Copano mourns passing of chairman, CEO Eckel; Northcutt, Thacker fill roles

John R. Eckel, Jr., the chairman and CEO of Houston-based Copano Energy LLC has passed away at age 58. Eckel founded Copano Energy in 1992 and served as president and CEO until April 2003, when he became chairman of the board of directors and CEO. Under his leadership, Copano grew from a single 23-mile pipeline to a company with over 6,000 miles of pipeline and seven processing plants. It was the first midstream company to trade publicly as a limited liability company. Eckel also served on the board and on the executive committee of the Texas Pipeline Association, and as president and CEO of Live Oak Reserves Inc., a company he founded in 1986. He received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University. R. Bruce Northcutt, the company's president and COO since April 2003, has been named president and CEO and a member of the board. He holds a bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University. William L. Thacker joined Copano's board in November 2004 and now has been elected chairman. He is a member of the compensation and nominating and governance committees. Thacker joined Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. in 1992, was elected CEO in 1994, and took on the role of chairman in 1997 until his retirement in 2002. He holds a bachelor's degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Lamar University.

Dril-Quip mourns passing of director

Gary L. Stone, a Dril-Quip Inc. board member since June 2001, passed away on November 7, 2009 following an extended illness. Stone served on the company's audit committee and the compensation committee. From January 1997 until his retirement in May 2000, he served as a senior vice president/first vice president with Bank One Texas NA. Dril-Quip manufactures offshore drilling and production equipment.

Continental Resources promotes Hume to president, COO

Continental Resources Inc. has promoted Jeffrey B. Hume to president and COO. He has served as COO since October 2008. Prior to his promotion to COO, Hume served as senior vice president of operations. He joined Continental Resources in May 1983 as vice president of engineering and operations. Hume graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor's degree.

Raspino elected 2010 IADC chairman

Louis A. Raspino, president and CEO of Pride International Inc., has been elected 2010 chairman of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC.) He formerly served as vice chairman of IADC. His term will begin on January 1. IADC is dedicated to enhancing the interests of oil and gas and geothermal drilling contractors worldwide.

Flotek Industries makes board, executive changes

Flotek Industries Inc. has made changes to the board of directors and executive management. Kenneth T. Hern and John Reiland have been appointed to the company's board. Hern brings over three decades of oil and gas experience to the Flotek board. He retired from Texaco in 1994 after 25 years of service. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of Nova Biosource Fuels Inc. Reiland is currently CFO of SingerLewak, a leading accounting services firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Reiland was elected to serve as the chair of the company's audit committee. Kevin McMahon and Barry Stewart have resigned as members of the board. The timing of the resignations and subsequent put the company in technical default of continued NYSE listing requirements requiring a minimum of three independent directors to serve on the company's audit committee. The appointment of new directors and reconstitution of the audit committee has cured this default. The board has appointed Glenn Neslony to the position of vice president and treasurer. Neslony has been employed by Flotek for the past four years in the accounting group, most recently as director of SEC reporting. Scott Stanton resigned as executive vice president of accounting and reporting. Finally, Flotek has extended the contract of John Chisholm as interim president until the earlier of June 30, 2010 or until the 2010 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

American Natural Gas Alliance names Hopper president, CEO

America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) has named Regina Hopper president and CEO of the organization. The alliance was formed earlier this year by independent natural gas exploration and production companies. Hopper previously served eight years as executive vice president of the US Telecom Association. Hopper joined US Telecom after serving as executive vice president of the American Trucking Associations. Prior to joining ATA, Hopper served as senior vice president of litigation communications at Weber McGinn. She succeeds Rod Lowman, whose contract as president and CEO of ANGA has expired. He will continue in a consultative role for the industry.

Blott joins Caesar Systems as chief strategy officer

Ken Blott has joined Caesar Systems as chief strategy officer to lead the company in developing an expanded palette of strategy formulation, business planning, and decision making information capabilities. He joined Caesar from Shell, where his most recent positions were vice president of strategy and business planning for Shell Unconventional Resource Energy, and senior advisor to the Shell Unconventional Oil Group.

Energy trust Pengrowth names new chairman

Pengrowth Corp., administrator of Pengrowth Energy Trust, has appointed John B. Zaozirny, formerly vice chairman and lead independent director, as the new chairman of Pengrowth Corp. Zaozirny joined the corporation's board in 1988. He is vice chairman of Canaccord Capital Corp. He was Minister of Energy and Natural Resources for the Province of Alberta from 1982 to 1986. Pengrowth Energy Trust is the third largest Canadian conventional oil and gas energy trust as measured by production with a current enterprise value of roughly CDN$4.4 billion.

Former CFTC, SEC counsel joins Fulbright

Michael Loesch, former counsel to CTFC and SEC, has joined Fulbright & Jaworski LLP's energy and securities practices. He joins the Washington DC office of Fulbright after serving at the CFTC as chief of staff and COO for Acting Chairman Walter Lukken and later as counsel to Commissioner Lukken. Prior to joining the CFTC in 2007, Loesch spent seven years at the SEC, serving in the Division of Enforcement and ultimately as counsel to Chairman Christopher Cox for enforcement matters. Loesch received his JD from the University of San Diego School of Law and his bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University.

Flint Energy Services chairman to retire

John Geddes, chairman of the board of Flint Energy Services Ltd. will retire from the board at the end of this year. The board has appointed Stuart O'Connor as the new chairman of the board effective January 1, 2010. O'Connor has been a member of Flint's board since 1998 and is currently chairman of the company's audit committee. O'Connor is currently the president of Timber Ridge Capital Ltd., a holding and advisory firm. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Calgary and a bachelor of laws degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Geddes, who has been chairman of the board since the company's inception, was instrumental in forming Flint Energy Services in 1998 as a private company. Geddes has also been instrumental in the growth of Flint from a group of small regional energy services companies into services provider with over $2.3 billion in revenue in 2008.

DOE adds key staff members

The Department of Energy has appointed three key senior staff members to the Office of Fossil Energy – James F. Wood, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal; Christopher A. Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas; and Michelle Dallafior, Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary.

Petromin appoints Xu CFO

Petromin Resources has named Jinwei Julie Xu to the position of CFO. She recently served as a director of Hollingport Ventures Inc. Currently, Xu is responsible for the accounting department of Petromin. Petromin has operating oil and gas interests in Canada and participates in an enhanced coalbed methane pilot project in China. She also provides accounting and financial support to TerraWest Energy Corp. as part of the management services provided by Petromin to TWE. Xu is a graduate of East China Normal University where she received a bachelor's and a master's degree.

Jacobson, Wong join energy investment group at Raymond James

Karen Jacobson and Raymond Wong recently joined the Energy Investment Banking group at Raymond James & Associates Inc. Jacobson, a 30-year veteran of the oil and gas industry, joins as senior vice president, geosciences. Prior to joining the firm, she was a senior geophysicist at Opal Energy Inc., a director at Scotia Waterous, Inc. and a consultant for Team Invest Inc. She has a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University. Wong joins the firm as senior vice president, engineering. Previously, he spent more than three years as an associate director with Scotia Waterous and also held various engineering and commercial positions over 12 years with Chevron. He holds an MBA from Duke University and a bachelor's degree from The University of Texas at Austin.

Seadrill bids farewell to CFO, senior vice president

Trond Brandsrud, CFO and senior vice president of Seadrill Management AS is leaving the company to pursue other interests. He will, at the latest, resign at end of April 2010. He served at the company for three years.

Kodiak Energy, subsidiary appoint VP finance, CFO

Kodiak Energy Inc. and its majority controlled private subsidiary, Cougar Energy have appointed David Wilson as vice president, finance of Kodiak and CFO of Cougar. Wilson has over 20 years of professional accounting experience with various public and private oil and gas exploration companies, both domestically and internationally. Bill Brimacombe remains CFO of Kodiak and has stepped down as CFO of Cougar Energy.

Sheena joins Zion as vice president, finance

Ilan Sheena has joined Zion Oil & Gas Inc. as vice president of finance of the company's Caesarea branch. Sheena has a degree from Tel Aviv University. He has worked for KPMG Somekh Chaikin in Israel, Alcatel in Sydney, Australia, a high-tech start-up company in Israel, Bezeq International, and Verint Systems. He then joined a venture capital fund. Andrew Louis, Zion's current vice president of administration, has been appointed as Zion's company secretary and company treasurer.

Heerema Marine Contractors elects CEO

Jan Pieter Klaver has been appointed as the new CEO of Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC). He succeeds Jack Jacobs who fulfilled the CEO function on an interim basis. Pieter Kalver started his career with HMC at the projects department and worked thereafter in different positions in the Heerema Group. Since July, he has been COO of HMC. He will remain COO alongside his function as CEO.

CGX names new VP, business development

CGX Energy Inc. has appointed John Clarke as vice president, business development based in Toronto. Clarke has over 35 years international experience in the energy sector, including 18 years of exploration and production experience within the Texaco group of companies. He has founded and served as a director of a number of public and private energy companies including Candax Energy Inc. He spent over eight years as a vice president and senior oil and gas analyst with Deutsche Bank and Octagon Capital Corp.

Federal Coordinator for Alaska National Gas turns in resignation

Drue Pearce, Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Project, will step down from her position effective January 3, 2010. President Obama requested her resignation. Pearce graduated from Indiana University, holds a master's degree from Harvard University, and graduated from The Executive Program at the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business. She was elected to the Alaska State House in 1984 and to the State Senate in 1988. She served as Chairman of The Energy Council in 1993-94. On June 18, 2001, Senator Pearce resigned her Senate seat and was sworn into service as Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton's Senior Advisor for Alaska Affairs. On December 13, 2006, Pearce was sworn in as the first Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Cal Dive welcomes new CFO

Cal Dive International Inc. has appointed Bruce P. Koch as executive vice president, CFO, and treasurer. He replaces G. Kregg Lunsford who was recently named executive vice president – Eastern Hemisphere, based in Singapore. Koch brings more than 25 years of financial, accounting, tax, treasury, information technology and merger and acquisition experience. His work experience includes 19 years at Nabors Industries, most recently as CFO.

Fluor names Seaton to newly-created COO post

Fluor Corp. has elected David T. Seaton to the newly created position of COO. All five of the company's operating business groups will report to Seaton along with project operations, a unit formed earlier this year. Seaton joined Fluor in 1984. He most recently served as senior group president with responsibility for the company's Energy & Chemicals, Power, and Government groups as well as for Fluor's activities in China and the Middle East. Prior to that position, he served as group president, Energy & Chemicals. Seaton holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and has completed advanced management programs at the Wharton School of Business and Thunderbird University.

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