People in the industry

Wood has announced the appointment of Paul Leonard as president of operations services in its Americas business. Leonard joins Wood’s Asset Solutions Americas executive leadership team in succession of Tim O’Leary, who is retiring from the company after a 20-year tenure. Andrew Stewart, CEO of Wood’s Asset Solutions Americas business said, “Paul is a seasoned energy industry professional with a proven track record in the delivery of major projects and has vast experience in the US shale sector. His appointment marks our intent to capture further growth opportunities in our shale services business across key U.S. basins; bringing shale facilities, pipeline construction and operations and maintenance services to our clients in the seven major U.S. plays.” Tim O’Leary retired from Wood at the end of August 2019. He began working at Wood as a project engineer in 1999 and worked his way through the engineering and construction ranks in the upstream and downstream sectors before being appointed president in 2017.

Simulator developer Drilling Systems has appointed Euan Kennedy as regional director to deliver its growth plans across North and South America. Kennedy will be responsible for promoting Drilling Systems products and services to existing and new clients across the Americas territory. He also will be responsible for raising awareness of the new training technology products and services offered by Drilling Systems’ parent company – the 3T Energy Group.

Bollinger Shipyards has promoted Christian Pierce to director of engineering.  Within this role, he will lead the engineering department in all facets on both government and commercial programs, and is responsible for the execution of functional and design engineering compliance with customer requirements. Ben Bordelon, Bollinger Shipyards president and CEO, stated, “Christian’s sound technical expertise and experience, coupled with his solid management and leadership capabilities, make him an excellent fit in leading our engineering team into the future.”

Björn Rosengren has been appointed CEO of ABB. He will join the company on Feb. 1, 2020, and succeed CEO Peter Voser in this role on March 1, 2020. At that time, Peter Voser will revert to his position at ABB solely as chairman of the board. A highly experienced, international executive and leader of industry, Rosengren has been the CEO of Sandvik, a high-tech global engineering group, since 2015. During this time, he has overseen the successful implementation of a decentralized structure and improved both the profitability and financial strength of Sandvik. Prior to that, he was CEO of Wärtsilä Corporation, which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment for the marine and energy markets, and spent some 13 years in a variety of management roles at Atlas Copco, a world leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions.

Phil Vosper has been named business development manager at PJ Valves in Hertford, UK, to support the company’s ongoing growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He will work directly as part of the PJV sales team, to drive sales in the EMEA region. A key element of his role will be early engagement on projects to introduce PJV’s partnership model to customers, which aims to enhance the customer-supplier relationship.

The American Petroleum Institute named Paul G. Afonso as its new vice president and chief legal officer. Afonso is a partner and currently serves as co-practice leader of the energy, utilities and environmental group at Brown Rudnick in Boston. “Paul comes to API with deep energy, legislative, and regulatory experience, said Mike Sommers, API president and CEO. “Paul’s background in both the public and private sectors is a perfect fit for our association, which sits at the intersection of the two. His leadership will add substantial value to an already first-rate legal team here at API, and
I’m thrilled to welcome him aboard.”

Underwater inspection provider Welaptega has appointed a new general manager for its global business. Tyler de Gier has been promoted from within Welaptega and
will be based in the company’s headquarters in Halifax, Canada. The appointment is part of an international growth strategy for the business and follows the acquisition of the company by global subsea equipment and solutions specialist, Ashtead Technology,
in November 2018.

Deep Down, Inc., has accepted the resignation of its founder and CEO, Ronald Smith, who is leaving to pursue interests outside the oil and gas industry. Charles Njuguna, Deep Down’s CFO, has been appointed to replace Smith in his role as CEO and as a member of the board of directors. Njuguna joined Deep Down in 2012 to manage the company’s corporate accounting activities. In 2015, he was appointed business manager to oversee all commercial activities and was appointed CFO in 2017. As part of this leadership change, Micah Simmons has been named COO of Deep Down, a new role
at the company. 

International energy consultancy Xodus Group has appointed Stephen Rivers as subsea & pipelines manager for Asia Pacific, as the company targets strategic growth and new projects in the region. With more than 30 years in the oil and gas industry, Rivers commenced his career in subsea pipeline construction in the North Sea, after which he moved overseas and into engineering management at a project and corporate level. He has specialized in subsea and pipeline design and installation, and been involved in many major projects offshore Australia, PNG, Asia, Timor Sea, Caspian Sea and Middle East, working with operators, EPC contractors and design consultancies.

Parker Burke has joined Industrial Scientific as senior vice president and general manager, where he will be responsible for leading Industrial Scientific’s global gas detection and iNet businesses. Burke holds a Bachelor of Science degree in systems engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Following graduation, he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corp for over
six years.

Ronald J. (Ron) Bitto, a long-time oil and gas professional and World Oil contributing editor, passed away unexpectedly on Sept. 30, 2019, after a brief illness at age 67. Born in Chicago, Ill., as the second of 12 children, Bitto was awarded a full scholarship to Harvard University, where he graduated in 1974. A gifted writer, he worked in public relations in Manhattan, N.Y., before moving to Houston, where he worked in marketing and communications for oil field service companies for over 30 years, principally at Baker Hughes. Over the last nearly six years, Bitto embarked on a successful second career in consulting and contract writing, including regular contributions to World Oil. A gentleman scholar, he wrote novels, plays, and memoirs throughout the course of his business career. He was a devoted family man who generously gave his time to many organizations.