Energy Players

Terence Jupp was named vice president of international exploration and production. He has 24 years of experience at Kerr-McGee, including vice president and managing director of Kerr-McGee’s former UK operations, vice president of Kerr-McGee’s US onshore operations, director of development for the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) deepwater region, and development director of the Arman field in Kazakhstan. Jupp received a BS degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University.

Frank Patterson was promoted to vice president of exploration and technology. Patterson served most recently as vice president of GoM exploration. He received a BS degree in geology from the University of Oklahoma.

Greg Jewell has been named director of GoM exploration. Jewell has 22 years of experience with the company. He served most recently as director of geology for the worldwide business development group. Jewell earned BS and MS degrees in geology from West Virginia University.

Cano Petroleum names CFO, VP, and directors

Cano Petroleum Inc. has named Morris B. “Sam” Smith, Cano’s previous audit committee chairman, as the company’s new senior vice president and CFO. Mike Ricketts, the company’s former CFO, will remain with the company as vice president and principal accounting officer. Pat McKinney has been named vice president - business development. Additionally, Patrick W. Tolbert and Dennis McCuistion were elected to the company’s board of directors. Tolbert becomes chairman of the audit committee.

Most recently, Smith was the interim CFO for Stroud Oil Properties, a privately-held E&P company and was a financial consultant for RBI International Ltd. He received his bachelor’s degree from McMurry University and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program and International Studies - Harvard School of Business.

Pat McKinney was most recently the worldwide strategic portfolio manager for Pioneer Natural Resources. He received his BS in petroleum engineering from University of Wyoming and his MBA from Pepperdine University.

Van Doren tapped CFO at Riata Energy

Dirk M. Van Doren has joined Riata Energy Inc. as CFO. He most recently served as vice president of High Yield Research at Goldman Sachs and prior to that was a managing director of equity research at Bear Stearns. This comes as the company announces the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Amarillo, Tex. to Oklahoma City. The company expects to complete the relocation by late August.

Former Remington senior VP joins Sonoran Energy team

Sonoran Energy Inc. has appointed Frank T. Smith, Jr. to the position of executive vice president and CFO. Smith has more than 30 years of professional and commercial banking experience in the industry. Most recently he held the position of senior vice president finance at Remington Oil and Gas Corp. Before joining Remington Oil and Gas, Smith was executive vice president and manager of energy lending with the Bank of Texas. He earned BS and MEd degrees from the University of Delaware and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Smith replaces John Hodgson who has served as interim CFO since January.

Blocker retires as COO, executive VP of Pride

John R. Blocker Jr., Pride International’s executive vice president and COO, has retired from the company and resigned. He will remain an employee pending the completion of Pride’s previously disclosed investigation to assist Pride with the investigation and other matters. The former duties of the COO have been reorganized among the company’s vice president - eastern hemisphere operations, vice president - western hemisphere operations, and vice president - engineering and technical support, all of whom will report directly to Louis A. Raspino, president and CEO.

Even Gjesdal promoted to CFO at Roxar

Roxar AS has appointed Even Gjesdal as the company’s new CFO. Even brings more than 12 years of corporate finance and auditing experience to his new role. He has been an employee of Roxar for three years - initially as group controller and since January 2006 as acting CFO. Prior to joining Roxar, he was CFO of Bjørge ASA. He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Gjesdal holds a bachelor’s degree from the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo.

Bill Murray accepts position of president at Sovereign Oil & Gas

Sovereign Oil & Gas Co. II LLC has added CW “Bill” Murray Jr. to the position of president. He has over 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas business both onshore and offshore. Murray most recently served as the executive vice president/general manager for CNOOC SES Ltd. Preceding this position, he was the president/general manager for Repsol YPF Southeast Asia for 6 years. He is a graduate of the Naval Flight School and University of West Florida with a MS degree and also has a BS degree from The US Naval Academy. Sovereign is a privately-held Texas corporation with its headquarters located in Houston.

RigNet builds management team

RigNet Inc. had made management appointments. Lars Eliassen was promoted to vice president Americas. He has served in marketing and operations management positions since he joined RigNet in 2002. Before that he was the director of marketing for production access and general manager of ADB Systems.

Alan Frost joins as vice president of central operations. He has over 30 years’ experience and joins from YR20 where he was co-founder and executive vice president. Before that he worked with Diverse Networks, CapRock, and Schlumberger.

Curtis McGee joins as vice president of business development. He comes with 26 years’ experience with companies such as Amoco, Baker Hughes, and Impact Selector. He has held various positions around the world.

ExxonMobil’s McGill elected to USCIB

Stuart R. McGill, senior vice president with Exxon Mobil Corp., was elected vice chairman of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), a leading pro-trade group based in New York City. Dr. McGill holds a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering from Sydney University. In 1994 he became executive vice president (and later president) of Exxon Co. International. Subsequent to the ExxonMobil merger, he was appointed president of ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing Co. and was appointed president of ExxonMobil Production Co. in July 2003. In October 2004, McGill was named senior vice president for the corporation.

Cuenod promoted to senior VP Wells Fargo energy group

E. Marc Cuenod has more than 20 years’ experience in banking and energy finance. Before assuming the role of senior vice president of the Wells Fargo Energy Group-Houston Energy Division, he served as a senior relationship manager in the Houston Energy group of Wells Fargo. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Cuenod served as assistant treasurer of corporate finance with Ocean Energy Inc. He holds a MBA and BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Gross joins Westside Energy, adds Barnett shale expertise

Houston-based Westside Energy Corp. has hired Brian Gross as its operations manager. Gross began his career with Western Atlas Logging Services after graduating from Texas Tech University with a BS degree in petroleum engineering. Most recently, Gross was responsible for completion and stimulation design for Barnett Shale wells drilled in Hill, Johnson, Denton, Parker, and Wise counties by Chief Oil & Gas LLC.

Double Eagle Petroleum makes Lonnie Brock CFO

Double Eagle Petroleum Co., an independent Rocky Mountain oil and natural gas producer, has appointed Lonnie R. Brock to the position of CFO. Between 1995 and 2006, Brock operated his own business, The Nature Workshops. From 1994 to 1995, he was senior vice president of acquisitions and finance, and a member of the board of directors with Gerrity Oil and Gas Co. banks. He graduated with a bachelor of science in accounting from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill.

Former ExxonMobil engineer to lead operations at Nova

Nova Energy Holding Inc. has named Russell D. Sammons as vice president of operations for the alternative fuel company. Sammons served ExxonMobil for more than 11 years prior to accepting the new post. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He began his career with Exxon in 1995.

Marathon promotes Estill to VP-strategic planning and portfolio management

Marathon Oil Co. has appointed Robert E. Estill to vice president, strategic planning and portfolio management. Estill will be located in Marathon’s headquarters in Houston and report to David E. Roberts Jr., Marathon senior vice president of business development.

Estill, who currently serves as leader of Marathon’s Europe Business Unit, graduated from the University of Missouri-Rolla with a BS degree in petroleum engineering and later earned a MBA degree. He joined Getty Oil Co. in Velma, Okla., in 1983 as a petroleum engineer and held several positions of increasing responsibility at Texaco thereafter. Estill joined Marathon in 2001.

Huff named CFO of Aurora Oil & Gas

Ronald E. Huff will take over the duties of CFO of Aurora Oil & Gas Corp. From October 2005 to present, he has served on the company’s board of directors and, until recently, as chairman of the audit committee. He has served as CFO and vice president of finance for Visual Edge Technology Inc.; the managing director of a small private equity firm; CFO of North Coast Energy Co.; and president and CFO of Belden & Blake Corp. Huff spent his early career in Houston working in various positions with Transco Inc., Sonat Inc., and Zilkha Petroleum.

Privately-held Leor Energy appoints management

Leor Energy LP has acquired three executives with experience in the development of the Deep Bossier trend.

Kenton Holliday, Leor Energy’s executive vice president of land and acquisitions, has more than 29 years of entrepreneurial oil and gas experience. He joined Leor in March 2006 from EnCana Oil & Gas Inc.

Carlos Roa, who joined Leor Energy as vice president of exploration in May 2006, most recently held the position of senior geological advisor on the unconventional resources exploration team of Burlington Resources Inc. He has more than 25 years of industry experience.

David M. Tubbs, who joined Leor Energy as vice president of operations in May 2006, came to the company from Burlington Resources Inc. Tubbs has more than 26 years of engineering experience. He has held senior positions with Louisiana Land and Exploration, British Petroleum, and Sohio Petroleum.

Leor Energy LP is engaged in the acquisition, development, exploitation, and marketing of oil and gas properties.

Lester plans exit from Mariner Energy

Rick G. Lester, vice president and CFO, has advised Mariner Energy Inc. that he plans to leave the company in the near future to pursue personal interests. He may continue after August on a consulting basis in order to facilitate a smooth transition. Mariner has commenced a search for his successor. Lester joined the company in October 2004.

American Oil & Gas appoints Feiten CFO

American Oil & Gas Inc. has appointed Joseph B. Feiten as its CFO. He served as CFO for publicly-traded Tipperary Corp. from June 2002 until its acquisition by Santos Ltd. in October 2005. Feiten joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1974 and served for 18 years as a director in its energy and mining program. As part of his compensation structure, American granted Feiten options to purchase 250,000 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $4.95 per share, which was the closing price of its common stock on the first day of employment.