Energy Players

Ken Dolan, director of risk management at MDU Resources Group, has been named assistant treasurer-enterprise risk management. In the new position, he will be responsible for leading the developing enterprise risk management program. Dolan, a graduate of Penn State/New Kensington, holds a bachelors degree in risk management and a master’s degree in finance. He also has a doctorate in risk and insurance from Somerville, Oxford. Dolan has 23 years of insurance and risk management experience. He joined MDU Resources in 2003. Prior to that, he was the global enterprise risk director for Seaboard Corporation. MDU Resources, based in Bismarck, ND, is a member of Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 index. In the energy sector, the company provides products and services to oil and gas producers, natural gas pipelines, gas and electric utilities, utility services, and domestic and international power plants.

Dynegy names Campbell group general counsel and corporate secretary

Houston-based Dynegy Inc. has appointed Carolyn M. Campbell general group counsel-corporate finance and securities and corporate secretary. In this capacity, she is responsible for all corporate finance, transactional, securities, and disclosure matters and will serve as a liaison between the board of directors, senior management, and the company’s shareholders. She reports to Dynegy’s general counsel, Carol F. Graebner. Campbell has nearly 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and securities. She joins the company from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where she served as senior counsel, specializing in transactional work with a concentration in the energy industry. She holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Louisiana State University and a juris doctorate from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert School of Law.

Global Resources elects Villalobos to serve as president

Jimmy Villalobos has joined San Diego-based Global Resources Corp. as president of the company. Former president Richard Mangiarelli will remain as CEO. Villalobos has more than 30 years’ experience in investment banking and management. Past positions include CEO of several regional brokerage firms in Southern California. He has worked extensively with multinational brokerage firms in syndicating underwritings and has guided dozens of companies in the capital formation process as well as the process of going public. Villalobos intends to use his experience in investment banking and structured finance to accelerate the acquisition process for Global Resources, a business development company that invests in producing oil and gas properties that have the potential for production enhancement. The company also provides mentoring services and investment capital to oil companies that plan to go public in the future.

Falcon Natural Gas expands executive team

Houston-based Falcon Natural Gas Corp. has appointed Fred B. Zazski as its new president and CEO, succeeding Alan Aitchison, who will head the efforts of the company’s advisory board. Prior to joining Falcon, Zazski was COO for ComOxy, a Houston-based firm specializing in upstream and downstream project management with emphasis on refinery and drilling operations.

During a long career, Zazski has held executive and management positions with National Petroleum Technology Company, Saudi Arabia, and Halliburton Energy Services in the Middle East, West Africa, Europe, and the US. He holds masters degrees in business administration, organizational management, and international business from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, and a BS degree in petroleum engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Petroleum Institute, and The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Aitchison has 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining Falcon, he served as projects business development manager with Schlumberger Limited. He has also held management positions with other large multinational companies, including British Petroleum, Petrobras, and Lasmo Oil Ltd.

Falcon Natural Gas is a natural gas exploration company that focuses on the acquisition and exploration of commercial prospects in onshore areas of the US.

Ross Jones joins Canadian Superior Energy as CFO

Canadian Superior Energy has named Ross A. Jones as its CFO. Jones, a Certified Management Accountant, has 24 years’ financial experience and has worked in a senior financial capacity in a number of public companies. Most recently, he has been the president of his own financial consulting company providing financial advice and accounting services to public and private oil and gas companies. Prior to that, Jones was vice president of finance and CFO of Tikal Resources Corporation. Before that, he was controller of Canadian 88 Energy Corporation. Canadian Superior, headquartered in Calgary, is an E&P company with operations in western Canada, offshore Nova Scotia, and offshore Trinidad and Tobago.

Berry Petroleum promotes Shawn Canaday to treasurer

Shawn Canaday, who joined Berry Petroleum Company in 2003 as a senior financial analyst, has been named treasurer of the company. He has worked under the direction of Ralph Goehring, executive vice president and CFO, and Kenneth Olson, corporate secretary/treasurer. The company is dividing the latter role, with Olson continuing in the role of corporate secretary. Canaday, a Certified Public Accountant, is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, and has experience in both public accounting and the oil and gas industry, having worked for ChevronTexaco. Berry Petroleum is a publicly traded independent E&P company based in Bakersfield, Calif.

Greg McMichael joins Denbury Resources board

Dallas-based Denbury Resources Inc. has named Greg McMichael of Denver, Colo., to its board to directors to fill one of the two vacancies created by the May 2004 board resignations of representatives of the Texas Pacific Group. McMichael has nearly 30 years of oil and gas experience, including 16 years as an oil and gas equity analyst. He recently retired as vice president and group leader of the energy research group of A. G. Edwards, where he was responsible for all of the firm’s equity research in the energy sector. Prior to his tenure at A. G. Edwards, McMichael was director of equity research of Hanifen, Imhoff, Inc., a regional investment banking firm based in Denver. He also serves on the board of Matador Resources Company, a private oil and natural gas company, headquartered in Dallas.

Total Holdings USA appoints De La Noue president and CEO

Bertrand de La Noue has been named president and CEO of Total Holdings USA, Inc., and CFO of Total Petrochemicals USA, Inc. Previously, he served as CFO for Total France, the refining and marketing subsidiary of Total S.A. De La Noue joined the company in 1985 as area manager for Total Oil Great Britain. After several assignments in London, Paris, and Tokyo in finance and trading activities, he returned to Paris in 1993 as investor relations manager of Total S.A. From 1996 to 1999, he was general manager - information and planning of Total South Africa, based in Johannesburg. Total Holdings USA, a subsidiary of Total S.A., is the parent company for the Total Group’s operational holdings in the US. Total Petrochemicals USA is headquartered in Houston.

Grzebinski named corporate treasurer at FMC Technologies

FMC Technologies, Inc. has appointed David W. Grzebinski to the position of treasurer. Previously, he had been director of industry relations and global SAP for FMCTI’s energy businesses since August 2003. William H. Schumann, III, senior vice president and CFO, had been serving as treasurer as well, but relinquishes this role to Grzebinski. Prior to being named head of industry relations and global SAP, Grzebinski served as director of corporate development and investor relations for FMCTI. He also managed the company’s pension funds. In 1998, he joined FMC Technologies’ former parent company, FMC Corporation, and served as director of capital markets and pensions. Before joining FMC, Grzebinski was with The Dow Chemical Company.

Rusty Braziel joins Bentek Energy as managing director

Bentek Energy, an intelligence consulting firm for the energy industry, has named E. Russell “Rusty” Braziel managing director. He is responsible for the development and marketing of Bentek’s information-based products and is based in Houston. Braziel started his career at Texaco, where he went on to head up that company’s energy marketing and trading division. In 1995 he joined The Williams Companies as vice president of business development, a position where he was instrumental in developing one of the first online energy trading platforms. In 1996 he negotiated a joint venture between Williams and Duke Energy to found Altra Energy Technologies, which provided tools for the online trading of energy products and software for managing energy transactions. Under his leadership as CEO of Altra, the company grew to become the second-largest independent software company in Houston before being sold to SunGard and ChemConnect in 2001. In recent years, he worked with Netrana, a consulting company, and Enron-owned EOTT, which eventually became Link Energy. Braziel holds BBA and MBA degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Tex. Bentek is headquartered in Golden, Colo.

Moredock to head IPAA’s membership expansion effort

The Independent Petroleum Association of America has appointed Greg Moredock, former director of government and regulatory affairs at Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation, as vice president of membership. IPAA is on a campaign to increase its membership and the political involvement of its supporters who work in the oil and gas industry, and Moredock will help spearhead this effort. He will be based in Houston, but also will spend time at IPAA headquarters in Washington, DC. For the past two years, Moredock has been in private practice as a government relations advisor to oil and natural gas companies that had issues before the Texas and Louisiana legislatures. Prior to starting his private practice, Moredock spent 18 years with Cabot. He has served in a variety of roles in various organizations intended to influence government policy at the state and federal level. He worked as an advisor on the National Petroleum Council’s landmark 1994 Marginal Well Study. Prior to his tenure with Cabot, he was a business analyst for OXOCO, Inc. and Keplinger and Associates, both located in Houston. Moredock has a BBA in finance from Texas A&M University in College Station.

GE taps Tobin as senior counsel for transactions

Briggs L. Tobin has been named GE’s senior counsel for transactions. He succeeds Pamela Daley, who became GE vice president for corporate development. As senior counsel, Tobin will lead all corporate legal work on mergers and acquisitions and other transactions, including negotiations, due diligence, and integration. He has been a counsel in GE’s corporate M&A group since 2001. Before joining GE’s corporate legal group, Tobin served as M&A counsel at GE Energy. He joined GE in 1999 from McKenna, Long & Aldridge in Atlanta, where he was a partner. Tobin is a graduate of Yale University and Emory University Law School. He will work out of GE’s offices in Fairfield, Conn.

The X-Change Corp. hires Thompson as VP and CFO, expands board of directors

Dallas-based The X-Change Corporation has named Scott R. Thompson as vice president and CFO. Thompson has 25 years of diverse business experience in accounting and management. He has a degree in accounting from the University of Denver and earned his Certified Public Accountant designation in 1985 with public accounting firm Ernst & Whinney. The company also has increased its board of directors from three to five with the addition of Thompson and William S. Botto, vice president of exploration and development. The X-Change Corporation was organized to seek merger or acquisition candidates.

Fields joins Petris management team

Bernard Fields has been appointed vice president of professional services at Houston-based Petris Services, a developer of vendor-neutral data management and exchange technologies. In this role, Fields is responsible for setting strategy and further developing the company services focused on energy companies. Over the past 25 years, he has managed and performed services ranging from management consulting to technology services for a variety of clients in industry and government. Prior to joining Petris, Fields was a management consultant for BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting). He holds an MBA from Rice University, a BSME from the University of Missouri - Rolla, and a BA in environmental studies from Webster College in St. Louis. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Founded in 1994, Petris provides IT-based solutions for energy clients by leveraging its expertise in data management, application hosting, and geospatial information systems (GIS).

Energy Solutions names Mefferd general counsel

Jonathan Mefferd has joined Energy Solutions International as general counsel. Most recently chief transactional counsel for Aspen Technology, Inc., Mefferd started his legal career with Womble & Spain in 1996. He moved to TransEnergy, a Houston-based software developer, as corporate counsel two years later, and to Severn Trent Systems, Inc., an electric utility software company, in 1999. He joined Aspen in 2000, where he was responsible for drafting and negotiating software license, implementation, alliance, partner, reseller, and joint venture agreements for the company’s Asia/Pacific and Latin America regions. Mefferd received his law degree from South Texas College of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas. Founded in 1976, Energy Solutions International is a Houston-based supplier of pipeline management technologies for the oil and gas industries. The company recently added three new vice presidents to its executive team. Mark Courtney and Jeff Fawcett are leading the company’s North American sales efforts, and Paul Turner has been named vice president of European sales, based in the United Kingdom.

Venoco chooses David Christofferson as CFO

Carpinteria, Calif.-based Venoco, Inc., has appointed David Christofferson CFO. He had been CFO for Marquez Energy LLC in Denver for the past two years. Prior to joining Marquez, Christofferson was general counsel and CFO of Esenjay Exploration, Inc. (formerly Frontier Natural Gas Corporation). He was responsible for the financial and legal affairs of private and public entities with an emphasis on capital formation, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and overall business development. He has BA and JD degrees from the University of Oklahoma and a M.Div. degree from Phillips University, Enid, Okla. Venoco operates three offshore platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, two onshore properties in Southern California, 125-plus natural gas wells in Northern California, and a field in North Texas with 80 wells.

Andrew Lane promoted to COO at Halliburton; Gibson leaves company

Houston-based Halliburton has named Andrew Lane COO and executive vice president. Dave Lesar remains as chairman, president, and CEO of the company. John Gibson has left his position as CEO of Halliburton’s Energy Services Group. Lane had been CEO for the company’s KBR business unit and was promoted to COO and executive vice president of the entire corporation.Lesar commented: “With the imminent conclusion of the KBR bankruptcy process, we will target our focus and energy on improving performance in both business units, and we will continue to weigh our portfolio decision regarding KBR. It’s time to shift day-to-day operations to a chief operating officer so I can focus on the long-term growth and advancement of the business.”He added, “Andy Lane is a proven leader who delivers extraordinary leadership skills to both the Energy Services Group and KBR. In each of his prior positions, Andy has improved operations, customer relationships, and all aspects of financial performance.”Halliburton will no longer have business unit CEOs, and the vice presidents of the ESG and KBR divisions will report to Lane.