PERSONNEL MOVES AND PROMOTIONS: PTTEP appoints new president

Previously, Maroot was PTTEP senior vice-president for business development. He succeeded Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith.

Chitrapongse was promoted to senior executive vice-president for PTT PCL's gas business group, the parent firm of PTTEP. He spent 3 years and 9 months as PTTEP president.

BG Group PLC has appointed Martin Houston to the newly created position of executive vice-president and managing director, North America, Caribbean, and global LNG. Houston was promoted from executive vice-president and managing director of the group's Atlantic, Europe, and Mediterranean basin region.

Responsible for developing the company's global LNG business, Houston will oversee existing operations in Trinidad and Tobago and the US as well as supervise business development in North America and the Caribbean. He will be based in Houston.

Houston's successor has yet to be appointed. In the interim, Jon Wormley, executive vice-president and managing director of BG's UK region, will oversee the European and Mediterranean region.

Norway's Statoil ASA has named Eldar Sætre acting chief financial officer, executive vice-president, and a member of Statoil's corporate executive committee. He will be responsible for various functions including corporate control, planning and accounting, group finance, and corporate audit.

Sætre is a business economist. He joined Statoil in 1980 and became senior vice-president for corporate control and planning and accounting in 1998.

Former Statoil Pres. and CEO Olav Fjell resigned Sept. 23 in the sake of corruption allegations involving Statoil's dealings with Horton Investment, an Iranian firm. Inge K. Hansen, Statoil chief financial officer, was named the company's acting CEO (OGJ Online, Sept. 29, 2003).

Bow Valley Energy Ltd., Calgary, has appointed Tom Ruissen vice-president, exploration, responsible for Bow Valley's exploration growth in western Canada. Ruissen has 21 years of oil and gas experience focused on the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Previously, he worked for Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. Ltd.

Houston Exploration Co. named Tim R. Lindsey to the company's new position of vice-president, exploration, responsible for assessing the company's exploration programs and evaluating US regions of interest to the company. Lindsey worked for more than 27 years in various capacities at Marathon Oil Co.

Forest Oil Corp., Denver, has appointed Leonard C. Gurule senior vice-president, Alaska, responsible for directing the company's activities in that state. Previously, Gurule spent 19 years with ARCO. While with ARCO, he managed Prudhoe Bay operations and construction activities and provided engineering support to Alaskan exploration activities.

Range Resources Corp., Fort Worth, Tex., has named Roger S. Manny senior vice-president and chief financial officer, effective Oct. 1.

Manny brings 23 years of financial and management experience to Range. Previously, he was executive vice-president and chief financial officer for Matador Petroleum Corp., Dallas. Tom Brown Inc., Denver, bought Matador (OGJ Online, May 15, 2003).

Range also announced that Dori Ginn, the company's controller, was promoted to vice-president and controller.

Downstrean moves

Petroleos del Norte SA (Petronor), owner and operator of Spain's largest refinery with a capacity of 11 million tonnes/year, has appointed Jorge Segrelles president. He succeeds Juan Sancho, who will retire.

Currently, Segrelles serves as a Petronor director, a position he has held since 1999. He has also served as general manager, refining and marketing in Europe, and as a member of the executive committee for Repsol-YPF SA, which holds 85.98% interest in Petronor; Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa (BBK) holds the remaining 14.02% interest.

Sancho has been working for Petronor when the company was founded in 1969. He has held different posts within the company, including deputy general manager and has served as its president since 1992. Sancho also served as president of Repsol Petróleo, executive vice-president of refining and marketing at Repsol-YPF, and executive vice-president of downstream since 2002. He currently serves as a Gas Natural SDG director.

ConocoPhillips US Refining has restructured its management structure. Larry Ziemba, general manager of refinery services for US refining, will become president of Central-West Coast refining.

Bob Hassler, general manager of northern Europe for international downstream, will become president of East-Gulf Coast refining.

Tom Nimbley, president of US refining, will retire Dec. 31, ending 30 years of service.

Willie Chiang, general manager of western US refining, has become president of strategy, integration, and specialty businesses.

Richard Severance, senior vice-president of strategy, optimization, and business development, will retire effective Dec. 31, ending 33 years of service.

ConocoPhillips is consolidating its wholesale and retail marketing functions as part of its plan to sell a substantial portion of its marketing assets and exit certain geographic markets.

Mark Harper, wholesale marketing president, will assume responsibility for the retail stores that are retained by ConocoPhillips and become president of US marketing, with responsibility for wholesale and retail marketing.

Dave Holthe, retail marketing president, will continue to lead the ConocoPhillips retail organization associated with the disposition currently under way and will resign at the close of the final transaction.