PERSONNEL MOVES AND PROMOTIONS: API pipeline committee names new chair

Jan. 29, 2001
George M. Rootes, president of Equilon Pipeline Co., has been selected to chair the American Petroleum Institute's pipeline committee.
Rootes
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George M. Rootes, president of Equilon Pipeline Co., has been selected to chair the American Petroleum Institute's pipeline committee. He succeeds David L. Lemmon, president and chief executive of Colonial Pipeline Co., who held the chairmanship for 2 years.

Rootes has been with Equilon or one of its owner companies, Shell Oil Co., for his entire career.

Also selected, as vice chairman, is Timothy C. Felt, president and CEO of Explorer Pipeline Co.

Other moves

Russ Zuharko has joined Calgary-based Range Petroleum Corp. as its president and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1. Zuharko, who has served on Range's board since April 2000, replaces Richard Brown, who plans to retire. While remaining on the company's board, Brown will serve as interim managing director.

Most recently, Zuharko served as president and COO of Canor Energy Ltd., which was bought in February 2000 by Questar Exploration & Production Co.'s Canadian subsidiary, Celcius Energy Resource Ltd. Zaharko, who has 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, has held technical and managerial positions with Chevron Corp., Can Del Oil, Sulpetro, and Imperial Oil Ltd.

Terry W. Carter has joined Range Resources Corp., Fort Worth, as executive vice-president, exploration and production.

Before joining Range, Carter held numerous positions with Oryx Energy Co., Dallas, including planning manager, development manager, and drilling manager. When Oryx was acquired by Kerr-McGee Corp., Oklahoma City, Carter was serving as general manager of one of Oryx's onshore business subsidiaries. Since leaving Oryx, Carter has served as a consultant to oil and gas independents.

Range Pres. John H. Pinkerton said, "[Carter's] many years of experience at Oryx, a far larger company than Range, should prove valuable as we put our emphasis on rebuilding the company's financial strength behind us and refocus on growing our reserves and production."

Chris Wright has been named senior vice-president, global exploration and technology, for Unocal Corp. In addition to overseeing Unocal's exploration and technology assets and managing its strategy for those assets, Wright will serve as a chief strategy advisor to the company's management committee on issues of exploration, technology, and growth.

Before joining Unocal, Wright served as group managing director and director, new business, for Lasmo PLC, London. Before that, Wright held various business development positions with Mobil Oil Corp. and held positions with BP, including chief executive, frontier and international exploration and development; head of BP North America; and worldwide chief geologist.

Wright replaces John Ellice-Flint, who left Unocal last month to serve as chief executive officer and managing director of Australia's Santos Ltd.

Benton Oil & Gas Co., Carpinteria, Calif., has made two key appointments. Steven W. Tholen has been named senior vice-president, chief financial officer, and treasurer, and Robert Stephen Molina has been named vice-president, general counsel, and secretary.

Before joining Benton, from 1995 to 2000, Tholen served as vice-president and CFO for Penn Virginia Corp., Radnor, Pa. While in this position, he oversaw all financial and accounting activities. In 1991, Tholen joined Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Houston, where he was promoted to the position of treasurer. Tholen succeeds David H. Pratt, who served as CFO and was with Benton since 1989.

During 1981-2000, Molina held various legal positions with ARCO, including chief counsel with ARCO Latin America; special international counsel with ARCO International; vice-president and general counsel for Vastar Resources Inc., Houston; and general attorney for ARCO Oil & Gas Co.

Whylen "Len" Cooper has been named vice-president, supply chain, for Texaco Inc. In his new position, Cooper's responsibilities will include the construction of a new worldwide supply chain management organizational structure, the reengineering of the company's supply chain processes, the establishment of a strategic sourcing foundation, and the implementation of an e-procurement and data aggregation solution.

Cooper started at Texaco early last year as director, global supply chain management. Before that, he served as vice-president, materials, for Virginia-based Newport News Shipbuilding. Cooper began his career with General Electric's nuclear, plastics, and power generation equipment units.

Mark Myers was appointed by Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles to succeed Ken Boyd as director of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas. "Mark Myers has a thorough understanding of the oil and gas industry from both the private and public sectors," according to Knowles, who added, "With so much activity going on in the oil patch these days and so much work under way toward getting our natural gas to market, we need a person with these skills and level of dedication and commitment."

Myers, currently an exploration geologist with Phillips Alaska Inc., worked as an exploration and development geologist for ARCO Alaska Inc. in the mid-1980s. During 1990-98, Myers worked for the division as a petroleum geologist. He returned to ARCO Alaska (now Phillips Alaska) as an exploration geologist in 1998.

"These are fast-moving times for Alaska oil and gas exploration and development," Myers said. "Progress on North Slope natural gas commercialization, the discovery of new fields such as Meltwater, the start-up of production at Alpine, progress at Northstar, and the successful application of new technology for increased heavy oil production are positive events for Alaskans."