ENERGY PLAYERS

Following his graduation from Duke University in 1981, McClendon started work as an accountant, but switched gears to pursue a career in the energy industry, starting as a landman at Jaytex Oil and Gas. He left Jaytex to start his own business, partnering with Tom L. Ward, with whom he later co-founded Chesapeake Energy Corp. McClendon relinquished his chairman title in June 2012, and stepped down as Chesapeake's CEO in April 2013. Soon after, he founded American Energy Partners LP. He was a founding member of America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) and an advocate for the greater use of natural gas in the United States. McClendon was known also for his community involvement, having made sizeable donations to and having served on the boards for various organizations and educational endeavors in the state of Oklahoma.

Opportune names new managing directors

Gary Pittman, Will Holden, and Scott Anchin have joined Opportune as managing directors in the firm's energy consulting practice. Pittman will be based in Houston. Holden and Anchin will be based in New York. Pittman specializes in restructuring and has broad financial and operational management skills in the oil and gas upstream, chemical, and manufacturing industries. He holds over 30 years of industry experience and served as CFO and executive vice president for an international land and shallow water geophysical service company for the last five years. Holden brings over 20 years of experience as a finance and operations restructuring professional. He began his career in investment banking and has since worked in debt capital markets, operations and consulting. His primary proficiency is navigating companies and lenders through both in-court and out-of-court financial and/or operational restructurings. Anchin specializes in providing restructuring advisory services to companies and stakeholders in distressed situations. He has over 19 years of leadership experience spanning a variety of industries. His primary areas of expertise include liquidity and working capital management, bankruptcy planning and strategy and development and implementation of strategic business plans.

Marathon makes leadership changes

Marathon Petroleum Corp. has made changes to its board of directors and management. Thomas J. Usher, the company's chairman, will retire following the company's shareholder meeting on April 27, 2016. Gary R. Heminger, the company's president and CEO, has been elected to succeed Usher as chairman in addition to his current duties. Usher joined United States Steel Corp. in 1965. He was elected president of US Steel and to the USX board of directors in 1991, named president and COO of USX in 1994, and elected chairman and CEO of USX in 1995. From 1986 to 2001, USX was the parent company of US Steel and Marathon Oil Co. Usher was the architect of the separation of Marathon Oil and US Steel at the end of 2001, and in 2011, coordinated MPC's spinoff from Marathon Oil Corp. He has been a member of the board of directors of MPC and its former affiliates since 1991 and has served as chairman for more than 10 years. Heminger joined Marathon in 1975. He was appointed president of Marathon Petroleum in 2001 and served as an executive vice president of Marathon Oil and as a member of Marathon Oil's executive committee. He was named to his current position on July 1, 2011. Heminger is also chairman of the board and CEO of MPLX GP LLC. The board has elected David A. Daberko to the new position of lead director. Daberko, who served as chairman and CEO of National City Corp. for 12 years, joined the MPC board in 2011. He also serves as an MPLX director. J. Michael Wilder, vice president, general counsel and secretary, retired from Marathon Petroleum, effective March 1. Suzanne Gagle, an assistant general counsel, assumed the role of vice president and general counsel, and Molly Benson, also an assistant general counsel, assumed the role of vice president, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer. Gagle began her career with MPC in 1992. She assumed her role as assistant general counsel with MPC's Law Litigation and Human Resources organization in 2011. Gagle graduated from the University of Toledo with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toledo. Benson began her career with MPC in 1998. She was appointed assistant general counsel for all corporate and finance activities in 2012. Benson earned a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toledo.

Drillinginfo names Hughes president, COO

Drillinginfo, a provider of asset and activity analytics, optimization tools and business intelligence to E&P stakeholders, has appointed Jeff Hughes as president and COO. Hughes joins Drillinginfo from NCR, where he ran its largest SaaS business unit and served as CTO for NCR Financial Services. He began his SaaS career in 1995, when he founded CompleteSynergy with a first-of-its-kind software application. Hughes holds a bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management from the University of Nebraska.

Walker, Yin join Jones Day in Beijing

Dirk Walker and Dina Yin have joined the Beijing office of Jones Day as partners in the firm's energy practice. Both Walker and Yin join from King & Wood Mallesons' Beijing office. Walker focuses on international business and energy transactions, including oil and gas, M&A, project finance, and project development. He has more than 20 years' experience assisting clients with transactions both in China and abroad. Yin's practice also focuses on the energy sector, particularly in oil and gas. She has substantial experience in international oil and gas transactions and operational matters, as well as infrastructure development, with a particular emphasis on emerging markets.

Seatronics names Stachan head of finance

Seatronics, an Acteon company, and part of its survey, monitoring and data business segment, has appointed Kevin Strachan as head of finance. Strachan holds a master's degree in accounting from Aberdeen University, and a chartered accountant designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. With more than 20 years of experience, he has held a number of managerial roles, including CFO at Chantry Networks in Toronto, Canada, and group financial controller for the Ferguson Group in the UK.

Sanchez Energy CFO to resign

Gleeson Van Riet, senior vice president and CFO of Sanchez Energy Corp., resigned his CFO post effective March 30, 2016, for personal reasons. To assist with the transition, Garrick "Rick" Hill was named interim co-CFO while the company searches for a permanent CFO. Van Riet joined Sanchez Energy in 2013, and "now wishes to return his focus to capital markets activities...an area in which he has worked for most of his career," said Tony Sanchez, III, the company's CEO. Hill has over 27 years of industry experience that encompasses energy finance, risk management, treasury, and investor relations activities, most recently as senior vice president, investor relations for Sanchez Production Partners LP and treasurer, assistant secretary, and vice president, risk management of Sanchez Production Partners GP LLC.

C&J Energy Services mourns passing of CEO

Josh Comstock, founder, CEO, and chairman of C&J Energy Services Ltd. died suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep on March 11, 2016. Comstock was a 30-year veteran of the oilfield services industry. Prior to founding C&J in Corpus Christi, TX, in 1997, Comstock worked in the pressure pumping services industry, as well as in the pipeline industry, serving in a variety of roles. Since its founding and under Comstock's leadership, C&J has grown to become one of the leading completion and production services companies in the oilfield services industry. Comstock led C&J in its 2015 merger with Nabors' completion & production services business, a transaction which more than doubled the size of C&J at that time.