Randall K. Eresman will succeed EnCana Corp.’s founding Pres. and Chief Executive Gwyn Morgan, effective Jan. 1, 2006.
Eresman joined EnCana predecessor Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. in 1980 and served as chief operating officer of EnCana soon after its creation.
Morgan will resign at yearend but will remain executive vice-chairman for 2006, working in an advisory capacity to Eresman.
Upstream moves
Harvest Natural Resources Inc. has elected James A. Edmiston president and chief executive officer.
Edmiston’s appointment follows the retirement of Peter J. Hill, who will remain on the board of the Houston-based independent.
Edmiston has worked for Harvest since September 2004, when he was named executive vice-president and chief operating officer. Before joining Harvest, Edmiston worked for Conoco Inc. and ConocoPhillips for 22 years in various management positions.
Denver independent PYR Energy Corp. has appointed David B. Kilpatrick as its chairman.
Kilpatrick has served on the company’s board for 3 years and has more than 30 years of executive, management, and operational experience in the oil and gas industry.
Kilpatrick is currently president of Kilpatrick Energy Group, Bakersfield, Calif.
Previously, Kilpatrick served as president and chief operating officer for Monterey Resources Inc., also of Bakersfield.
Pebercan Inc., Montreal, appointed Frederic Boulet as president and chief executive officer. He succeeds Gilles Frachon, who will focus on Pebercan’s two subsidiaries.
Boulet was director of development at Institut Français du Pétrole from 1993 to 2001 before joining Établissements Maurel et Prom CA as chief executive officer in 2001, a position he held until August.
Houston-based Aztec Oil & Gas Inc. has appointed Kirk N. Blackim to the vacant position of president.
Previously, Blackim spent several years as senior vice-president with Koch Producer Services, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, and TCW Asset Management.
Prior to that, Blackim spent more than 8 years with Kansas Pipeline Operating Co. in various capacities including chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and senior vice-president.
Turan Petroleum Inc., an independent oil and gas exploration company based in Santa Ana, Calif., has hired Coy Squires as the company’s vice-president, exploration.
Squires previously served as vice-president of exploration with Oasis Oil Co., a consortium of ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil Corp., and Amerada Hess Corp.
At Oasis, Squires directed the activities of 130 geologists, 35 geophysicists, and a support staff. Squires started his career with then-Conoco Inc. as a subsurface geologist. Ultimately, he was named president of Conoco Middle East and Conoco Saudi Arabia.
William S. Buckler III has been named vice-president, US operations, of Fort Worth-based independent Quicksilver Resources Inc.
Buckler joined Quicksilver in September 2003 as engineering manager for the Barnett Shale operations in north Texas. He has more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry previously with Mitchell Energy Co.
Separately, Quicksilver has promoted Kevin Duncan to operations manager, Fort Worth basin. Duncan joined Quicksilver in November 2004 after working for 20 years with Encore Acquisition Co. and Range Resources Corp.
Forest Oil Corp. has named Glen J. Mizenko vice-president of business development. Mizenko currently serves as business development director for the Denver-based independent.
Mizenko joined Forest in 2001.
Other moves
Valero Energy Corp., San Antonio, named Executive Vice-Pres. and Chief Operating Officer Bill Klesse chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2006.
Bill Greehey, chairman and chief executive officer, said he wants to step down as chief executive to focus on his responsibilities as chairman. He said he plans to remain actively involved in Valero’s strategic direction.
Klesse has almost 37 years of industry experience, having worked in commercial operations and refining, corporate development and new ventures, planning, public affairs, logistics and strategy, and marketing.
He joined Valero as executive vice-president of refining in 2001 and was promoted to his current position in 2003. Klesse started his career with Diamond Shamrock in 1969. Valero acquired Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. in a $6 billion transaction at the end of 2001 (OGJ Online, Jan. 2, 2002).
Claus Chur, a board member and regional director of KCA Deutag, Bad Bentheim, Germany, has been elected chairman of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, effective Jan. 1, 2006. Chur obtained his current position following the 2001 merger of KCA and Deutag. KCA Deutag is a subsidiary of Abbot Group PLC in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Chur joined Deutag in 1995, serving in numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including general manager for equipment and engineering.
Prior to joining Deutag, Chur was operations manager and technical director for the Continental Deep Drilling Program of Germany, a geoscientific research project to investigate physical and chemical processes in the deeper continental crust.
The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association has elected new officers to succeed those whose terms will expire at the conclusion of the NPRA Annual Meeting in March 2006.
The board has elected Jim Mahoney, vice-president, operations, Flint Hill Resources LP, as chairman-elect. Mahoney succeeds Bill Klesse, NPRA’s current chairman, and executive vice-president and chief operating officer for Valero Energy Corp.
Mahoney will serve as NPRA vice-chairman until he takes office as chairman.
The board also elected Norman Phillips, senior vice-president, Lyondell Chemical Co., to assume the position of vice-chairman. Joel Maness, senior vice-president, Sunoco Inc., was elected NPRA treasurer.
Also elected as NPRA vice-presidents and members of the executive committee were Kevin Brown, executive vice-president, operation, Sinclair Oil Corp., and Bill Finnerty, executive vice-president, Tesoro Petroleum Corp.
Crosstex Energy LP has appointed Danny L. Thompson as senior vice-president, engineering and operations.
In his new position, Thompson will oversee the engineering and operations groups for all of the Dallas-based partnership’s midstream operations.
Over the last 2 decades, Thompson has held various leadership positions within the midstream energy industry. Since March, he has been working with Crosstex as a consultant.
Prior to joining Crosstex, Thompson worked for Cantera Natural Gas LLC as vice-president, operations and engineering, and for CMS Field Services as director, engineering and operations.
