ConocoPhillips has made changes to its exploration and production senior management team, all effective Dec. 1.
Kevin Meyers, president, Russia and Caspian region, will become president, ConocoPhillips Canada. He succeeds Brent Smolik, who left the company. Meyers will relocate to Calgary.
Don Wallette, vice-president, Shtokman project, will become president, Russia and Caspian region, succeeding Meyers. Wallette will continue to be located in Moscow.
Paul Warwick, president, Middle East and North Africa, will become president, Europe and West Africa. Warwick will relocate to Tananger, Norway. His successor will be named later, ConocoPhillips said.
Endeavour International Corp., Houston, has named William L. Transier chairman, chief executive officer, and president. Separately, John N. Seitz has been named vice-chairman of the company.
Transier will relocate to London, and Seitz will serve in a consulting capacity based in the Houston office. Both formerly served as cochief executive officers of the company.
In 2004 Seitz and Transier cofounded Endeavour, which focuses its exploration and development in the North Sea.
El Paso Corp. has named Brent J. Smolik president of El Paso Exploration & Production Co.
Smolik began his career as a drilling and reservoir engineer for ARCO. In 1990, he joined Burlington Resources Inc. as a reservoir engineer and acquisition coordinator. He advanced into engineering supervisory and management positions in the Denver, offshore, San Juan, and Gulf Coast divisions.
He then served as vice-president, chief engineer, in Houston until relocating to Calgary in 2004, where he was appointed president of Burlington Resources Canada.
Following Burlington’s merger with ConocoPhillips in March, he remained in Calgary and became president of ConocoPhillips Canada.
TransMontaigne Partners LP, Denver, has appointed Randall J. Larson president and chief executive officer of TransMontaigne GP LLC, its general partner. Larson will continue to serve as chief financial officer for TransMontaigne GP.
He succeeds Donald H. Anderson, who has resigned. Anderson will continue to serve as nonexecutive chairman of TransMontaigne GP.
Heritage Oil Corp. has appointed Michael Hibberd as chairman and Tony Buckingham as chief executive officer.
Hibberd and Buckingham succeed Micael Gulbenkian, who retired.
Buckingham said, “[The company’s] operations and exploration activities will continue without interruption in Russia, Uganda, Oman, and Iraq with a focus on Kurdistan. We shall look to update the market on the drilling of the Kingfisher-1 well in Uganda shortly.”
Regal Petroleum PLC, a London-based E&P company, has named Neil Ritson as its new chief executive officer.
Prior to this appointment, Ritson was a nonexecutive director who joined Regal in July. He has extensive experience in the petroleum industry having started his career as a geophysicist with BP PLC before moving through senior technical roles into executive management.
Madagascar Oil Ltd. (MOL) has appointed George B. Nilsen chief operating officer.
Nilsen has more than 28 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, spending more than half of his career involved in heavy oil developments and many years in international projects including new field developments.
He has served as senior vice-president of strategic planning and asset management for Nuevo Energy and has managed the Gulf Coast division of Santa Fe Snyder, where he was in charge of engineering, production, and operations.
Nilsen also held a variety of operational and engineering positions with Santa Fe Energy, Petro-Lewis Corp., and Gulf Oil Exploration & Production Co.
Pebercan Inc., Montreal, has appointed Christophe Ranger interim chief executive officer. He succeeds Frédéric Boulet, who will pursue other interests, but will continue to serve as the company’s director.
A recruitment program for a permanent chief executive is under way, Pebercan said.
Total SA has appointed Yves-Louis Darricarrère president, E&P. His appointment becomes effective February 2007, at which time Christophe de Margerie will assume the role of chief executive officer.
Darricarrère has extensive international experience, including 10 years working in Australia, Egypt, and Colombia.
Before this appointment, Darricarrère served as president of Total Gas & Power and has been a member of the executive committee since September 2003.
Darricarrère began his career with Elf Aquitaine in 1978, working first in the mining division in Australia and subsequently in E&P.
Michael D. Van Horn has been appointed senior vice-president, exploration, of Newfield Exploration Co., Houston. Van Horn succeeds Newfield’s executive vice-president, exploration, Elliott Pew, who will retire at the end of the year.
Van Horn has 28 years of oil and gas experience. He has worked for EOG Resources Inc., and its predecessor Enron Oil & Gas, since 1993. During his tenure with EOG Resources, he served as vice-president of international exploration and previously as director of exploration.
Prior to EOG Resources, Van Horn worked for British Gas E&P Inc. and Tenneco Oil Co.
Separately, Newfield has added to the role of its general manager of the Gulf of Mexico, John H. Jasek, promoting him to vice-president and general manager, Gulf of Mexico.
Jasek joined Newfield in 2000 and since then has been a leader on the Gulf of Mexico team, the company said.
Previously, Jasek worked for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Amoco Production Co.
Dominion Exploration & Production has appointed Richard L. Fowler vice-president and general manager, Gulf of Mexico operations. He will oversee the company’s deepwater, Continental Shelf, and southern Louisiana assets.
Previously, Fowler served as Dominion’s general manager of deepwater development. He has been with the company since 1996 when the offshore unit was still part of Consolidated Natural Gas Co. (CNG), which merged with Dominion in 2000. Prior to joining CNG, Fowler worked for Exxon Corp.
Total Refining & Marketing has named André Tricoire senior vice-president, refining. The company also named Thierry Pflimlin senior vice-president, Asia.
Tricoire succeeds Jean-Claude Company, who is retiring. Prior to his current appointment, Tricoire served as chief executive of Total France. He joined Total Refining in 1986 at the Donges refinery. Before that he held a variety of positions in the Regional Directorates for Industry, Research, and Environment; the French Ministry of Industry; and the Labor and Employment Minister’s Office.
Pflimlin, who succeeds Gary Jones, who also is retiring, joined Total in 1984. Pflimlin served in various positions, including Asia Trading Manager in Singapore in 1986, chief executive officer of Total Zambia in 1990, and a member of the Strategy Department at Paris from 1993-95. That year, he was named vice-president, development, for China, a position he held until 1998, when he was appointed chief executive officer of Total Deutschland.