeed Michael R. Bromwich starting Dec. 1. Watson was named Federal On-Scene Coordinator in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident. Currently, Watson is Director of Prevention Policy for Marine Safety, Security and Stewardship at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Caza O&G announced the appointment of Randy Nickerson to the position of Vice President, Exploration. Reporting directly to CEO Michael Ford, Randy will provide leadership and management of all company technical activities. Randy joins Caza from Sanchez Oil & Gas where he began as Chief Geophysicist before becoming Sanchez’s Vice President.

RBG, recently acquired by Stork Technical Services (STS), has appointed Sandeep Sharma as its new Finance Director. Sharma is responsible for leading RBG’s global financial management, planning, controls and reporting, as the company enters a period of growth and integration with STS. Sharma has held a range of senior finance positions, and most recently worked for Bombardier Services UK, the global leader in the railway maintenance industry, as the company’s Regional Business Controller for Western Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.

Water system equipment provider H₂O, Inc. has named David N. Dixon Project Manager. Based in Lafayette, La., Dixon’s responsibilities include project management and scheduling for complex engineering, procurement and construction projects; as well as overseeing day-to-day activities. He will also be tasked with guiding new product development efforts. Dixon has more than 16 years of experience providing sales support and managing projects in the wastewater treatment arena.

Dr. William C. Haneberg, an internationally recognized engineering geologist with expertise in slope stability, geohazard analysis and computational geology, has joined Fugro GeoConsulting, Inc. Before joining Fugro GeoConsulting, Haneberg was an independent consulting geologist whose clients included geotechnical engineering firms and government agencies.

Robert “Robbie” J. Monlezun, Jr. has joined Hoover Materials Handling Group, Inc. as Regional Operations Manager for Hoover’s Louisiana Service Center in Broussard, Louisiana. Monlezun brings over 25 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry including operations management with PSC’s Industrial Oilfield Services Division, Grasso Production Management, Inc. and Chevron.

McCrometer has appointed Bruno Santos Pinton as Regional Sales Manager, Brazil. In his new role, Pinton will be managing the company’s sales efforts in the oil and gas market with McCrometer customer Petrobras. He will also work with the company’s manufacturer’s representatives in this geographic region of Brazil.

FMC Technologies announced that Bill Schumann, Executive VP and CFO, has chosen to retire from FMC Technologies after 30 years of service with the company to focus on strategic activities for FMC. Maryann Seaman, current VP, Treasurer and Deputy CFO, will succeed Schumann as Senior VP and CFO. Seaman has been with FMC for over 25 years and was appointed to her current role in April 2010.

Reservoir Group has named Dan Skibinski as Managing Director, Omega Well Monitoring, Americas. In this position, Skibinski will be responsible for all facets of the North and South American sales, technology and manufacturing for Omega Well Monitoring. Prior to his appointment at Reservoir Group, Skibinski was the Business Development Manager at Weatherford International.

U. S. Steel Tubular Products, Inc., a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, announced that Michael C. Linn, Executive Chairman of Linn Energy, is the recipient of its Chief Roughneck Award for 2011.  The announcement was made at the 82nd annual meeting of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Tullow Oil has appointed Simon Thompson as its non-executive Chairman. Thompson brings extensive leadership, management, operating and financial expertise in the natural resources sector as well as broad international experience, particularly in Africa and South America.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced that Li Fanrong has been appointed as the new CEO. The board also announced that, due to his responsibility as the President of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, which requires more of his time, Yang Hua resigned as CEO of the company. Accordingly, he was re-designated from an Executive Director of the company to a Non-executive Director of the company on the same day. Yang continues to serve as the Vice Chairman of the Board and will primarily focus on the strategy of CNOOC.

Swire Oilfield Services has appointed Michael King as its new UK operations director. In his new role, King will ensure that the operational capability is fully developed, supported and resourced to provide the highest levels of service to all Swire’s customers served from the UK bases.

BHP Billiton announced a series of senior management changes. Alex Vanselow, Group Executive and CFO, will retire from BHP Billiton at the end of February 2012. He will be succeeded by Graham Kerr, recently President of Diamonds and Specialty Products. Mike Henry, President of Marketing, will join the Group Management Committee as Group Executive and Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to the CEO.

Environmental Drilling Solutions has named Matt Arceneaux Technical Sales Representative. Based in Houston, Arceneaux will be responsible for managing existing client relations while advancing the company’s expanding services in the Eagle Ford Shale. Previous to joining EDS, Arceneaux founded Gulf Way Specialties, a strategic advertising specialty company.

BG Group announced that Andrew Gould, the current Chairman of Schlumberger Limited, will replace Sir Robert Wilson, who announced his intention to stand down as Chairman of BG Group. Gould joined Schlumberger in 1975. He has held a variety of roles in finance and management in Asia, Europe and the United States, including positions as President and COO. Gould was appointed Schlumberger Chairman and CEO in 2003, leading a restructuring of the company.

EC Harris has appointed Rachael Campbell as the new Head of Oil & Gas in North America. Based out of EC Harris’ Houston office, Campbell will be responsible for developing EC Harris’ offering to existing and potential clients in North America in both the upstream and downstream sectors. Campbell joins EC Harris from the Wood Group, where she worked as the Business Development Manager for the Middle East, Africa, North America and the Caspian region. 

HB Rentals has appointed Rami Miled as Business Development Manager for the Middle East and North Africa. Miled will be based between the company’s facilities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, UAE and will be responsible for the development of the company’s clients and prospective clients, helping to provide on-the-ground support and manage the increasing demand HB Rentals is experiencing for its accommodation and services.