People in the industry

Noble Energy Inc. Chairman and CEO Charles D. Davidson plans to retire May 1, 2015. At that time, he will also leave the board of directors. Davidson has served as CEO and director since joining the company in 2000. The board announced that it would propose the election of David L. Stover as a director at its April 22 organizational meeting, following the annual meeting, and that it intends to appoint Stover as CEO in October 2014. Davidson will serve as the company’s chairman until the 2015 annual meeting. Stover was elected president and COO of Noble Energy in 2009.

IHC Merwede has appointed Bram Roelse as the company’s new CEO. He assumes the role from predecessor Dirk Philips, who stepped down in November 2013. Roelse has worked at IHC Merwede for the past 13 years. He has been a member of IHC Merwede’s board of management since 2002, and entered his previous post as COO in September 2013, when he also became a member of the board of directors.

InterMoor, an Acteon company, has appointed Duncan Cuthill as general manager of InterMoor Marine Services Ltd in the UK. Cuthill will report directly to Alan Duncan, managing director of InterMoor, and will be responsible for InterMoor Marine Services in the UK and Mediterranean regions. He began his career at Trident Offshore in 1992; that company was acquired by Acteon in 2007 and rebranded as part of the InterMoor group in 2009.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has nominated Claudio Descalzi as CEO of Eni SpA, an appointment to be confirmed at the company’s annual shareholders meeting in early May. Descalzi is slated to succeed Paolo Scaroni, who was appointed by former P.M. Silvio Berlusconi roughly nine years ago. Descalzi has served as COO of the company’s E&P division since July 2008, after joining Eni in 1981. He has held roles of increasing technical and managerial responsibility since then, working on, and overseeing, projects around the world.

Quicksilver Resources Inc. has elected Scott Pinsonnault to its board of directors, effective April 14. Pinsonnault is the CFO of Cubic Energy, Inc., in Dallas, Texas. He has over 17 years of experience in the energy sector, through previous roles with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, SFC Energy Partners, Bridge Associates, LLC, and UniCredit Bank, A.G. 

The Hydraulic Institute (HI) recognized and honored Lucian Dobrot, senior product engineer at Taco, Inc., as its Young Engineer of the Year award recipient. The award was established to recognize the efforts and contributions of young pump engineers, from member companies and standard partners, who have made a significant impact within their current positions, while also contributing to the advancement of the work of HI. The award is limited to engineers under the age of 40 (as of Jan. 1, the year of nomination).

ARKeX has named Jim White as its new president. White previously worked in senior positions at WesternGeco, Trace Energy Services, Geokinetics, FT Seismic Support and, most recently, Discovery Acquisition Services. White has extensive experience in managing oilfield service operations, including land and marine seismic acquisition, data processing and multi-client data, worldwide. He holds a BS degree in geosciences from Pennsylvania State University and will join the ARKeX board.

As part of its long-term succession planning, Cairn Energy announced that Dr. Mike Watts, deputy CEO, and Jann Brown, managing director and CFO, will not seek re-election at the annual general meeting on May 15. The two will stand down as executive directors of the company, with effect from that date. Watts and Brown have agreed, during their notice periods, to continue in senior roles and dedicate their time to seeking to resolve the company’s tax position in India.

GlassPoint Solar, a solar EOR specialist, is establishing a new office in Kuwait City, and has appointed Abdul Hussain Shehab as country chairman. With more than 40 years of experience in Kuwait’s upstream oil and gas industry, Shehab will lead the company’s expansion in that country. Shehab was previously managing director and CEO of Al-Dorra Petroleum Services Company and, prior to that, served as the deputy managing director of Kuwait Oil Company.

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) board of directors has elected John T. Rynd as chairman of NOIA, and Cindy B. Taylor as vice chair, for the upcoming 2014–2015 term. Rynd and Taylor assumed their new duties at the NOIA annual meeting April 10 in Washington, D.C. Since 2008, Rynd has served as president and CEO of Hercules Offshore, Inc. He also serves on the company’s board of directors and was NOIA’s vice chairman for the 2013–2014 term. Taylor has been president and CEO of Oil States International, Inc., since 2007. She also serves on the company’s board of directors. Rynd has served in various executive level positions since joining Hercules Offshore in 2005. The group’s outgoing chairman is Dick Alario, chairman, president and CEO of Key Energy Services.

Paradigm has appointed Dave Rhodes to the position of executive V.P. of Sales, Services and Marketing, based in Houston. Prior to joining Paradigm, Rhodes held various sales leadership positions at companies, such as Autodesk, Mentor Graphics and Trilogy. Most recently, at Autodesk, Rhodes served as V.P. of the Americas, and worldwide leader for its Engineering, Natural Resources and Infrastructure segment.

Nicholas Knight has been named V.P. of operations for Knight Oil Tools U.S.A., overseeing all domestic operations. Knight began his career with Knight Oil Tools in 2002. 

The Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association (PESA) has elected officers for the 2014–2015 term: Paul Coppinger (above, Weir Oil & Gas), chairman; Gary Halverson (Cameron), vice chairman; Johan Pfeiffer (FMC Technologies, Inc.), first V.P.; and Dave Warren (Energy Alloys), treasurer. Additional members of the 2014–2015 PESA executive committee are Charles E. Jones, immediate past chairman; Christopher Cragg (Oil States International), past chairman; Robert Workman (DistributionNOW), Explorers of Houston chairman; Charles Currie (Schlumberger), membership chairman; Galen Cobb (Halliburton), Emerging Leaders liaison; Pat Bond (LTR), Energy Educators chairman; and Douglas A. Polk (Vallourec USA Corporation), Mid-Continent district chairman.

FairfieldNodal announced that its chairman, Dr. William A. Schneider, Sr., has elected to retire, after more than 33 years of service. Walter Pharris has been named the new chairman, and he will continue to serve as the firm’s president and CEO. Schneider began his energy industry career more than 50 years ago at Geophysical Services Inc. Schneider was a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, as well as an active member of SEG and EAGE. 

Stabil Drill, a subsidiary of Superior Energy Services, has named A. Mauricio Alvarez as Latin America sales manager, based in Houston. Before joining Stabil Drill, Alvarez worked as the Latin American regional manager for Frank’s International.