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Deaton joined Baker Hughes in 2004, serving as chairman, president, and CEO until January 2012 when he was named executive chairman. Craighead began working for Baker Hughes in 1986 and has served as president and CEO since January 2012. He was appointed chief operating officer in 2009 and president in 2010.

Craighead has an undergraduate degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a graduate degree in business administration from Vanderbilt University. He was recipient of the 2010 C. Drew Stahl Distinguished Achievement Award at Pennsylvania State and currently serves in a variety of charitable organizations.

Baker Hughes also appointed David Gallagher as vice-president of production enhancement to lead global stimulation strategy for its pressure pumping business. Gallagher has more than 30 years of experience in operations, engineering, marketing, sales, and product development. Before joining Baker Hughes, he was vice-president of marketing and sales for Carbo Ceramics. He began his oil and gas career as a fracturing engineer at Schlumberger where he advanced in technical management roles for 26 years, both domestically and internationally. Gallagher earned an undergraduate degree in engineering from the University of New Mexico.

Archana (Archie) Deskus joined Baker Hughes as chief information officer, succeeding Clif Triplett who recently left the company. Deskus formerly was vice-president and chief information officer at Ingersoll-Rand and is experienced with information technology functions within aerospace, industrials, and consumer products. She started her career as computer systems programmer and analyst with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and moved up through a variety of leadership positions to executive director of infrastructure and e-business. She later became vice-president and chief information officer for Carrier North America, followed by 4 years as senior vice-president and chief information officer at Timex Group. She received her undergraduate degree in business administration from Boston University and her graduate degree in business administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Transocean Inc.,

Zug, Switzerland, investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in the company to 5.6% and urged the firm to declare a $4/share dividend, claiming the stock is undervalued. The price of shares rose 2.5% in afterhours trading following Icahn's filing; the stock's value had increased 26% in the previous 6 months. Icahn and affiliates now hold some 20.2 million shares of Transocean stock at an aggregate purchase price of $525.7 million. The activist investor denied any plans for a public takeover of Transocean. However, he said he will propose the $4/share dividend at Transocean's annual meeting if the company's board of directors doesn't declare one of at least that amount prior to the meeting.

Ezra Holdings Ltd.,

Singapore, said its subsea services, offshore support services, and energy services divisions—EMAS AMC, EMAS Marine, and EMAS Energy, respectively—were awarded multiple contracts for projects in the North Sea and Asia Pacific.

EMAS AMC has new contracts and options valued at an aggregate $85 million for several projects in the North Sea and Asia. Included is a $45 million project with an unspecified oil major in the Asia Pacific region. Other awards include a new subsea and moorings installation contract for a development project by an independent oil company in Malaysia as well as additional work in the North Sea from Statoil ASA from the exercise of options and variation orders relating to existing subsea contracts announced in 2012.

EMAS Marine has five contracts totaling $75 million, including options, from international and independent oil companies. These involve some of the division's advanced 12,000 brake horsepower anchor handling tug and supply vessels as well as a 3,250 dwt platform-supply vessel. All contracts are for 2.6 years average, including options.

EMAS Energy won a multimillion-dollar contract to decommission a pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand for a major oil and gas operator. This adds to EMAS Energy's plug and abandonment and decommissioning activities in those waters.

Aker Solutions ASA,

Oslo, signed a contract with Statoil ASA to supply deepwater umbilicals to the Aasta Hansteen field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The contract value is NOK 280 million. Work will include design, engineering, and manufacturing of dynamic and static umbilicals, a riser base, and ancillary equipment. The steel tube umbilicals will be manufactured at Aker Solutions' facility in Moss, Norway, supported by project management, design and engineering in Fornebu. The umbilical riser base will be manufactured at Aker Solutions' facility in Egersund.

Aasta Hansteen is a deepwater project consisting of the three structures Luva, Haklang, and Snefrid South at a water depth of 1,300 m. The structures are located 300 km west of Bodø and 140 km north of the nearest existing offshore infrastructure Norne. The planned field development for Aasta Hansteen includes a SPAR platform, the first such installation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, officials said.

Aker Solutions also secured a 5-year frame agreement for execution of contracts across Talisman Sinopec Energy UK Ltd.'s brownfield projects on the UK continental shelf. Although the contract contains no firm spending commitment, the anticipated multi-million pound agreement cements the long standing relationship between the two organizations, officials said. The pipeline of projects in Talisman Sinopec's portfolio reinforces Aker Solutions' strategic objective of growing its business in the UK, the company said.

Aker Solutions subsidiary Aker Oilfield Services signed a contract to provide subsea construction services off Brazil. Both the customer and the contract's value were undisclosed. Aker Oilfield Services' subsea construction vessel Aker Wayfarer is to work 230 days on that project, which is likely to start in May or June. Aker Wayfarer is an ultramodern 157 m long construction vessel capable of operating in 3,000 m of water. It is equipped with two heave-compensated cranes of 400 and 100 ton capacity and two integrated heavy duty remotely operated vehicles and survey spread. The vessel was on a year-long project off Brazil that was finished last year.

Aker Solutions obtained full ownership of Newfoundland and Labrador-based AKCS Offshore Partner by buying out the other cofounders SNC-Lavalin and G.J. Cahill & Co. "The buy-out will support Aker Solutions' growth plans in North America and be the foundation for further expansion in St. John's and Atlantic Canada," said Tore Sjursen, head of maintenance, modifications, and operations (MMO) at Aker Solutions. The partnership was formed in 2002 to provide MMO services to the Atlantic Canada oil and gas industry. The buy-out enables Aker Solutions to expand its local project management capacity to support all of its businesses in that region, officials said. Financial details of the buy-out were not disclosed.

In November, Aker Solutions acquired the St John's-based asset integrity company Thrum Energy Inc. With its buy-out of AKCS Offshore Partner, the company now has more than 100 employees in St. John's and a presence in Calgary, Alberta.

Aker Solutions also signed a contract with Marathon Oil Norge for delivery of four subsea trees and associated equipment to the Alvheim field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea 224 km from Stavanger at a water depth of 122 m. Contract value was undisclosed. It is part of the frame agreement between Marathon Oil Norge, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corp., and Aker Solutions covering the North Sea and Europe. The subsea trees will be manufactured at Aker Solutions' facility at Tranby, Norway. Control modules will be manufactured in Aberdeen. The project is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2014.

Aker Solutions was awarded a topside modification contract by Statoil to increase oil recovery at Gullfaks South. Estimated contract value is NOK 180 million. The project requires tie-in of two new templates at Gullfaks South to Gullfaks A, plus topside modification for rerouting production from existing template D from Gullfaks A to Gullfaks C. Scope of work includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning assistance.

Proserv,

Aberdeen, successfully completed a $215 million refinancing agreement that the company said consolidated its position for sustainable growth and future expansion. The term loan and revolving credit facility is supported by Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC), Lloyds of London, Barclays PLC, the Santander Group, Wells Fargo & Co., and the Royal Bank of Scotland, while Simmons and Co. advised Proserv on arranging the corporate finance. Funds will be used to pay down existing debt, pursue new strategic acquisitions, and support the company's continued growth strategy, company officials said. Proserv had exceptional growth in the past 2 years with turnover rising in 12 months to $316 million last year from $181 million in 2011. Company officials said the refinancing agreement reinforces Proserv's market position and fast-growing status as a leading provider of exploration & production, drilling, and infrastructure technical solutions and services to the global energy industry. It comes after Proserv made two high-profile acquisitions in 2012, which not only bolstered its capabilities but saw its global talent pool increase by more than 600 people to over 1,600.

Proserv recently acquired Total Instrumentation & Controls (TIC), a Houston-based firm specializing in advanced process and control systems equipment. TIC's 300 American-based employees joined Proserv's workforce. TIC has a second manufacturing facility in Lafayette, La.

Oiltanking Deutschl and GmbH & Co. KG,

Hamburg, said Walter Dornhof stepped down after 19 years as managing director of that firm. Sven Thiessen succeeded Dornhof in that position. For the last 2 years, Ulfert Cornelius took joint responsibility of the company with Dornhof.

Dornhof was with Oiltanking more than 36 years and was appointed managing director of Oiltanking Deutschland in 1994. Although no longer involved in day-to-day operations, he will still act as an ambassador for the company, officials said. Dornhof is president of the Mittelständische Energiewirtschaft Deutschland and Unabhängiger Tanklagerverband as well as member of the board of the Federation of European Tank Storage Associations.

Cornelius has been with the company since April 2000 when he was in charge of the controlling and accounting department. In 2011 he was appointed managing director of Oiltanking Deutschland and shared responsibility with Dornhof for the entrepreneurial activities..

Thiessen has worked in the oil industry in leading positions for more than 20 years. Company officials said he has comprehensive knowledge of tank terminals, logistics and supply, and health, safety, security, and environment issues.

Oiltanking Deutschland is a subsidiary of Oiltanking, the tank storage division of Marquard & Bahls, Hamburg, and is one of the largest independent storage providers for petroleum products in Germany.

CSA International Inc.,

Stuart, Fla., a marine environmental consulting firm, changed its name to CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. to better reflect its core business. The company, founded in 1970, has two functional staffing groups, science and marine services, that work together or independently. With eight offices around the world in key industry regions, CSA has nine primary business lines: energy industry, coastal and ocean sciences, coastal restoration, coastal permitting, Navy, marine services, marine mammals, marine sound solutions, and planning.

Deep Casing Tools,

Aberdeen, successfully completed its first operation in the Norwegian North Sea with a 21-hr reaming run after two conventional attempts to run a 7-in. liner to total depth of a Statoil ASA-operated Gullfaks satellite well resulted in the liner hanging up. Officials said the problem was caused by borehole instability and severe washout in the weak shales, coals, and notorious paleosols of the area. The Gullfaks team successfully drilled the sidetrack using low-energy drilling operations (LEDO) principles and ran the liner with Deep Casing Tools' trademarked Turbocaser Express as a contingency against well bore obstructions.

It is a high-speed drillable reaming system that enables workers to land casings and intermediate liners at target depth first time.