Whiting Petroleum Corp. appointed James T. Brown as president and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1, 2011.

The American Geological Institute has named G. Warfield “Skip” Hobbs as president. He was inducted at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Denver in November.

CBM Asia Development Corp., Vancouver, BC, which participated in the drilling of Indonesia’s first official coalbed methane well earlier this year, has named Scott H. Stevens as chairman.

Enterprise Products Partners LP, Houston, paid $38.5 million for a plant on the Houston Ship Channel that produces high-purity isobutylene (HPIB).

Thomas J. Barrett, deputy federal coordinator for Alaska natural gas transportation projects, will on Jan. 1, 2011, become president of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the company that operates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).

Neste Oil Corp. said it has launched operations at its new 800,000 tonne/year renewable diesel plant in Singapore, a €550 million facility described as the world’s largest.

Statoil plans to install subsea compression for recovering additional gas from fields tied back to the Asgard development in the Norwegian Sea.

Rex Energy Corp., State College, Pa., appointed Daniel J. Churay as its president and chief executive officer.

Exco Resources Inc. has received an offer from Douglas H. Miller, its chairman and chief executive officer, in which Miller said he is willing to buy all outstanding shares that he does not already own for $20.50/share.

Spectra Energy Corp., managing partner of Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, has appointed William C. Penney as president, M&NP.