Aurora Oil & Gas Corp. has added the responsibilities of president to Chief Financial Officer Ronald E. Huff. He succeeds William W. Deneau, who will focus on his duties as chairman and chief executive officer.
Huff has more than 25 years of oil and gas industry experience. He has been serving as the company’s chief financial officer since June 2006.
Previously he served as president and chief financial officer of Belden & Blake Corp. and has worked for Transco, Sonat Inc., and Zilkha Petroleum.
Separately, John C. Hunter was named AOG’s vice-president, exploration and production. Hunter is a petroleum engineer with more than 30 years of industry experience. Prior to joining AOG in 2005, he worked for Wellstream Energy Services and Torch Energy Advisors, both of Houston.
Thomas W. Tucker, one of the founders of Aurora Energy Ltd., which merged with the company in 2005, retired effective June 30. The company will retain Tucker as a consultant through Dec. 31 to assist on various matters.
Other moves
South Texas Oil Co. has appointed J. Scott Zimmerman president and Bill Zeltwanger vice-president.
Since 2004, Zimmerman served as president and chief executive of Storm Cat Energy, a publicly traded company that he founded.
In 2002 he was vice-president of operations and engineering for Evergreen Resources, overseeing more than 1,000 producing wells and 800,000 prospective acres. In 2004 Evergreen was acquired by Pioneer Resources for $2.1 billion.
Zimmerman’s oil and gas industry experience also includes a 20-year tenure at Huber Corp., where he was instrumental in the sale of Huber’s Fruitland coalbed methane field, a deal that netted more than $100 million in profit.
Zeltwanger for the past 6 years has been a partner in Giddings, Tex.-based Leexus Oil & Gas LLP, which recently sold its assets to South Texas Oil for $26 million. He began his oil and gas career in 1973 in South Texas and later worked with assets in the Austin Chalk and several new Wilcox field discoveries in Fayette and Lee counties in Texas.
Rosetta Resources Inc. has named Executive Vice-Pres. Charles Chambers acting president and chief executive officer.
Chambers is a 32-year oil and gas veteran, who has helped with the development of the Houston independent since its inception. He succeeds Bill Berilgen, who resigned as chairman, president, and chief executive.
Chambers has founded several companies, including Buena Vista Oil & Gas and Chambers Oil & Gas Inc. He served as vice-president, corporate development, for Sheridan Energy Inc. from 1997 to 1999 when Sheridan was acquired by Calpine Natural Gas LP, where he remained until March 2001 as vice-president, business development and land.
Separately, Henry Houston, chairman of Rosetta’s audit committee, has been selected as chairman of the company. He will lead the board in its search to identify a permanent chief executive, Rosetta said.
Philip Mandelker, general counsel of Zion Oil & Gas Inc., Dallas, since April 2000 and a director since 2001, has been appointed executive vice-president.
Mandelker was involved in a recent initial public offering of Zion, which operates an onshore oil and gas exploration concession in Israel.
St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. has appointed Lehman E. Newton III vice-president, regional manager, of the Permian region.
Newton succeeds Jerry Schuyler, senior vice-president, regional manager, Greater Gulf Coast region, who has resigned. The company has not yet selected a regional manager for the Gulf Coast region.
Newton began his career in 1979 with ARCO and held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering, operations, and business development through 2000. Newton then founded and subsequently sold a private exploration and development company focused on the Permian basin. He has worked for Unocal Corp. subsidiary Pure Resources Inc., as well as its predecessor Chevron Corp. Most recently, he served as general manager of St. Mary’s Midland, Tex., office, which he helped open in February.
St. Mary’s Permian basin assets will be managed out of the Midland office, which was opened following the acquisition of the Sweetie Peck assets in December 2006. The remaining onshore Texas, Gulf Coast, and Gulf of Mexico assets will be managed by its Houston office.