ABS,
Houston, has appointed a global materials engineering team headed by Michael Wheatcroft. Formation of the team comes in response to the proliferating introduction of new materials within the structure and components of offshore units and vessels. The team will also provide in-field support to the society’s surveyors attending the significant growth in the number of equipment suppliers. ABS veteran Wheatcroft has been promoted to the new position of assistant chief engineer for materials and chief metallurgist. He leads a team of specialist material engineers who have been assigned to ABS engineering offices in the US, Europe, and Asia. The global materials team will be supported by the ABS corporate technology department so that the innovative value of its ongoing research in the application of new materials can be practically and consistently applied to both vessel structures and equipment components. The materials team is also expected to play a hands-on role in the review and acceptance of traditional elements of the ship, principally castings and forgings, which are being manufactured by newer entities.
Founded in 1862, ABS is a leading international classification society devoted to promoting the security of life, property, and the marine environment through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction, and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities.
GulfMark Offshore Inc.,
Houston, has promoted three executives to key positions in the company’s accounting, finance, and internal audit/compliance functions. Quintin V. Kneen has been named senior vice-president, finance and administration. He will be responsible for all finance functions of the company, including accounting, finance, and treasury, as well as tax and investor relations. He will transition to the role of CFO subsequent to the company’s filing of its 2008 10-K in February 2009, as Ed Guthrie, currently executive vice-president and CFO, moves into the role of assisting Gulfmark CEO and Pres. Bruce Streeter prior to his retirement in 2009. Kneen joined GulfMark in June 2008. Previously, he was vice-president, finance and investor relations, for Grant Prideco Inc. Prior to joining Grant Prideco, he held executive finance positions at Azurix Corp. and was an audit manager with the Houston office of Price Waterhouse LLP. He holds an MBA from Rice University and a BBA in accounting from Texas A&M University and is a CPA and CFA. Samuel R. Rubio has been appointed vice-president, controller, and chief accounting officer. He will be responsible for all accounting functions of the company and for all regulatory filings of the company with the SEC and compliance with current accounting standards. Rubio has been with GulfMark since 2005, when he joined the group as assistant controller, and was promoted to controller in 2007. With more than 25 years of accounting experience, Rubio has a BBA from Sul Ross State University and is a CPA. Anthony L. White has been promoted to vice-president, internal audit, and chief compliance officer. He will coordinate the company’s internal audit function and compliance with Sarbanes Oxley in addition to monitoring and improving internal control processes throughout the company. White has been responsible for developing the internal audit function at GulfMark since 2005, when he joined the company as director, internal audit. He has a BS and an MBA from the University of Kentucky and had more than 15 years of financial and audit experience prior to joining GulfMark in 2005.
Meanwhile, Carla S. Mashinski, has resigned her position as vice-president, accounting, and chief accounting officer to pursue other interests.
GulfMark provides marine transportation services to the energy industry worldwide through a fleet of 93 offshore support vessels.
Seismic Micro-Technology,
Houston, has announced that it is now an independent software vendor (ISV) partner with Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co. Through this ISV partnership, HP Canada will supply PC-based hardware, workstations, high-end graphics cards, and high-end mobile workstations to SMT customers to maximize the performance of KINGDOM, SMT’s seismic interpretation software. SMT KINGDOM operates on all 64-bit and 32-bit Windows-based platforms available through HP Canada. Customers who wish to migrate to a 64-bit environment also have the ability to simultaneously run 32- and 64-bit applications.
SMT is a market leader for Windows-based geoscientific interpretation. SMT software enables intuitive interpretation, validation, risk reduction, and data management in one integrated executable.
HP, the world’s largest technology company, simplifies the technology experience for consumers and businesses with a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services, and IT infrastructure.
Swagelok Co.,
Solon, Ohio, has appointed Deric Wallace regional director, Europe. He will be responsible for all aspects of business development and sales and service support within the region. Wallace joined Swagelok in 1996 as a project manager. In 1999, he was appointed manager of the European technical center at Swagelok AG in Switzerland. In 2003, he was promoted to business development manager for the European region. His role expanded in 2007, when Wallace was named regional manager for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. His work focused on the development and execution of the strategic goals of the region. Wallace attended the University of Akron in Ohio and the University of Regensburg in Germany. He holds a BS in international business and German.
Swagelok is a major developer and provider of fluid system solutions, including products, assemblies, and services for the research, instrumentation, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, power, petrochemical, alternative fuels, and semiconductor industries.
CGGVeritas,
Paris, has marked milestones on two acquisitions. Its subsidiary Sercel has entered into a private transaction to purchase all existing shares in Quest Geo Solutions Ltd., a UK-based software company, for cash. The acquisition continues to broaden Sercel’s product offering and comes as a logical extension to the existing partnership between the two companies, whereby Sercel distributes Quest navigation software such as Triggerfish and Geometis. It also provides Sercel with increased development and support resources for its navigation software division and its newly released SeaPro Nav product.
Meanwhile, CGGVeritas has announced the success of its voluntary exchange tender offer made for all the shares of Wavefield Inseis ASA that closed on December 12, 2008, and declared the offer unconditional effective Dec. 19, 2008. More than 90 million Wavefield shares, representing 69.7% of the share capital and the voting rights of Wavefield, have been tendered to the offer. CGGVeritas will issue one newly issued share for seven Wavefield shares, corresponding to 9.4% of CGGVeritas share capital and 8.9% of voting rights. CGGVeritas is required to launch a mandatory offer for all remaining Wavefield shares its does not own. In the event that CGGVeritas owns more than 90% of the shares of Wavefield upon completion of the mandatory offer, the company will launch a compulsory acquisition of the remaining Wavefield shares, which is expected to be completed by the end of February 2009.
CGGVeritas is a leading international pure-play geophysical company delivering a wide range of technologies, services, and equipment.
Transocean Inc.,
Houston, has completed its change of place of incorporation from Cayman Islands to Switzerland. In the transaction, each outstanding ordinary share of Transocean Inc. was exchanged for one share of Transocean Ltd. The shares of Transocean Ltd. will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “RIG,” the same symbol under which the ordinary shares of Transocean Inc. were listed.
Transocean is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor and the leading provider of drilling management services worldwide.
With a fleet of 136 mobile offshore drilling units plus 10 announced ultradeepwater newbuild units, the company’s fleet is considered one of the most modern and versatile in the world due to its emphasis on technically demanding segments of the offshore drilling business. The company owns or operates a contract drilling fleet of 39 high-specification floaters (ultradeepwater, deepwater, and harsh-environment semisubmersibles and drillships), 29 midwater floaters, 10 high-specification jack ups, 54 standard jackups, and other assets utilized in the support of offshore drilling activities worldwide.
MAN Turbo,
Oberhausen, Germany, has acquired through its US affiliate Louisiana-based Baton Rouge Machine Works Inc. and its sister company, Alabama-based Holley Machinery Inc., for $19 million. Baton Rouge Machine Works is an established service supplier for turbo machinery. Its portfolio includes the production and servicing of large and heavy components as well as field service. The company serves chemical and petrochemical plants, refineries, and the upstream oil and gas industry. The acquisition of Baton Rouge Machine Works serves to strengthen MAN Turbo’s regional presence in the US after-sales service market. The company recently acquired the Texas service specialist HB Turbo and now has service shops strategically located throughout the Gulf Coast region.
The MAN Turbo Group, a subsidiary of MAN AG, Munich, offers one of the most comprehensive product ranges of turbines and compressors in the world and occupies a leading position on the global market for turbomachinery.
Alliance Engineering,
Houston, has appointed Scott Leitko vice-president of corporate strategy. A veteran of 20 years in the oil and gas industry, he has been with Alliance since 2005, most recently as vice-president of engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas. Alliance, part of John Wood Group PLC, is an independent services provider to the international oil and gas industry. Alliance specializes in engineering, design, procurement, project management, and construction management of onshore and offshore upstream oil and gas facilities and structures. Capabilities range from feasibility studies through complete turnkey installations.
Wood Group is an international energy services company with three businesses—engineering and production facilities, well support, and gas turbine services—providing a range of engineering, production support, maintenance management, and industrial gas turbine overhaul and repair services to the oil and gas and power generation industries worldwide.
Subsea 7 Inc.,
Westhill, UK, has been awarded a 1-year inspection, repair, and maintenance services agreement by TAQA Bratani Ltd., part of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., for the provision of project management, engineering, dive support, and remote intervention services to assist with work on TAQA’s newly acquired northern North Sea assets. TAQA became operator of its newly acquired assets Cormorant North, Cormorant South, Eider, Kestrel, Tern, and Pelican on Dec. 1, 2008. A Subsea 7 project team, based in the company’s new Aberdeen office, will manage work scopes under the frame agreement, the first of which commenced in mid-December.
Subsea 7 is one of the world’s leading subsea engineering and construction companies, offering all the expertise and assets that make subsea, umbilical, riser, and flowline field development possible.
The company’s global offshore operations are supported out of the North Sea, Africa, Brazil, North America, and Asia-Pacific regions. Subsea 7 has a fleet of industry leading, dynamically positioned ships capable of reeled and flexible pipelay, subsea construction, and saturation diving and a portfolio of pipeline construction yards worldwide.