Energy Players

David F. Schaible, Newfield Exploration Co.’s president and COO, died October 13 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 46. David A. Trice, Newfield’s chairman and CEO stated, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Dave’s wife, Tina, and his four wonderful children. Dave positively influenced the lives of all those around him and will continue to through this special organization that he helped create. Dave made those around him better. His presence will always be felt in all we do and accomplish in the future.” Newfield has no current plans to fill Schaible’s seat on the board of directors. Trice will reassume the role of president in addition to chairman and CEO. In addition to his role as president and COO, Schaible served on Newfield’s board of directors since 2002. He joined Newfield at the time of the company’s founding in 1988. He served as executive vice president - operations and acquisitions from November 2004 through July 2007. Prior to Newfield, Schaible was senior production engineer in the Eastern Gulf Division of Tenneco Oil Exploration and Production Co. Schaible earned a degree from Marietta College.

Pogo Producing loses friend, colleague Cooper

Jerry A. Cooper, 59, executive vice president and regional manager, Western United States for Pogo Producing Co. has passed away. Pogo chairman and CEO, Paul G. Van Wagenen said, “This is a very sad day for all of us at Pogo. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jerry’s wife, Nancy and his two wonderful children. We have benefited greatly from Jerry’s wisdom, guidance and leadership in the more than 28 years that he has served Pogo. More significantly, everyone at Pogo has lost more than just a business colleague and leader, we have lost a dear and loyal friend in Jerry.”

Panhandle Oil and Gas promotes Lowry to CFO

Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. has promoted Lonnie J. Lowry to vice president, CFO, and secretary. He previously held the titles of vice president, controller, and secretary. Michael C. Coffman, who was recently named as the company’s CEO, previously held the CFO position. Lowry has been employed by Panhandle since 2001, having joined Panhandle with the acquisition of Wood Oil Co. where he held the position of controller for 15 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and has 33 years of experience working for both private and publicly held oil and gas exploration and production companies. Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. is engaged in the exploration for and production of natural gas and oil.

Meridian’s CEO resigns;Western joins as senior VP

Anthony Mason has resigned as chief executive of Meridian Petroleum. He will remain an employee of the company until the end of December. Chairman Stephen Gutteridge has been appointed executive chairman in his place. In addition, the company has named Stephen Western as its new senior vice president of exploration. Western has over 29 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining Meridian, he was the exploration manager for the Northern Gulf of Mexico for ConocoPhillips. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, a master’s degree from Texas Christian University, and an MBA from Houston Baptist University. The company is in the final stages of recruiting a COO to run the US business and has been working toward a sale or farm-out of its Australian assets in order to concentrate its resources and development plans on its US assets.

Marcogliese promotedto Valero COO

Valero Energy Corp. has promoted Rich Marcogliese to executive vice president and COO. He previously served as the company’s executive vice president of operations. Joe Gorder, executive vice president-marketing and supply, will report to Marcogliese. Valero Energy Corp. is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, with approximately 21,000 employees and 2006 annual revenues of more than $90 billion. The company owns and operates 17 refineries throughout the US, Canada, and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of nearly 3.1 million barrels per day.

Enterra Energy tapsBoerchers as new CFO

Enterra Energy has appointed Blaine Boerchers as CFO. Boerchers brings more than 20 years of experience in the North American energy sector. He was most recently vice president of finance of a large international energy services company. Enterra Energy Trust is a conventional oil and gas trust based in Calgary, Alberta. The Trust acquires, operates, and exploits petroleum and natural gas assets principally in western Canada and Oklahoma. The company has also named Frank Simmen to the board of directors. Simmen graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree. In 2003 he formed Jackson and Simmen Drilling and Wolf Island Oil and Gas LP, to concentrate his efforts in the Fort Worth basin seeking production and exploration opportunities.

Limbacher leaves postat ConocoPhillips forCEO role at Rosetta

Randy Limbacher, president, exploration and production ­ Americas at ConocoPhillips has left the company to become the new president and CEO of Rosetta Resources Inc. He also will serve on the board. The position he held will not be replaced. The organization currently under this position will be moved directly under John Lowe, executive vice president, exploration and production.

Global Geo namesElde as new CFO

Global Geo Services has appointed Jon Elde as CFO. Elde previously held several positions within Orkla & Carlsberg, mainly involved in finance, accounting, and business development. The former CFO, Janne Weseth, will take another position within the company when returning from maternity leave.

INTEC appoints Smith CEO

INTEC Engineering has appointed Edward M. Smith as CEO. Smith has led a number of complex construction projects and operations including the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and multinational developments such as the Russian/Kazakh Caspian Pipeline Consortium and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project. Recently Smith has been applying his leadership and organizational skills as a senior diplomat in the US Department of State.

Paradigm appoints Howell vice president of tax

Paradigm, a provider of enterprise software solutions to the global oil and natural gas exploration and production industry, has added Eileen L. Howell to its executive management team as vice president of tax. With over 20 years of global accounting experience in the energy industry, Howell joins Paradigm from Schlumberger where she was oil field services US tax manager. Howell also worked for four years in Singapore as Schlumberger’s accounting manager responsible for the Pan Pacific basin. Howell earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Lufkin chairman, CEO to retire

Douglas V. Smith, CEO and chairman of the board at Lufkin Industries, plans to retire March 1, 2008. Smith, who began his service with Lufkin in January 1993, will continue to serve as chairman of the board following his retirement. The board has identified John F. “Jay” Glick, president of Lufkin, to succeed Smith as the company’s CEO following Smith’s retirement. Glick has been a senior officer of the company since 1994, during which time he has also served as vice president, general manager of both the oil field and power transmission divisions. Lufkin Industries Inc. sells and services oil field pumping units, foundry castings, power transmission products, and highway trailers throughout the world.

Fortis creates new position; Fallon to step down as president

Fortis Energy Marketing and Trading, a division of Fortis Merchant and Private Banking, is initiating changes to its executive structure, including the creation of a new position of US Head of Energy & Commodities to oversee FEMT. Jim Fallon, president of FEMT, will step down from his position on December 31. Didier Giblet, current Global Head of Energy & Commodities at Fortis has assumed the role of interim US Head based in Houston until the new position has been filled.

Mart Resources hiresJohn Scott as COO

Mart Resources Inc. has named John (Jay) Scott as COO. Scott brings over 30 years of diverse experience in the oil and gas industry. For the past 15 years he has been active in international operations including drilling, workovers, completions, production operations, facility construction, and corporate management. Scott was previously the COO of Bitech Petroleum before it was purchased by Lukoil. He was then COO of Arawak Energy, and more recently COO of PetroLatina.

SUEZ Energy North America names Cavicchi CEO ofrenewable energy division

Paul J. Cavicchi has been appointed president and CEO of Houston-based SUEZ Energy North America’s (SENA) new renewable energy business division. The SRENA division is responsible for all renewable energy initiatives in North America, including wind, hydro, biomass, and solar energy projects. Cavicchi has been with SENA and its predecessor company since 1991. He most recently served as executive vice president of business development for SENA, and prior to that as president and CEO for SUEZ Energy Generation NA Inc.

Cagle joins energy law firm Burleson Cooke

Kimberlee S. Cagle has joined the Houston-based energy law firm of Burleson Cooke and will concentrate her practice on a comprehensive range of finance and banking. Previously, Cagle was a partner with Mayer Brown & Platt in Houston. She has represented commercial banks, financial institutions, and borrowers in structuring, negotiating, and documenting financing transactions with emphasis in the energy industry. Her experience also includes representing clients in the sale, purchase, transport, and storage of crude oil and petroleum products and in commodity swap transactions. Cagle earned her undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University and her JD from the SMU Dedman School of Law.

Sandhu replaces Coale as Giant Oil & Gas president

Giant Oil & Gas has appointed Rob Sandhu as president of the company. Sandhu is an oil and gas drilling specialist who has worked as a professional petroleum driller for companies such as Precision Drilling and the Haliburton Group. He has extensive field drilling experience throughout Alberta and received his technical training from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary. Resigning as president of Giant Oil & Gas Inc. is Robert Coale; however, Coale remains with the company as a director.

Gerald W. Schlief to retire from ATP

Gerald (“Jerry”) W. Schlief will retire from ATP Oil & Gas Corp. on December 31. ATP chairman and president T. Paul Bulmahn said Schlief’s efforts “helped move this company forward from a small private company to an international public company with multi-billion dollar assets. We are pleased that Jerry has agreed to continue to serve ATP on a consulting basis into the future.” Schlief has served as ATP’s senior vice president since 1993 and is primarily responsible for acquisitions. Previously he acted as a consultant for the onshore and offshore independent oil and gas industry. ATP Oil & Gas is an international offshore oil and gas development and production company with operations in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.