ENERGY PLAYERS

Andrew N. Schock has joined Jackson Kelly PLLC as an associate in the Land and Natural Resource Development Practice Group in the Akron, Ohio, office. He focuses his practice in the areas of oil and gas and real estate. Schock handles title examinations and the preparation of certified oil and gas title opinions. He is also experienced in matters involving mineral transactions and acquisitions, including the coordination and performance of due diligence and title defect curative work. Prior to joining the firm, Schock served as a landman for an energy consulting group. Schock graduated from The University of Akron School of Law, where he received CALI Awards for Excellence in Constitutional Law and Securities Regulation. He holds a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University. He is admitted to practice in Ohio.

Atlantic Offshore Rescue names UK managing director

Standby vessel operator Atlantic Offshore Rescue has appointed a new managing director for its UK division to lead the organization from its Aberdeen base. Matthew Gordon joined the company at the beginning of 2015, replacing John Bryce, who is retiring. Bryce will continue to be involved in Atlantic Offshore Rescue in a consultancy capacity. Gordon's previous roles include a general manager position within Viking Seatech and an eight year employment span with Subsea 7. Atlantic Offshore Rescue is part of the Atlantic Offshore Group, which is headquartered in Norway. Atlantic Offshore Rescue provides multi-role offshore and emergency rescue and response vessels for many of the oil majors operating in the North Sea.

Rex Energy names new CFO

Rex Energy Corp. has appointed Thomas Rajan as CFO. Rajan brings almost 30 years of business and finance experience to his role at Rex Energy, with 20 years in oil and gas finance, credit, and capital markets roles. Most recently, Rajan served as the managing partner of High View Energy LLC. He was previously managing director of KeyBanc Capital Markets in Dallas, where he spent eight years in investment and corporate banking roles, ultimately leading the oil and gas investment banking and corporate banking practices. While at KeyBanc, Rajan assisted Rex Energy through the company's IPO and subsequent equity raising transactions, and he has advised Rex's management on a number of strategic acquisition and divestiture projects since 2006.

Legacy Reserves details CEO transition

As part of a previously announced change in leadership, Cary D. Brown, chairman, president and CEO of the general partner of Legacy Reserves LP, has submitted his resignation as president and CEO effective March 1, 2015. As anticipated, the board of directors of Legacy's general partner has appointed Paul T. Horne, currently Legacy's executive vice president and COO, as the new president and CEO upon Brown's resignation. Brown will continue to serve as Legacy's chairman of the board. He has served as CEO of Legacy's general partner and as a member of its board of directors since Legacy's formation. Horne is a founding member of Legacy's executive management team, and was added to the board of directors of Legacy's general partner in December 2014. He has managed operations at Legacy and its predecessor companies since 2000. Previously, he worked for Mobil E&P US Inc. in a variety of petroleum engineering and operations management roles, primarily in the Permian Basin.

Intellectual property litigator Joins King & Spalding

John H. Barr, Jr., a commercial litigator who focuses on intellectual property, energy, and business litigation, has joined King & Spalding as a partner in the firm's intellectual property practice in Houston. Barr joins King & Spalding from Bracewell & Giuliani, where he was a partner and co-head of the intellectual property litigation practice. Barr's IP litigation experience includes patent infringement, Abbreviated New Drug Application litigation, trade secret and trademark infringement cases. In addition, he represents energy clients in environmental matters such as claims related to oil and gas development, particularly hydraulic fracturing, and, for the past two decades, has represented clients in a variety of disputes including breach of contract, fraud and tort claims in state and federal courts. Barr also handles international arbitrations in the United States and internationally, and has briefed and argued appeals in a number of state and federal courts. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of the South and his JD from Texas Tech University School of Law.

Ourada succeeds Foehr at Chevron

Chevron Corp. has named Jeanette L. Ourada as corporate vice president and comptroller effective April 1. Ourada succeeds Matthew J. Foehr, who will retire from the company March 31 after 33 years of service. In her new role Ourada will lead corporate-wide accounting, financial reporting and analysis, and internal controls. Additionally she will oversee Finance Shared Services, the organization she has led since July 2013. Since joining Chevron as part of the Unocal acquisition in 2005, Ourada has held a series of leadership roles within the finance organization. Before assuming her current role as the general manager of Finance Shared Services, Ourada served as assistant treasurer, operating company support and intercompany financing. From 2009 to 2012 she was general manager of investor relations. Foehr joined Chevron in 1982. Since that time, he advanced through a number of finance positions of increasing responsibility in corporate finance as well as in Chevron's operating lines of business. In 2007, he assumed the top financial role in Chevron's Global Upstream and Gas business. He was named to his current position in 2010.

MEO Australia names managing director

MEO Australia Limited has appointed its CEO, Peter Stickland, to the company board, assuming the role of managing director and CEO. Stickland has over 20 years of global experience in oil and gas exploration. He was CEO of Tap Oil Ltd. from 2008 until late 2010. Prior to joining Tap Oil, he served in various technical and management roles at BHP Billiton.

IEA names next executive director

The Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed the appointment of Dr. Fatih Birol as the next executive director of the agency. He will succeed Maria van der Hoeven, who will complete her four-year term on August 31, 2015. Renowned in the energy field, Dr. Birol joined the IEA in 1995 and has risen to hold the positions of Chief Economist and Director of Global Energy Economics. In this role, he oversees the IEA's flagship World Energy Outlook publication. He is also the founder and chair of the IEA Energy Business Council, which provides a forum to enhance co-operation between the energy industry and energy policy makers. Earlier in his career, Dr. Birol served in the Secretariat of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna and has been a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All. A Turkish citizen, Dr. Fatih Birol was born in Ankara in 1958. He earned a BSc degree in power engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul. He received his MSc and PhD in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna.

DLL formalizes executive board

DLL, a global provider of asset based financing solutions, has formalized an executive board. After the appointment of CEO Bill Stephenson in June 2014, Rob van Zadelhoff has been appointed as chief commercial officer and Carlo van Kemenade will take up the role of COO. Although Rob van Zadelhoff joined DLL in 2014 as chief commercial officer, the regulatory authorities (DNB) have now officially approved Van Zadelhoff's appointment. As CCO he will lead DLL's commercial strategy across 36 countries around the globe and will be based at the Eindhoven Headquarters. Van Zadelhoff, law graduate, has served in a number of international key senior positions within Rabobank since 1991. Most recently he was Chief Commercial Officer West in the Management Team Rural & Retail of Rabobank International, responsible for its activities in North and South America. Carlo van Kemenade, who has been with the company for 25 years and has served as a member of the executive board since March 2013, was most recently responsible for DLL's activities in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. He holds an MBA from Nyenrode Business University. Frans Overdijk will continue his role as chief financial and risk officer and will continue to serve as a member of the executive board.

Coastal Flow names Payne VP, digital ops

The Coastal Flow Measurement family of companies has appointed Jayson Payne as vice president of digital operations. Payne has been with Coastal Flow for 16 years. Most recently, as iMeasurement manager, he spearheaded the integration of all company measurement functions, while also directing field technicians and internal IT operations, and has also been instrumental in the development of the BirdDog Information Systems division. In his new role, Payne will be responsible for coordinating the companywide deployment and use of all digital information systems, while continuing to lead IT and field services and remaining involved with BirdDog Information Systems.

UK Oil & Gas appoints new CEO

UK Oil & Gas Plc has named Stephen Sanderson as CEO. The role is a non-board position. Sanderson is a petroleum geologist with over 30 years global upstream energy sector experience. He has been directly involved in numerous commercial conventional hydrocarbon discoveries, including the giant Norwegian Smørbukk-Midgard field complex for ARCO (now BP). In a variety of senior management roles he has operated exploration and new venture programs for ARCO, the large independent Wintershall AG and three junior start-ups. His subsurface and operated management experience encompasses Africa, North Sea/Norway, Europe, S. America and the Middle East. He has also led and managed the appraisal of several UKCS oil and gas fields for ARCO (now BP) in the UKCS, Netherlands and Algeria. Via his recent management roles in Delta Hydrocarbons, ASP and as an independent consultant, he has been involved in the evaluation and acquisition or divestment of many upstream producing, appraisal and exploration portfolios containing over 170 fields. Sanderson is a graduate and associate of the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London.

SandRidge appoints Turk EVP, COO

SandRidge Energy Inc. has appointed Steve Turk to the role of executive vice president and COO, effective March 2. Turk comes to SandRidge with more than 30 years of experience in the exploration and production industry, at both private and publicly held companies, including having most recently served as COO at HighMount Exploration & Production LLC. Previously in his career, Turk was vice president of operations for the Southern Division of Chesapeake Energy. He also held various operations and management positions for Equitable Production Co., Ziff Energy Group, and Cabot Oil and Gas. He holds a bachelor's degree in geology from Edinboro University, a bachelor's degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.

Oceaneering names new president, COO

Oceaneering International Inc. has appointed Roderick A. Larson as president and COO. Larson has been with Oceaneering since May 2012, serving as senior vice president and COO with worldwide responsibility for all of Oceaneering's oilfield business operations. Previously, Larson was with Baker Hughes Inc. for more than 20 years.