Francisco Mendez has joined Mayer Brown’s Houston office from Exxon Mobil, and will focus on advising companies on the opening of Mexico’s oil and gas sector to private investment. Mayer Brown intends to open a representative office in Mexico City. If approved, Mendez will play a key role in that office.
Bibby Offshore has made several board changes. Sir Michael Bibby has stepped down as non-executive chairman, and was replaced by Mike Brown, group portfolio director for Bibby Line Group. Neale Stewart has been promoted to the newly created position of COO of assets and services, from his previous role as finance director. Stuart Jackson has move to the role CFO, expanding his responsibilities from his previous role as director of strategy. Simon Featherstone, CEO of Bibby Financial Services, joined the board as a non-executive director, replacing Jon Haymer and Iain Speak.
Michele McNichol has been appointed CEO for Wood Group Mustang (WG Mustang). McNichol succeeds the retired Steve Knowles. McNichol has more than 25 years of experience in the industry, and has been with WG Mustang since 2001.
Dr. Hans-Hermann Ecke has been named general manager of DEA Egypt. Ecke holds a PhD in geology, and has several years of experience in Egypt’s upstream industry. He will lead DEA’s realization of the $12-billion West Nile Delta project.
Workforce solutions provider Air Energi has appointed Groce Stacie as head of corporate global mobility services. Stacie will focus on global mobility services for companies in the energy sector. She has over 15 years in the sector.
Canadian-based, New Zealand oil and gas producer TAG Oil has named Alex Guidi, company chairman and founder, as interim CEO. Guidi is a significant shareholder in TAG, and his investments in New Zealand date back to 1993, when he founded Indo-Pacific Energy and Trans-Orient Petroleum. Max Murray, TAG’s New Zealand country manager and 30-year industry veteran, will report to Guidi.
Aurecon has appointed Craig Adcock to the position of oil and gas client relationship executive for Australia and New Zealand. In his previous role, Adcock was the general manager of business development for APAC/Africa at Ausenco.
Dave Stewart has been appointed CEO of Wood Group PSN (WGPSN). Stewart previously was managing director of WGPSN’s UK operations, having joined Wood Group 17 years ago.
Mike McGhan has joined Fossil Bay Energy as chairman. McGhan is a former Valerus and Hanover Compressor co-founder, and will help Fossil Bay further develop CO2-injection EOR technologies for the U.S.
Tesla Offshore has promoted Matt Keith to V.P. and geoscience manager. Keith holds a master’s degree in underwater archaeology from Florida State University, is a member of SEG and The Geologic Society of America, and is a Registered Professional Archaeologist.
Tamarind Energy has appointed Ron Aston as vice chairman. Aston has more than 30 years in the industry, including having retired recently from Talisman Energy as senior V.P. and country manager of Malaysia. Aston has held various roles with operators in Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar, including Conoco, Cities Service, Elf Aquitaine (Total) and Premier Oil.
The board of OFS Portal has appointed Christian Welsh as CEO. Also, William Le Sage has been appointed as chairman emeritus. Welsh has been a key player in oil and gas eCommerce since 1995, and succeeds William Le Sage, who has led the firm for 14 years. Le Sage was OFS Portal’s first CEO, who expanded its community to over 200 oil and gas operators, and oversaw the expansion of upstream eCommerce.
John Pinkerton has joined the board of directors for Lonestar Resources. Pinkerton had previously held several senior leadership positions at Range Resources, including president, chairman and CEO. Under his guidance, Range became a top leader in the Marcellus shale.
Express Energy Services has appointed industry veteran and former NOV executive Mark Reese as chairman of the directors board for ES Platform Holdings, the parent company of Express. Reese spent more than 30 years at NOV before retiring from the company as president of Rig Technology.
Oceaneering International has appointed Steven A. Webster to serve on its board of directors. Webster is a director, and chairman, of Carrizo Oil & Gas, and Basic Energy Services, and also a co-managing partner, Avista Capital Partners. Throughout his 40-year business career, Webster has been active in the E&P and service sectors of the energy industry.
Bobby Bryan has been promoted to CEO of Shramm, Inc. Bryan joined Schramm as acting CEO, in July 2014, after a 20-year career at NOV, where he most recently was V.P. of business development for its Land Rig Solutions Division.
Wood Group Kenny (WGK) has appointed Bob MacDonald as CEO. MacDonald moves into the role from North Sea regional director, and succeeds Steve Wayman, who will become Wood Group’s head of strategy and development. Wayman is replacing Ali Green, who will step down, but continue to provide support to the team as he transitions out of the business during 2015.
Irvin E. Richter has been appointed chairman and CEO of Millennium Energy Corporation. Richter founded Hill International in 1976. Until his resignation on Dec. 31, 2014, he was the CEO of Hill.
Statoil has appointed Anders Opedal to COO in the corporate executive committee. Opedal was previously Statoil’s senior V.P. of projects in the company’s technology and drilling business areas. He joined Statoil in 1997 as a petroleum engineer in Statfjord operations.
Leonard Parent, a former, long-time contributing editor to World Oil and publisher of the Gas Price Index newsletter, passed away in May 2014. Active in the natural gas side of the industry since 1950, he worked for Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America and later joined Trunkline Gas Co. in Houston. In 1968, he was appointed to corporate planning for Panhandle Eastern. He took early retirement after 26 years with Panhandle and Trunkline. From December 1984 through February 2011, he provided gas-related statistics and forecast articles to World Oil as a contributing editor. A chemical engineer and Purdue University graduate, Parent was described as a fun-loving person, who enjoyed traveling, particularly to Japan.
