Bill Barrett Corp. Pres. and Chief Operating Officer Fredrick J. Barrett will take on the added roles of chairman and chief executive officer.
F.J. Barrett succeeds William J. Barrett, who will retire May 17. Both Barretts cofounded the company in early 2002.
Upstream moves
Michel Contie was appointed senior vice-president, Northern Europe, for Total SA. He has served as managing director of the UK subsidiary Total Exploration & Production and country representative for the group in the UK.
Separately, Roland Festor was appointed managing director, Total E&P, in the UK. Since 2001, he has been managing director of Total E&P Indonesie in Jakarta and was group country representative for Indonesia.
Kerr-McGee Corp. appointed Kurt McCaslin managing director of Brazil operations. McCaslin, a 26-year Kerr-McGee veteran, will oversee the development of Chinook field, which holds an estimated 250-450 million bbl of oil equivalent, on Block BM-C-7 in shallow water off Brazil.
Downstream moves
Robert J. Peabody was hired as chief operating officer, operations and refining, for Husky Oil Operations Ltd.
He will manage the company’s operating units, including Western Canada conventional production, heavy oil, exploration and production services, East Coast operations, exploration, and upgrading and refining.
Prior to joining Husky, Peabody worked with BP PLC and led major businesses in Europe and the US.
Michel Bénézit, director of E&P for Northern Europe, was named president, refining and marketing, for Total. He also will become a member of the group’s executive committee. He succeeds Jean-Paul Vettier.
Bénézit joined Total in 1986 as head of planning for Total Petroleum North America in Denver. He held various roles of increasing responsibility and since 2003 has served as senior vice-president, Northern Europe, E&P division. Previously, he served as director of mining and energy in New Caledonia, based in Noumea, and has held various positions in government ministries in France.
Chevron Corp. appointed Mike Wirth executive vice-president, downstream, to succeed Patricia Woertz, who is retiring. Since January 2004, Wirth has worked as Chevron’s president of global supply and trading. Wirth joined Chevron in 1982 as a design engineer. He advanced through numerous engineering operations and planning positions in the US downstream.
ConocoPhillips named James L. Gallogly executive vice-president, refining, marketing, and transportation. He succeeds Jim W. Nokes, who will retire Apr. 30 after 36 years of service.
Gallogly is currently president and chief executive of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC. Previously, he worked for Phillips Petroleum Co. in several roles including vice-president, North America production; vice-president, plastics; and senior vice-president, chemicals. Nokes became executive vice-president, refining, marketing, and transportation, in 1999.
Frontier Oil Corp. named Paul Eisman executive vice-president, refining and marketing operations. He succeeds W. Reed Williams, who has retired.
Eisman previously was vice-president, business development, for UK consulting firm KBC Advanced Technologies. Before that he worked for Valero Energy Corp. and its predecessor companies for 24 years and became senior vice-president, economics and planning.
Total Petrochemicals USA Inc., Houston, appointed Greg DeKunder product manager, polyethylene.
DeKunder joined the company in 1993 and has held various positions at its Research and Technology Center prior to moving to the corporate office in 2003.
Other moves
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers appointed Kathleen E. Sendall, senior vice-president, North American Natural Gas, Petro-Canada, as chair.
CAPP also appointed Gordon J. Kerr, president and chief executive officer, Enerplus Resources Fund, as vice-chair.
Petrotechnical Open Standards Consortium Inc., Houston, named Randy W. Clark as its new president and chief executive officer. Clark has more than 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.
The National Association of Royalty Owners, Oklahoma City, appointed Jerry R. Simmons executive director.
Previously, Simmons was president of Energytech Group Inc., Bartlesville, Okla., which was a contractor for the US Department of Energy. Simmons has worked 20 years in the energy industry, including 6 years as associate executive director for the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission.
