Energy Players

Reservoir Group has appointed Wade McCutcheon as COO. McCutcheon previously served as vice president responsible for the group's formation evaluation activity. McCutcheon will oversee all operational matters, accelerating the group's organic growth and maximizing synergies between existing member companies. The group has also recently added Oklahoma firm Warren & Christian Inc. to its portfolio of member companies and and has plans to transition the company into Empirica, Reservoir Group's surface logging business. Empirica recently appointed Etienne Roux as its new managing director to help oversee the transition. Roux, who has more than 10 years of oil and gas experience, started his career with Schlumberger as an LWD field engineer. His most recent role involved the management of Weatherford Drilling Services formation evaluation, surface logging and drilling operations for the Europe, Caspian and Sub Saharan African regions. Warren & Christian has decades of experience in the US mudlogging sector, with a growing fleet of more than 40 wellsite trailers, gas detection equipment and industry standard logging software. The company will retain its existing personnel and management team, headed by company president, Jack Christian.

Murphy Oil promotes Stobaugh, Mireles

Murphy Oil Corp. has made executive promotions. Bill Stobaugh has been promoted to executive vice president, corporate planning & business development. Stobaugh joined Murphy Oil in May 1995 as vice president, corporate planning in El Dorado, Arkansas. He was promoted to senior vice president, corporate planning in May 2005. Stobaugh received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tom Mireles has been promoted to vice president, corporate planning & business development for Murphy Oil. Mireles joined Murphy Exploration & Production Co. in August 2005 as senior staff analyst in the Frontier E&P Department. In 2007 he was promoted to manager business development and became senior manager, business development in 2009. He was promoted to general manager, planning & analysis in June 2010. Mireles holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the London Business School.

PetroFrontier names Scott COO

PetroFrontier Corp. has appointed Earl Scott as COO of PetroFrontier and president of its two wholly-owned Australian subsidiaries, PetroFrontier (Australia) Pty. Ltd. and Texalta (Australia) Pty. Ltd. Scott brings over 25 years of experience in drilling, completions, production operations, project management and facilities. From 2010 until present, Scott was a consultant employed as vice president, operations for Red Rock Energy in Calgary, Alberta, and Kurdistan Project Manager for Western Zagros, also of Calgary, Alberta. Prior to 2010, Scott held various roles including vice president, engineering and operations with BG Canada Exploration Inc., and as a technical consultant to Exxon Mobil Canada. He has held a range of increasingly progressive technical leadership roles in Malaysia, France, Venezuela, Ecuador and Canada with companies such as Exxon, Schlumberger, AEC International and BG Group. He is a professional engineer and has a bachelor's degree from the University of Calgary. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Scott will be responsible for all operations of the two Australian subsidiaries.

Attorney Strawn joins Burleson as of counsel

James "Jim" Strawn, who has more than three decades of experience as an oil and gas attorney, has joined energy law firm Burleson LLP in the Pittsburgh location as Of Counsel. Although based in Pennsylvania, Strawn's practice is national and is focused on all areas relevant to the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. This includes mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, marketing and midstream services, drilling, access and leasing, royalty and division of interest issues, joint operations, and master service agreements. Strawn is experienced in the legal requirements impacting companies with interests in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. He has managed oil and gas litigation matters in a number of states, covering most basins in the US. He is qualified to testify as an expert on oil and gas joint ventures as well as operating and participating agreements. He has served as in-house counsel to several oil and gas companies, including Conoco Inc., Pennzoil, and Windsor Energy. His background also includes work with Devon Energy. Strawn earned his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University and his law degree from the University of Tulsa.

Eagleford Energy appoints Gaines to board

Eagleford Energy Inc. has appointed Alan D. Gaines to the board of directors. Gaines has approximately 30 years of experience as an energy investment and merchant banker. Gaines founded and served as CEO of Dune Energy from inception in May 2001 through May 2007. In May 2007, Dune Energy completed the acquisition of Goldking Energy Corp. for $327 million, raising total proceeds of $540 million in senior notes and convertible preferred stock, as well as refinancing existing indebtedness in conjunction with the acquisition. Gaines retained his title of chairman of the board. Eagleford Energy Inc. is a growth orientated oil and gas company with a focus on growing hydrocarbon reserves, cash flow, and net asset value per share through exploration and production of mineral properties in South Texas.

Baker elected managing partner at Baker Botts

Andrew M. Baker was elected to be the next managing partner of Baker Botts LLP, succeeding current managing partner Walter J. Smith. Baker joined the Houston office of Baker Botts in 1979, shortly after graduating from Cornell Law School. In 1985, he moved to Dallas to help open the firm's office there. He has practiced corporate law throughout his career and currently serves on the firm's executive committee. He will be based in Houston once he assumes the managing partner position in April. Baker's corporate practice includes counseling public and private companies on deal execution in connection with mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities and other finance transactions. He also represents companies, boards and audit committees in corporate and SEC investigations and counsels on corporate governance, crisis response, dispute resolution, strategic planning and communications.

Clark Hill forms national environment, energy, natural resources practice

Clark Hill PLC has formed a national Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) practice with the addition of three new attorneys in its Washington office. Robert Andersen, Kenneth von Schaumburg and John Sheehan have recently joined Clark Hill and each brings extensive government background as well as private sector experience to the EENR practice. Andersen will co-chair the firm's EENR team. He recently joined the group after 36 years of experience in the EENR field. Andersen is a former Chief Counsel of the US Army Corps of Engineers who also served in senior environmental positions at the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and with the National Science Foundation before returning to private practice in 2004. von Schaumburg, who will co-chair the EENR team, served as Deputy General Counsel to the US Environmental Protection Agency during the administration of George W. Bush. Sheehan served as a senior trial attorney and Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the US Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division. The firm's EENR practitioners in Chicago, Phoenix, Washington and throughout Michigan will expand services to clients in such emerging areas as climate change, carbon dioxide regulation, control of non-point source water pollution (including combined sewer overflows), the regulation of hydraulic fracturing, wetlands regulations and management, and the siting and permitting of renewable energy projects.

J-W Energy names Harris president of J-W Wireline

J-W Energy Co. has named Perry A. Harris to the position of president of J-W Wireline Co. Harris has over 30 years of senior management experience in the oil and gas industry. He holds a bachelor's degree from West Virginia University and has worked in various technology, sales and management roles at Halliburton since June 1981. J-W Wireline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of J-W Energy, headquartered in Addison, Texas. The company specializes in providing cased-hole logging services including perforating, logging, slickline, tubing conveyed perforating and pipe recovery services throughout the oil and natural gas producing regions of the United States. J-W Energy Company is an Energy Services and Energy Development Company comprised of six distinct business units that specializes in natural gas compression, gas measurement, gas gathering and processing, cased-hole wireline services, exploration & production and oilfield equipment manufacturing.

Bernie Wolford named senior VP at Noble

Noble Corp. has named Bernie G. Wolford to the position of senior vice president - operations. Wolford will report to David W. Williams, chairman, president and CEO. Wolford previously served as Noble's vice president - operational excellence. He initially joined Noble through the Transworld acquisition in 1991 and has held division manager positions in both the Middle East and Brazil divisions. He earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University and he has more than 30 years of energy industry experience. In his new role, Wolford succeeds D. E. "Don" Jacobsen, who will be heading a newly-created outreach program as Noble's senior vice president – industry and government affairs. Jacobsen, who currently serves on the senior advisory committee to US Secretary of the Interior Salazar, will advance Noble's relationship worldwide with trade associations, elected officials and third-party organizations with interests in the industry.

Fugro Robertson names Oliver president

Guy M. Oliver, PhD, has been named president of Fugro Robertson Inc. Based in Houston, Oliver's responsibilities include the overall management of company performance; technical marketing support of sales and business development; and the implementation of Quality, Health, Safety and Environment policies. He will guide the business development efforts of RoqSCAN, a tool for analyzing drilling cuttings at the wellsite. Oliver began his career with Fugro Robertson in 1997 as a sedimentologist, and has served as a director of the company since 2004. Oliver has 18 years of global experience in the oil and gas and geosciences sectors. He holds a master of science in Petroleum Reservoir Development Geology from the University of London, Imperial College; and a doctorate in high-resolution sequence stratigraphy from the University of Plymouth, UK. Fugro provides surveying, seismic, oceanographic, meteorological and positioning services.

Flow-Cal names new VP of software development

Houston-based Flow-Cal Inc., a provider of hydrocarbon measurement software, has promoted David Bushell to the position of vice president of software development. Bushell has gained over 15 years of gas measurement and software development experience. He holds a bachelor of science in computer science from Texas A&M University. He began his career with Software Performance as a developer of MIPS (Measurement Information Processing System) and subsequently worked his way up to become a principal in the company. Bushell joined Flow-Cal in 2006 as part of the SPI asset acquisition. His new role as vice president of software development will focus on streamlining all development throughout the organization.

Cabot Oil & Gas names new officers

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. has promoted Todd L. Liebl to the new position of vice president, land and business development, and appointed Deidre L. Shearer to corporate secretary and managing counsel, replacing Lisa A. Machesney, vice president, who is retiring. Liebl most recently served as director, land and business development, and has been with the company since 2008. Liebl originally joined Cabot as a regional land manager for the Gulf Coast area. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in Petroleum Land Management. Shearer recently joined Cabot from KBR Inc., where she served as assistant general counsel for the last five years and served in numerous legal and management positions with a corporate transactional and securities focus. Shearer earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1989 and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Texas Law School in 1992. Machesney is retiring after nearly 27 years at Cabot.

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