Energy Players

Craighead assumes Baker Hughes CEO role

On January 1, Martin Craighead assumed the role of Baker Hughes' president and CEO. The company's former CEO, Chad C. Deaton, remains chairman of the board of directors. The CEO succession plan was announced in April 2011.Craighead, whose tenure with the company dates back to 1986, most recently served as Baker Hughes' president and COO since 2010, its COO since 2009 and senior vice president from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, Craighead had various global and regional operational and management responsibilities for an array of the company's business units. He has worked in North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Craighead has a bachelor of science degree from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

Exterran Holdings, Exterran Partners make leadership changes

Exterran Holdings Inc. and Exterran Partners LP have made changes in leadership. D. Bradley Childers has been named president and CEO of Exterran and Mark Sotir has been appointed executive vice chairman of Exterran. Sotir also serves as a member of the Exterran Holdings board of directors. Additionally, the board has appointed William M. Austin executive vice president and CFO of Exterran Holdings, succeeding J. Michael Anderson, who continues as CFO of the managing general partner of Exterran Partners. Rob Rice has been appointed president, North America Operations, filling the position previously held by Childers. Sotir joined Exterran's board in November 2011. He is a managing director at Equity Group Investments LLC (EGI) and currently serves on several boards. During his tenure at EGI, he served as interim president of Tribune Interactive. He also has been CEO of Sunburst Technology Corp. Childers, who most recently served as interim CEO of Exterran, was senior vice president of Exterran Holdings since its formation in 2007 and president, North America Operations, since 2008. He joined Universal Compression Holdings Inc. in 2002 and served in a number of leadership roles including senior vice president and president of Universal's International Division prior to the merger with Hanover Compressor Co. to form Exterran Holdings. Austin most recently served as senior vice president and CFO of Valerus Compression Services. Rice was most recently vice president of Exterran's US Gulf Coast Region. Exterran Partners has appointed Childers chairman, president and CEO of the managing general partner of Exterran Partners. In addition, Rice has been appointed senior vice president of the managing general partner of Exterran Partners.

Murphy Oil makes executive promotions, elects new chairman

Murphy Oil Corp. has elected Claiborne P. Deming as chairman of the board of directors, effective May 1, 2012. Deming succeeds William C. Nolan, Jr. who is retiring as chairman but will remain on the board. Deming, a director since 1993, served the company as president and CEO from October 1, 1994 to December 31, 2008 and has chaired the executive committee of the board of directors since January 2009. He earned a bachelor's degree and a juris doctorate from Tulane University. He recently received the American Petroleum Institute 2011 Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement. On December 9, the company made executive promotions. Kevin Fitzgerald has been promoted to executive vice president and will continue to serve as the company's CFO. Fitzgerald joined the Murphy enterprise in 1982 and served in positions of increasing responsibility. He was promoted to senior vice president and CFO in 2007. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of New Orleans, and he is a Certified Public Accountant. John Eckart has been promoted to senior vice president and will continue to serve as the company's controller. Eckart joined Murphy in 1990. He was named controller in 2000 and was promoted to vice president and controller in 2007. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas and is a Certified Public Accountant.

DeepOcean Group names new CEO

DeepOcean Group Holding AS, an integrated provider of subsea engineering and trenching services, has appointed Bart H. Heijermans CEO, effective February 1, 2012. Heijermans is also a member of the board of DeepOcean Group. Heijermans has more than 20 years of global experience in subsea construction, oil and gas and deepwater operations. Most recently he was executive vice president and COO of Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. He has also held several senior positions with Enterprise Products Partners LP, El Paso Corp., and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

James MacLennan joins Noble as CFO

Noble Corp. has named James A. MacLennan senior vice president, CFO, and controller of the company effective January 9, 2012. MacLennan will be responsible for financial reporting, accounting, tax and treasury activities at the company. MacLennan previously served as CFO and corporate secretary of Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions, and as executive vice president and CFO of Lodgian Inc. MacLennan spent much of his early career in financial positions of increasing responsibility in the oil and gas industry, most notably with Exxon Corp. and later with Noble Corp. He received both graduate and post-graduate degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and he is a Chartered Accountant.

Darrell McKenna joins Kosmos Energy as COO

Darrell McKenna is the new COO of Kosmos Energy. In this role, McKenna is responsible for the company's global drilling, development, and production functions, as well as Kosmos' health, environment, and safety programs. Prior to joining Kosmos Energy, McKenna held the position of president of Hess Australia for Hess Corp. McKenna also served as vice president of multiple functions at Hess Corp., including Global Drilling and Completions, Exploration and Production Technology, as well as the Africa Business Unit. Before joining Hess, McKenna held multiple roles of increasing responsibility within the oil and gas industry, including 18 years with Mobil Oil Corp. McKenna received a bachelor of science degree from the Montana School of Mineral Science and Technology.

Superior Energy Services adds Kinnear as director

Superior Energy Services Inc. has appointed Peter D. Kinnear to serve as a director until the 2012 annual meeting of stockholders. Kinnear, who will serve as an independent director at Superior, held a variety of board and executive management roles at FMC Technologies Inc., including chairman of the board from October 2008 through October 2011, CEO from March 2007 through February 2011, president from March 2006 to April 2010, and COO from March 2006 to March 2007. He has also held numerous management, operations and marketing roles within FMC Technologies and FMC Corp. since 1971. Kinnear also serves on the board of directors of Stone Energy Corp., as well as on the boards of several non-public entities.

ONEOK, ONEOK Partners shuffle management, board

ONEOK Inc. and ONEOK Partners have made changes to management and the board of directors. Terry K. Spencer, previously COO of ONEOK Partners, has been promoted to president of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners. He remains a member of the ONEOK Partners board of directors. Pierce H. Norton II, formerly COO of ONEOK, has been promoted to executive vice president and COO of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners. Robert F. Martinovich has been named executive vice president, CFO, and treasurer of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners. He previously was senior vice president, CFO and treasurer of both entities. Martinovich will continue as a member of the ONEOK Partners board of directors. Spencer also assumes responsibility for the organization's support functions, including corporate planning and development, human resources, information technology, corporate services, and investor relations and public affairs. Steven J. Malcolm has been selected to represent the board of directors of both ONEOK Inc. and ONEOK Partners. With his election, the ONEOK board of directors now has 12 members, 11 of whom are independent. The ONEOK Partners board now has 11 members, eight of whom are independent. Malcolm retired as chairman, president and CEO of Tulsa-based Williams on Jan. 3, 2011. He was named chairman of Williams in May 2002, CEO in January 2002 and president and COO of Williams in September 2001.

Romanow vacates Nexen CEO post

Marvin Romanow, president and CEO of Nexen Inc., has left the company. Kevin Reinhart, executive vice president and CFO, has been appointed as interim president and CEO. He will serve in this capacity while the company conducts a search for a new CEO. Romanow was with the company for 13 years. Reinhart has been with the company for over 17 years.In addition, Nexen announced that Gary Nieuwenburg, executive vice president of Canada, has also left the company.

Rosa steps down from Transocean CFO post

Ricardo H. Rosa has stepped down as executive vice president and CFO of Transocean Ltd. Rosa was named senior vice president and CFO in May 2009, with an effective date of September 1, 2009. After a transition period, Rosa is expected to retire from Transocean effective April 30, 2012. Effective January 9, 2012, and until a permanent replacement is named, Gregory L. Cauthen will return to the company in the role of interim CFO. Cauthen served most recently as a consultant of the company from September 2009 through August 2010. Prior to retirement from Transocean in August 2009, Cauthen was CFO of the company from December 2001 to August 2009. He was also treasurer of the company from March 2001 until July 2003 and served as vice president, finance from March 2001 to December 2001. Cauthen holds a masters degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Don Rodney retires from Hercules Offshore

Don P. Rodney has retired from Hercules Offshore. Until his retirement December 31, 2011, he served as president of the Cayman Islands-based Hercules International Holdings Ltd. (HIHL). Assuming the role of president of HIHL will be Claus E. Feyling, who previously served as vice president, International Business Development. John T. Rynd, CEO and president, stated, "As one of the founding members of the Hercules Offshore management team, Don has played an instrumental role in the formation of the company and during our rapid expansion over the past seven years into one of the world's leading shallow water oilfield service providers. His tenure with the company is the culmination of a successful career spanning 42 years in the energy industry."

Flotek names Fisher executive vice president

Flotek Industries Inc. has named Marc K. "Kevin" Fisher executive vice president, global business development. Most recently, Fisher served as the general manager of Halliburton's Pinnacle division, an oilfield completion and consulting business. Prior to Halliburton's purchase of Pinnacle from Carbo Ceramics, Fisher served as president and CEO of Pinnacle Technologies and executive vice president of Carbo Ceramics. He holds three US patents and is the author of numerous professional monographs. He holds a bachelor's degree from Cameron University and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Executive Managers Program.

Foundation for Energy Education elects David Bole as chairman

The Foundation for Energy Education elected David L. Bole, managing director, Quantum Energy Partners, as chairman of the board. He succeeds Jim Beck, former president of Seneca Resources. Other newly elected members of the board from Houston are George A. Alcorn, Alcorn Exploration Inc., Galen Cobb, Halliburton, Dan O. Dinges, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., John Hofmeister, Citizens for Affordable Energy, and Townes G. Pressler, Pressler Petroleum Consultants Inc. The Foundation is a state-wide energy education program that includes both multi-media public education - using radio, print and television - and school education initiatives that are conducted in schools throughout Texas in collaboration with the Offshore Energy Center.

Gazprom relieves three from management positions

Three of Russian oil giant Gazprom's executives were relieved of their positions December 30, according to a release on the company's website. Alexander Ananenkov, Viktor Ilyushin, and Olga Pavlova, all listed as members of the management committee, were "relieved of their posts," the release said. The company made the following appointments: Vitaly Markelov was named deputy chairman of the management committee in charge of the production block, Vladimir Markov was appointed Head of the Department for Relations with the Russian Federation Authorities, and Elena Mikhailova was named Head of the Asset Management and Corporate Relations Department. The company also decided to dissolve the Strategic Development Department. A Prospective Development Department and a Project Operations Department will be set up instead. Markelov graduated from Kuibyshev Aviation Institute, majoring in Operation of Aircraft and Airborne Engines. Between 2003 and 2011 Markelov served as Director General of Gazprom transgaz Tomsk, and since November 2011 - Director General of Gazprom invest Vostok. Markov graduated from Ryazan Radio Engineering Institute, majoring in Industrial Electronics; Academy of Natural Sciences, majoring in Socio-Political Relations Theory; Moscow Academy of Economics and Law, majoring in Law. He holds a PhD in Law and a PhD in Economics. From 2007 and 2011 he served as a member of the Russian Federation State Duma, Member of the State Duma Committee for Energy. In February 2011 he was named Deputy Head of Gazprom's Department for Relations with the Russian Federation Authorities. Mikhailova graduated from Moscow State Industrial University, majoring in Law, and received an MBA degree from the Academy of National Economy under the Russian Federation President. Since December 2003 she has been Deputy Director General for Corporate Relations and Asset Management at Mezhregiongaz.

OGRE Systems appoints Hibbard as new CEO

OGRE Systems Inc., a provider of petroleum reserve and economic software, has named Greg Hibbard as CEO. OGRE Systems exclusively produces and manages the pyxis Suite of premier Petroleum Reserve Management Systems (PRMS) software. Hibbard previously served as vice president of international business development for NORSAR Innovation AS, based in Norway, where he sat on the board of directors. He holds a bachelors of science degree in physics and mathematics.