Energy players

RigNet has elected Mark Slaughter as CEO. Slaughter joined RigNet in January as president and COO. He has 20 years of experience in oilfield services and remote communications, including various general management and senior staff roles at Halliburton Co. and as president of Stratos Global Corp.’s broadband division. Immediately prior to RigNet, he served as VP and general manager of Chubb USA and Counterforce USA. Slaughter earned an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. RigNet co-founder, Omar Kulbrandstad, who had been serving as CEO, will continue as a director of the company. Slaughter will also retain the title of president, but the COO position will remain unfilled. RigNet uses satellite and networking technologies to provide quality solutions for broadband data, voice, and video communications, as well as real-time data management.

Gastar appoints Pettit as chief operating officer

Gastar Exploration has hired Jeffrey C. Pettit as VP and COO. Pettit has more than 28 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Since 2001, he has held various positions at Dominion Exploration and Production, including general manager-Gulf Coast operations and engineering, general manager - coalbed methane, and joint interest manager. Pettit holds a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University. Gastar Exploration Ltd. is an exploration and production company focused on finding and developing natural gas assets in North America and Australia.

Lord Browne joins Riverstone Holdings

Riverstone Holdings LLC, a private equity firm specializing in the energy and power sectors, has named Lord Browne of Madingley, the former chief executive of BP PLC, managing director and managing partner of Riverstone Europe. Riverstone will be opening a London office where Lord Browne will be based. Riverstone conducts buyout and growth capital investments in the midstream, upstream, power, oilfield services, and renewable sectors of the energy industry.

Taylor-DeJongh taps Sachs as director

Taylor-DeJongh has added John Sachs as director. He brings more than 14 years of experience in making direct equity investments, lending and investment banking in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining TDJ, Sachs served as director at PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance LLC in New York and Washington, DC. Sachs has an MBA from Vanderbilt University, and a BA from Albion College, Michigan.

Sutherland lands Giesber Clingman for Houston office

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP has added Rachel Giesber Clingman, formerly of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, to the firm’s litigation practice. She will serve as co-partner-in-charge of the Houston office and will head a national business litigation group, which includes energy and environmental litigation. In addition to energy and commercial litigation, her first-chair trial experience includes aviation claims, shareholder disputes, and international litigation arising from alleged acts of terrorism in the Middle East.

Emmons to lead Dubai office of Baker Botts

David Emmons, who has extensive corporate experience representing clients in energy services, technology and outsourcing, has been named partner in charge of the Middle East offices in Dubai, UAE and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for Baker Botts LLP. He will be based in Dubai. Emmons is now the fourth partner in Dubai for Baker Botts. Emmons concentrates on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising transactions, and joint ventures.

Pennington resigns; Brand to serve as interim CFO at Teton

Teton Energy Corp.’s CFO and executive VP Bill I. Pennington has resigned for personal reasons. Pennington is moving to Austin from Denver. He will join the Teton Board as an outside director. Teton Energy has retained Preng and Associates, a Houston-based executive placement firm to conduct the search for a new CFO. In addition, William K. White has resigned from the board of directors due to his desire to pursue other activities which potentially could conflict with his role as a director on Teton’s board. Teton Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Denver, Colo. The company has named William P. Brand, Teton’s controller and CAO, as interim CFO. Brand will maintain the position until a permanent CFO is named.

Dingwall joins Benchmark as COO

Benchmark Performance Group Inc., a developer and supplier of specialty chemicals for the oil and gas industry, has hired Iain Dingwall as the company’s COO. Previously, Dingwall was employed with Clariant Corp. as its oil services North American manager. Dingwall received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Edinburgh, and studied for an MBA from Aberdeen University in the UK.

South Texas Oil expands team

South Texas Oil Co., an independent energy company, has made two additions to the executive team. J. Scott Zimmerman will serve as president, and Bill Zeltwanger has been added as VP. Zimmerman, the former founder, president, and CEO of Storm Cat Energy, holds a bachelor’s degree. He worked for Huber Corp. for 20 years. In 2002 he was VP operations and engineering for Evergreen Resources. For the past six years, Zeltwanger was a partner in Leexus Oil and Gas which recently sold its assets to South Texas Oil for $26 million.

Steve Taylor to head Dubai ops for OMS

Offshore Marine Services has appointed Steve Taylor as director of operations of their Dubai business unit. With a strong knowledge of the industry having previously held the position of European HR manager with Santa Fe Drilling for 23 years, Taylor joins OMS from his role as Global HR manager for Precision Drilling International. OMS will be one of the anchor tenants of Dubai Maritime City, the world’s first purpose built city designed specifically to serve and enhance the marine and offshore oil and gas industries. The Offshore Marine Services group offers a global solution to the industry’s manning and marine requirements. The company also owns and operates its own fleet of offshore supply and FPSO off-take vessels.

James Clark to retirefrom Baker Hughes

James R. “Rod”Clark, president and COO, will retire from Baker Hughes on January 31, 2008. Chad C. Deaton, chairman and CEO, will then also assume the position of president. Clark was named president and COO of Baker Hughes in February of 2004. Before that, he served as VP, marketing and technology. Clark joined the company in 2001 as president of Baker Petrolite, from Consolidated Equipment Companies Inc. where he served as president and CEO. He earned both his bachelor’s degree and his MBA from the University of Texas. Baker Hughes is a provider of drilling, formation evaluation, completion, and production products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry.