Energy Players

The board of directors of the general partner of Enterprise Products Partners LP has chosen Robert G. Phillips to serve as CEO in addition to his role as president and as a director of the general partner.

O. S. 'Dub' Andras, who served as president and CEO of Enterprise's general partner from 1998 to 2004 and as vice chairman and CEO since completion of the company's merger with GulfTerra Energy Partners LP in September 2004, will continue to serve as vice chairman. Andras also serves as vice chairman of privately held EPCO Inc., where he held various executive management positions beginning in 1981. Phillips was elected president, COO, and a director of the board in September 2004. He was serving as chairman and CEO of the general partner of GulfTerra at the time of the merger with Enterprise. Prior to that, Phillips was president of El Paso Field Services.

Knesek, a CPA, was named principal accounting officer and a vice president of the general partner in 2000. Before that, he served as controller of EPCO Inc. Fowler joined Enterprise as director of investor relations in 1999 and was elected vice president and treasurer of the general partner and EPCO in 2000. Enterprise Products Partners is a publicly traded energy partnership with an enterprise value of more than $14 billion and is a provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil. The Houston-based company transports natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil through 31,000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines and is involved in the development of midstream infrastructure in the Deepwater Trend of the Gulf of Mexico.

Sequoia Interests appoints Ted A. Leslie new CEO

John M. King has resigned as CEO and president of Houston-based Sequoia Interests Corp., and Ted A. Leslie has been appointed to those positions. King will remain with the company in the capacity of executive vice president and corporate secretary. Leslie - a veteran sales, marketing, and management specialist - has held various positions in senior management and national sales, predominantly in the bio-remediation and heavy construction equipment sectors. His hiring is intended to leverage his experience and successful track record as Sequoia transitions from a developmental entity to an operational firm. Leslie earned his BBA in marketing and finance from the University of Houston. Sequoia is a developer and marketer of proprietary, cost-effective, biodegradable chemicals for the oil and gas industry. The company’s DiamondFlo chemical formulation, intended for use in the enhanced oil recovery and remediation marketplace, is currently undergoing final testing at the University of Houston and two other internationally recognized research facilities.

SolArc hires Kenneth Kushnir as VP of professional services

Houston-based SolArc Inc., a provider of supply and trade management solutions for global energy companies, has hired Kenneth Kushnir as vice president of professional services. Kushnir has spent almost 20 years in various positions at Accenture, achieving the career level of partner in Accenture’s North American utilities client group, where he served as a consultant to utilities, energy, and communications firms in the US, Canada, and Europe. He was a leader in Accenture’s power generation practice and was active in defining the firm’s global strategies, market offerings, and service offerings. SolArc, which relocated its headquarters from Tulsa to Houston in 2004, cited Kushnir’s industry knowledge and managerial experience as key to the company’s future growth and success.

Coleman named corporate secretary, securities counsel

AGL Resources has appointed Myra Coleman corporate secretary and securities counsel. She previously served the Atlanta-based energy services company as executive director and corporate governance and securities counsel. In her new role, she is responsible for all corporate governance and securities law compliance and disclosure matters. She reports to Paul R. Shlanta, senior vice president, general counsel, and chief corporate compliance officer. Coleman, a member of the New York state bar, received her law degree from Georgetown University Law School. AGL Resources’ six utility subsidiaries serve 2.2 million customers in six states. Houston-based subsidiary Sequent Energy Management is involved in natural gas asset management and optimization, producer services, wholesale marketing, and risk management activities. AGL also owns gas storage facilities, pipelines, and distribution companies.

Forest Oil promotes Marter to key role with company

Cyrus D. “Skip” Marter has been promoted to vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Forest Oil Corp. In this position, he will be responsible for all aspects of Forest’s legal and corporate secretarial functions. Marter, who joined Forest in 2002, previously served as associate general counsel. Prior to joining Forest, Marter was a partner in the law firm of Susman Godfrey LLP in Houston and was engaged primarily in oil and gas litigation matters. He holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University and a JD degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Newton W. “Trey” Wilson - Forest’s senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary - is leaving Forest to assume the position of senior vice president and general counsel for Key Energy Services. Forest Oil is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and crude oil in North America and Canada. The company is based in Denver.

Energy Solutions appoints Tony Botterweck to board

Houston-based Energy Solutions International has named energy veteran Tony Botterweck to the company’s board of directors. Botterweck retired from Koch Industries in 2004 after 32 years with the company. Starting his career at Great Northern Oil & Refining Co. in 1972, he was promoted steadily throughout the years. Among his numerous management positions at Koch Refining, Botterweck served as manager of planning in the marketing group, vice president of planning and distribution, and vice president of supply, distribution, and planning. In 1993, he transferred to Koch Pipeline Co. as vice president of business development. Botterweck was named president in 1955 and also acted as president of several pipeline companies in which Koch was the operating partner. Just prior to his retirement, he led a new initiative to centralize Koch’s procurement system worldwide. Botterweck holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Wichita State University. Founded in 1976, Energy Solutions is a global supplier of pipeline management technologies for the oil and gas industry.

Superior Energy Services elects Blanchard president

Ken Blanchard, COO of Superior Energy Services, has been chosen to serve as president of the company as well. Blanchard, who has been part of Superior’s management team for the past 10 years, has more than 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. During his tenure with the company, Superior has grown from a “$12 million plug and abandonment company in 1995 to the more than $500 million diversified energy service provider we are today,” commented company CEO and chairman Terry Hall. Based in Harvey, La., Superior provides production-related services, rental tools, and liftboats to the global oil and gas industry.

NGP promotes Weinzierl; Colin Raymond joins firm

Natural Gas Partners, a private equity firm in Irving, Tex., has promoted John A. Weinzierl from principal to managing director. He joined the firm in 1999 and concentrates his efforts on transaction origination, execution, and monitoring. Colin F. Raymond has joined the firm as principal. His focus is on the company’s transaction analysis and execution as well as monitoring of active portfolio companies. Prior to joining NGP, Raymond was a vice president of Hunt Oil Co., where he was responsible for commercial aspects of Hunt’s Peruvian Camiseas gas, liquids, and LNG project. Before joining Hunt, Raymond spent three years as a partner of Soros Private Equity Partners, the private equity affiliate of George Soros. Prior to Soros, he worked as a vice president of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, and before that he was an investment banker at Wolfensohn & Co. and JP Morgan. Raymond has a BA degree in honors economics from the University of Michigan. NGP manages a family of private equity funds with committed capital totaling approximately $1.6 billion, of which more than $1 billion has been invested in 70 energy companies.

Big Sky Energy appoints Sehsuvaroglu president

S. A. “Al” Sehsuvaroglu is the new president of Big Sky Energy Corp., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. He replaces Daming Yang in that role. Yang will remain a director of the company. Sehsuvaroglu is a professional engineer with more than 27 years of oil and gas industry experience and is the newly elected vice-chairman of the Kazakh Petroleum Society. He began his career with Halliburton Energy Services in 1978, and has held a number management positions for Halliburton and its KBR business unit. Sehsuvaroglu joined Nelson Resources in Kazakhstan in 2001 as senior vice president of operations and helped the company increase oil production from zero to 45,000 bbl/d from oilfields in western Kazakhstan. Big Sky is currently operating in Kazakhstan’s pre-Caspian basin.

Credo chooses Vreeman as vice president, CFO

Denver-based Credo Petroleum Corp. has elected David W. Vreeman as its vice president and CFO. Prior to joining the company, he was vice president and controller for a dental management service. He has more than 20 years’ of financial accounting and reporting experience in healthcare, manufacturing, oil and gas, and public accounting. Vreeman specializes in financial reporting, SEC compliance, and financial process and control improvement. He recently implemented Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 requirements at the dental company. Credo, a publicly traded independent energy company, is engaged in the exploration for and the acquisition, development, and marketing of natural gas and crude oil in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions.

John McReynolds assumes presidency of Energy Transfer

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Co. LP, the majority owner of the general partner of Energy Transfer Partners LP, has named Dallas attorney John W. McReynolds as its president. The publicly traded partnership owns and operates a diversified portfolio of energy assets, including about 12,000 miles of natural gas gathering and transportation pipelines, as well as natural gas treating and processing assets in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. McReynolds, a partner in the Dallas office of Hunton & Williams, has been a director of the partnership’s general partner since 2004 and will continue to serve on the board of directors. He announced his intention to resign from Hunton & Williams, where he was head of the Dallas office’s energy law practice, to join Energy Transfer. McReynolds, who has engaged in energy deals and acquisitions since the beginning of his career, noted that Energy Transfer Partners and its affiliates are in an acquisition mode.

Looney to succeed Baer as Energy Partners CFO

Suzanne V. Baer will retire as executive vice president and CFO at New Orleans-based Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL), and David R. Looney will be her replacement as CFO. Most recently, Looney served as vice president of finance at EOG Resources Inc. In that role, he was responsible for all finance and treasury functions, including managing external relationships with investment banks, commercial banks, and the rating agencies. He joined EOG in 1998 as assistant treasurer after holding a variety of financial positions at such firms as Toronto-Dominion Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank. Looney holds a BS degree in applied mathematics and an MS degree in economics from Texas A&M University. Founded in 1998, EPL is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused along the US Gulf Coast, both onshore in south Louisiana and offshore in the shallow to moderate depth waters of the Gulf of Mexico shelf.

Parker Drilling selects David Mannon as COO, senior vice president

Houston-based Parker Drilling Co. has appointed David C. Mannon as senior vice president and COO. Mannon has 24 years’ experience in the drilling industry. He began his career with SEDCO-FOREX, formerly SEDCO, in 1980, as a drilling engineer and joined Triton Engineering Services Co., a subsidiary of Noble Drilling, in 1988, where he held a number of management positions, culminating with his appointment as president and CEO in 2003. In his new role with Parker, he reports to Robert L. Parker Jr., president and CEO. Mannon has a BS degree in civil engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and an MBA from the University of Houston. Parker Drilling specializes in offshore drilling and workover services in the Gulf of Mexico and international land and offshore markets.

The X-Change Corp. makes management changes

Charles Stidham has been named president of The X-Change Corp., headquartered in Dallas. He replaces Dean Elliott as president and as a member of the company’s board of directors. X-Change has accepted the resignation of Elliott and Bert Maxwell, both former directors of the Corp., who will pursue other business interests. This is the second stint as president of X-Change for Stidham, one of the company’s founders. X-Change is currently developing reserves in several East Texas oil fields.

HSBC Securities expands its energy and utilities team

New York-based HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. has appointed Anthony Ianno and Christopher Lowe as managing directors and co-heads of the Americas energy and utilities sector within the global investment banking division. They will report globally to Mark Bentley and Antoine Cahuzac, co-heads of the energy and utilities sector, and locally to Dr. Anthony J. Murphy, CEO, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. Prior to joining HSBC, Lowe spent 15 years at JP Morgan, most recently as managing director in the natural resources investment banking group. Ianno spent 12 years at JP Morgan and also served as a managing director within the natural resources investment banking group. Previously, he worked at Con Edison for seven years in various operating and financing positions.

Both men have extensive experience in the energy and utilities sector, including financing and merger and acquisition advice, to many companies. During 2004, HSBC advised on a number of major deals in the energy sector, including the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.¿s acquisition of a stake in Showa Shell Sekiyu of Japan from Royal Dutch/Shell, and acting as advisor to Total in the $72 billion purchase by Sanofi of Aventis. HSBC Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets (CIBM) provides tailored financial products and services to government, corporate, and institutional clients.

Ian Colquhoun to spearhead Biogenerics’ new gas focus

Biogenerics Ltd., which focuses on exploiting and distributing domestic gas reserves, has retained Ian M. Colquhoun to lead its asset acquisition activities. Colquhoun is an exploration geologist with more than seven years’ experience in the Ontario oil and gas industry. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in geology from Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario. He began his career in Ontario with Pembina Resources in 1995 and has been employed as a consultant by several exploration companies in Ontario, including Resource Professionals Inc., Icon Petroleum Inc., Daybreak Energy Corp., Cobra Oil & Gas Corp., and Rubicon Petroleum. Most recently he served as Ontario exploration manager for Calgary-based Veteran Resources Inc. Biogenerics, with headquarters in Carson City, Nev., previously focused on investment in early-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology. Recently, the company has changed its focus to domestic fuel and will consider changing the company name to reflect its re-positioning.

Randy Stein joins board of directors at Denbury

Denbury Resources Inc. has appointed Randy Stein of Denver to its board to directors to fill a prior vacancy until the May 2005 annual meeting. Stein has 29 years of diversified management experience with public and private companies, including 20 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, formerly Coopers & Lybrand LLP, most recently as principal in charge of the Denver tax practice until his resignation in 2000. He was also employed as an executive officer of a Denver-based independent oil and gas company and is currently a self-employed business consultant. Stein served as an audit committee chairman, co-chairman of the nominating and governance committee, and a member of the compensation committee of Westport Resources Corp., a Denver-based oil and gas company, from 2000 until the company was acquired in 2004. He is currently a board member and audit committee chairman of Bill Barrett Corp., an oil and gas company, and also serves on the board and audit committee of Koala Corp., both Denver-based public companies. Denbury is an independent oil and gas company based in Dallas.

Far East Energy names Tim Whyte as director, John Mihm as chairman

Tim Whyte has been elected to the board as a new director of Far East Energy Corp., and current independent director John Mihm was elected to an expanded role as chairman of the board. Mihm joined the board of Far East in June of 2004 as an independent director and chairs the compensation committee. Far East is one of the largest holders of coalbed methane acreage in China, with production sharing contracts covering more than 1.3 million acres. Michael McElwrath, president and CEO of Far East, said that Mihm’s election as chairman reflects the contributions he has made to the company based on his substantial experience in China and at senior levels of the international petroleum industry. Mihm was employed by Phillips Petroleum for nearly four decades and held the position of senior vice president of technology and project development for Phillips (now ConocoPhillips) prior to his retirement in 2003. He has worked on Phillips’ projects in China since the early 1980s, which includes supplying technical support for the ConocoPhillips Shanxi project prior to its farmout to Far East Energy. Tim Whyte began his career in finance at Goldman Sachs International and is currently an investment manager with Sofaer Capital Inc., based in London. He serves as the representative for an investor group in a $10 million private placement with Far East Energy that closed on Dec. 21, 2004. After completing his degree in economics from the London School of Economics, Whyte has served in positions concerned with investment management in the energy industry. Based in Houston with offices in Beijing and Kunming, China, Far East Energy is focused on the acquisition of and exploration for coalbed methane through its agreements with ConocoPhillips and China United Coalbed Methane Co. (CUCBM).

Seale joins Liskow & Lewis in law firm’s Houston office

Robert A. “Pete” Seale has joined the law firm of Liskow & Lewis in its Houston office. He practices in the areas of business and finance, corporate and tax, representing high net worth individuals and closely held businesses in the areas of income and estate tax and planning and venture capital work. He has experience in private placements related to real estate, oil and gas, hopper barges, oil and gas lubricant products, banking, and thoroughbred racing and breeding. Seale earned his undergraduate degree and law degrees from Louisiana State University. He joins Liskow & Lewis from the Houston office of Phelps Dunbar LLP. He is also a former partner of Vinson & Elkins in Houston. Liskow & Lewis’s Houston office also includes five experienced attorneys who relocated from the firm’s New Orleans office. The firm also has an office in Lafayette, La.

Keith Trent given new role in Duke’s corporate office

Duke Energy’s board of directors has elected Keith Trent group vice president, general counsel, and acting secretary. He is currently general counsel, litigation, for the company. He succeeds Martha Wyrsch, who was named president and CEO of Duke Energy Gas Transmission. Trent joined Duke in 2002 with responsibility for managing all the company’s major litigation and government investigations. He has had accountability for the legal teams that address the company’s environment, health, and safety issues, as well as labor and employment matters. He has a BS degree in electrical engineering, with honors, from Southern Methodist University, and a law degree, with high honors, from the University of Texas College of Law. Before joining Charlotte, NC-based Duke Energy, Trent was a partner for more than 10 years in the Dallas-based law firm of Snell, Brannian & Trent. Before that, he was an attorney at Jackson Walker in Dallas. He began his career as a reservoir/production engineer with Arco Oil & Gas in Houston in 1982.