People in the industry

Herald W. Winkler, a revered industry pioneer, passed away on May 7, 2016, at 91 years old. Winkler earned a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University, before beginning an illustrious career in oil and gas. As district manager at Camco Gas Lift Co., his understanding of artificial lift—particularly gas lift—was developed through his work maintaining gas-lift equipment, designing gas-lift systems and early oil field automation systems. He had been drafted into WWII in 1942, and served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force. Later, while traveling the globe, designing and installing gas-lift systems, Winkler earned an MS degree, as well as a PhD in petroleum engineering. Throughout his career, he wrote more than 130 practical papers, articles, presentations and manuals. Additionally, for the past 30 years, he contributed to World Oil’s annual report, “What’s New in Artificial Lift.” His writing and analyses led to his position as professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. As department chair, Winkler taught courses in artificial lift and multi-phase flow theory, among others. From 1985, he served Texas Tech as professor emeritus of petroleum engineering.

Vicki Hollub has been named CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp., making her the first female CEO of a major U.S. energy explorer. Hollub previously oversaw the company’s Western Hemisphere fields, which pumps almost half of the firm’s production. She was then promoted to global president last year. Hollub succeeds Stephen Chazen, who has retired as CEO.

Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Aramco’s chairman and former chief executive, has been appointed as head of the newly named Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. He succeeds Ali al-Naimi, who will continue as an advisor to the royal court, after more than two decades of guiding Saudi Arabia’s oil policy as minister. Al-Falih will prepare Aramco for a partial privatization, which is the cornerstone of a new strategy aimed at reducing reliance on oil revenues.

Golar LNG has made organizational changes in an effort to more clearly define responsibilities and strengthen the company’s ability to successfully execute its various projects. Gary Smith will resign as CEO, handing over his role to Oscar Spieler. Spieler has been responsible for development of the Hilli project, offshore Cameroon. Additionally, Eduardo Antonello will take responsibility for the development of Golar Power, and Krzysztof Zielicki has been hired to structure the company’s cooperation with Schlumberger.

Douglas J. Pferdehirt has been named president and CEO of FMC Technologies, effective Sept. 1, 2016. He is succeeding John T. Gremp, who will continue to serve as chairman of the company’s board of directors. Upon completion of FMC’s recently announced combination with Technip, Pferdehirt will serve as CEO of the new company. Pferdehirt joined FMC as executive V.P. and COO in August 2012, after 26 years with Schlumberger.

Chevron Australia and its Australasia Business Unit (ABU) have named Nigel Hearne as the new deputy managing director. Additionally, Roy Krzywosinkski—who previously served as managing director of the ABU—has been appointed to V.P. of engineering in Chevron’s Energy Technology Company (ETC) in Houston. Krzywosinkski will have enterprise-wide responsibility for Facilities Engineering. Both appointments are effective June 1.

Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood Group Kenny (WGK), has been elected to the council of the Society of Underwater Technology (SUT). He will help SUT in its efforts to support the future success of the global subsea industry and promote understanding of the underwater environment. As a 15-year member of the organization, MacDonald also has served as an SUT fellow for the past year. With more than 20 years of industry experience, he has held a number of subsea sector roles across Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America.

Global Marine Systems Limited has announced two key promotions within the company’s senior management team. Mikkel Gleerup has been named director of sales and commercial, and Darren Lam has been promoted to managing director. Gleerup will be based in the UK, with global responsibility for sales. Lam will be based in Shanghai, where he will manage more than 150 employees.

Jeff Juergens, corporate V.P. and president of the Mats and Integrated Services business at Newpark Resources, Inc., has announced his retirement. Concurrent with Juergens’ retirement, the company has appointed Matthew Lanigan as his successor. Lanigan began his career at Exxon Mobil in Australia, where he worked as a drilling and completions engineer, as well as an offshore production engineer. He has since held various positions within GE’s plastics and capital divisions, including leadership roles in operations, sales and marketing.

Decom North Sea (DNS) has appointed Roger Esson as the new CEO. Esson brings more than 20 years of industry experience to his new role, having held a variety of leadership positions at companies including Stork Technical Services and Amec Foster Wheeler’s decommissioning division. He has played an active role in the execution of several of the UK’s most significant decommissioning projects, such as the MCP01, North West Hutton and Brent Delta installations.

Reactive Downhole Tools has added Stacey Avalos to its management team in Houston. Avalos worked previously at Baker Hughes, where she held a number of field engineer roles. Additionally, she served as operations manager at Baker Hughes, where she led engineering teams and projects, while handling profit and loss for West Central Area completions.

Richard Luff has been appointed to the Industry Technology Facilitator’s (ITF) board as a non-executive director. A chartered civil engineer, Luff has more than 40 years of industry experience. He presently serves as INTECSEA’s senior V.P. for the Europe and Africa regions. Since beginning his career in 1974, Luff has worked in the global oil, gas and subsea industries, in Saudi Arabia, Norway, Brazil and the U.S.

Paul Schofield has been appointed as the new COO at Genel Energy. He has 35 years of upstream management and technical experience. Schofield began his petroleum engineering career at Shell in 1981, subsequently working with Enterprise Oil, Tuscan Energy and Hess. He joined Hess in 2006, where he held numerous senior management roles, including senior representative of Carigali Hess Operating Co.