Noble Drilling Services Inc.
Sugar Land, Tex., has named Steven A. Manz vice-president of strategic planning. Manz recently served as director of accounting and investor relations. He holds a bachelor of business
administration degree in finance from the University of Texas.
John T. Rynd, formerly vice-president of marketing, has been named vice-president-investor relations. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Texas A&M University.
Edward E. Hare, formerly manager of international marketing, has been named vice-president of marketing. Hare holds a bachelor of business administration degree in management from the University of Tulsa.
Noble Drilling is a provider of diversified services for the oil and gas industry. Contract drilling services are performed with the company's fleet of 49 offshore drilling units located worldwide. Over 60% of the fleet is currently deployed in the North Sea, Africa, Brazil, the Middle East, and Mexico. The company also provides labor, contract drilling services, turnkey drilling services, and engineering and production management services.
American Eurocopter Corp.
Grand Prairie, Tex., has named Rudy Palladina president and CEO, replacing Christian Gras, who has been promoted to executive vice-president of Eurocopter's customer support division. Olivier Francou has been named executive vice-president and COO.
Palladina has over 20 years' experience in the helicopter industry. He began his career in sales and marketing with Canadian General Electric. In 1978 he started his career in aviation with Bell Textron in Mirabel, Que., as a regional marketing manager, and was promoted to director of marketing in 1985, when the helicopter manufacturer established its Canadian operations. He joined Canadian Helicopter Corp. (CHC), a commercial helicopter operator in 1989. Over the next 10 years, he held a number of senior positions and ultimately served as the president and CEO for 3 years, before joining Eurocopter in1998 as executive vice-president, Eurocopter Canada.
Francou joined Eurocopter in France
in 1985, where he was head of the sales administration department. In 1992, he became sales director, where he was responsible for customer support and new developments, including the Tiger Helicopter and NH 90 Helicopter programs. He then held the position of commercial policy director of the Eurocopter group until he officially assumed the position of president and CEO of Eurocopter Canada Ltd. in February 1999.
American Eurocopter supplies helicopters designed to serve the corporate, offshore, law enforcement, utility, and medical markets.
Howden Process Compressors Inc.
Langhorne, Pa., has changed its name to Burton Corblin. Burton Corblin Inc. provides process air and gas compressors to the North American market. The new name emphasizes the company's position as part of the global Burton Corblin network headquartered in Nogent-sur-Oise, France.
The change is in name only as Burton Corblin Inc. remains a Howden Group Company and continues to support screw compressor systems in conjunction with its affiliated company, Howden Process Compressors, Renfrew, Scotland.
Global Industries Ltd. and Oceaneering Internationl Inc.
Carlyss, La., and Houston, have signed a letter of intent to exchange certain of their assets and share facilities in Asia and Australia. In the proposed transaction, Global is expected to transfer its remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and related equipment in Asia and Australia, as well as its Triton XL-11 ROV and related equipment in the Gulf of Mexico, to Oceaneering in exchange for Oceaneering's diving assets and related equipment in Asia, Australia, China, and the Middle East, including the dive support vessel "Ocean Winsertor."
Global Industries provides pipeline construction, platform installation and removal, diving services, and other marine support to the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East/India, and Mexico's Bay of Campeche.
Oceaneering is an advanced applied technology company that provides engineered services and hardware to customers who operate in marine, space, and other harsh environments.
The Weir Group PLC
has set up a new organization to increase its share of the hydrocarbon and chemical process pump market. The group brings together the product and marketing expertise of Weir Pumps, Begemann, and the newly acquired Girdlestone, formerly part of Warman International. The team is led by Steve Buckley, formerly sales director with Girdlestone.
Torch Inc.
New Orleans, has named Eric Smith executive vice-president. Smith served as president and chairman of Saipem Inc. in Houston. He has 16 years' experience in the offshore market, including 10 years with McDermott and 5 years with the Saipem Group.
Established in 1978, Torch Inc., and its subsidiary Torch Offshore LLC, currently operate a fleet of vessels engaged in offshore pipeline installation and subsea construction for the oil and gas industry.
KBC Advanced Technologies plc
has named Graham Hill vice-president Asia-Pacific. He will be based in Singapore. Graham's primary responsibilities will be to serve the company's regional clients both in terms of business development and as an account executive for major consulting assignments.
Graham, a chartered chemical engineer, has a masters degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cambridge, England, and some 25 years' experience in the petroleum and petrochemical industries.
He was previously sales and marketing director for Kvaerner Engineering & Construction in Australia, and most recently, senior vice-president oil and gas/hydrocarbons Asia-Pacific based in Singapore.
Waukesha Engine Division
Waukesha, Wis., has named Leslie Ludtke coordinator-marketing promotions and electronic marketing. Ludtke will be responsible for coordinating trade shows and special events, handling the activities of the company store (including working with distributor requests), and administering the co-op advertising program. He will also serve as WEDlink administrator to the IT areas for disseminating information on the WED web site.
Ludtke previously was with Johnson Outdoors Inc.
Waukesha Engine Division manufactures natural gas engine systems, serving gas compression, power generation, and mechanical drive markets worldwide.
CCR Technologies Ltd.
Calgary, has named R. M. (Bud) Bell president and CEO. Bell is a former Schlumberger Oilfield Services executive.
Bell was vice-president and general manager of Schlumberger of Canada and Alaska and a vice-president of industry affairs covering North America for Schlumberger. He has a BSc in mechanical engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.
CCR Technologies is a technology solutions company focused on the purification of process chemicals and sweetening of sour gas.
Grant Geophysical Inc.
Houston, has formed a new operating group to target the expansion of the company's transition zone business across the world. This new group will be headed by Rick Dunlop, with Hugh Shields and Cliff Dunlop serving as project managers, and Alan Matthewson as senior technician.
Grant Geophysical Inc. is principally involved in the acquisition, processing, and marketing of 2D and 3D land and transition zone seismic data used by oil and gas companies in the exploration for new reserves, the development of existing reservoirs, and the management of producing oil and gas fields and other specialized geophysical and production-related services. Grant operates in the US, Canada, Latin America, and the Far East. The company employs approximately 1,200 people worldwide.
