firms
Houston-based Deep Down is acquiring offshore industry syntactic foam flotation products and insulation materials provider Cuming. Total price for the acquisition including the assumption of certain liabilities is $50 million.
The newly relocated and enlarged WesternGeco Oslo Technology Center (WOTC) was officially opened in Norway last month, with Norwegian petroleum and energy minister Terje Riis-Johansen and Schlumberger chairman and CEO Andrew Gould officiating. The 400-person capacity collaborative environment facility's marine testing laboratory boasts a complete vessel instrument room, which can be configured to mimic the exact hardware onboard every WesternGeco seismic vessel in service. WOTC also includes an interactive operations center where a dedicated team of experts are available 24/7 to support the marine fleet worldwide.
RAPID RESPONSE: An exclusive cooperative services agreement between T&T Bisso and Cook Inlet Spill Prevention & Response (Cispri) was hailed as providing ‘a unique platform for OPA 90 related salvage, emergency lightering, firefighting and oil spill response services in Alaskan waters'. T&T Bisso, which last year deployed and permanently stationed emergency response resources in the area, is pictured here demonstrating a portable firefighting pump off the stern of Cispri vessel Perseverance, with a Cispri dedicated spill response barge alongside.
Welding group Serimax has been acquired by premium tubulars supplier Vallourec in a €150 million deal. The purchase will complement Vallourec's existing line pipe operations and means the two companies will be able to offer combined pipe manufacturing and welding services. Serimax will continue as an autonomous business unit within the Vallourec Group.
A $12.2 million expansion at Baker Hughes' Houston area drill bit manufacturing plant will boost production capacity to about 35,000 bits this year, roughly double the amount the facility produced in 2009, president and CEO Chad Deaton announced last month. The expansion, part of a previously announced manufacturing consolidation, is expected to add 130 jobs at the plant, which manufactures the Tricone line of bits. Baker Hughes will phase out its Tricone manufacturing plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Heerema Fabrication Group is transferring the business activities of its engineering services subsidiary HFG Engineering US (HFGE) to the Netherlands-based Iv-Groep. HFGE, which has offices in Houston and New Orleans, will strengthen the Iv-Groep's presence in the US, while Heerema Fabrication Group says the business transfer will enable it to focus on its core activities in northwest Europe. The acquisition will not affect ongoing projects or contracts, which will be transferred to the new company Iv-AGA.
RIO RESEARCH: In partnership with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ), ABS is establishing an Offshore Technology Center in Brazil. The facility will open its research account with a study on Petrobras' torpedo pile mooring anchor system; other research being considered includes: coupled motions, connections between risers and FPSOs and risk-based stability criteria for self-elevating drilling units. Pictured in Rio are ABS SVP technology Peter Tang-Jensen (left) and Prof Segen Estefen, COPPE/UFRJ director of technology and innovation.
Getting closer to its global customer base, Norway's Kongsberg Maritime is expanding its customer support offering for the Brazilian and Gulf of Mexico offshore and marine markets. The company's Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans bases will both be strengthened with new customer support staff to meet growing demands in their respective markets.
HOOK ON A HIGH: A safety hook designed to avoid the kind of pinch and trap injuries often associated with traditional ‘latch-lock' lifting hooks offshore landed the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' 2010 Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Achievement award for its Aberdeen-based developers. Bill Toon (centre), MD of Nautilus Rigging, and Jake Toon (left) are pictured with Al Woelfel, founder of the prestigious ASME award, at the presentation during Houston's OTC show last month.
Mooring and fluid transfer system specialist Sigma Offshore in Aberdeen has secured an additional £4 million in funding from National Oilwell Varco, Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Venture Fund and venture capital firm Energy Ventures.
Surveying and mapping company C&C Technologies has opened an office in Stonewall, Louisiana, with Josh McDaniel appointed as senior regulatory specialist.
Swagelok has acquired the shares of RHPS as part of its strategy to broaden the company's fluid system technology offering. Located in Nieuw-Vennep in the Netherlands, RHPS manufactures pressure regulator products.
Schlumberger has purchased GeothermEx, a Californiabased global provider of expert geothermal consulting services. The acquired team now operates as an integrated part of Schlumberger Geothermal Services.
Dutch aluminium construction specialist Bayards has opened a new office in Houston.
Plexus formally opened a new assembly and test facility at its Aberdeen operational headquarters. With 50t and 25t overhead cranes and a test pit, the new building was specifically designed to allow more efficient handling, assembly and testing of the company's Pos-Grip HP/HT wellhead systems.
Smith International closed the acquisition of the remaining 65% interest in Netherlandsbased At Balance from Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1 BV (OE March). Smith acquired a minority interest in At Balance in late 2007, increasing its stake to 35% during 2009.
Perforating and cased-hole logging technology provider Titan Specialties has acquired EBS, a privately held company in Wichita Falls, Texas, that manufactures select fire perforating switches.
Although Lowestoft, UK-based SLP Engineering went into administration last November, the new Apache Forties Alpha satellite platform FEED contract (see page 10) is with a subsidiary of SLP Production, which is not in administration. PriceWaterhouseCoopers continues to seek a buyer for SLP Engineering and says there have been a number of expressions of interest.
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Eivind Reiten, former CEO of Norsk Hydro, stepped up from director to chairman of the AGR Group last month, in succession to Hugo Maurstad.
Richard Cottee (pictured) has been appointed CEO of Nexus Energy, based in Melbourne, Australia. Michael Fowler has stepped down as executive chairman and assumes nonexecutive chairmanship. Cottee served as MD at Queensland Gas for six years until its acquisition by BG in 2008.
Knut Eriksen has been appointed VP subsea products at Oceaneering International. Most recently, he served as the Natco Group's SVP global execution.
Chris Mawtus (pictured) has been promoted to COO of Expro and takes responsibility for day-to-day global operations, reporting directly to CEO Graeme Coutts.
Roger Rees and Nigel Harvey have been appointed deputy chairman and director, respectively, of Australian contractor Clough following the resignation of John Cooper. Rees and Harvey both previously worked for South Africa-based stakeholder Murray & Roberts.
David Dunlap (pictured, left) has been selected as CEO of Superior Energy Services. He was previously EVP and COO at BJ Services. Terence Hall, who founded Superior Energy in 1989 and has since served as its chairman and CEO, assumes the role of executive chairman. Kenneth Blanchard remains president and COO until the end of the year when he will transition to the position of senior advisor. Tom Rosegrant (pictured, right) has been named VP of Superior Energy's Well Services division. A 40-year industry veteran, Rosegrant was with Exxon for 24 years before joining Superior in 1996 and serving as operations manager and VP operations.
Tony McKay (pictured), a former project director with Petrofac, has joined Aberdeen-based subsea intervention specialist Marine Subsea (UK) as marine projects manager.
Mats Linden (pictured) has been named managing director, global business operations, for KBR subsidiary GVA Consultants. Linden will be based in the GVA headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.
David Malone has been named CTO of Shoaibi Group, headquartered in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Malone spent 25 years with the Schlumberger group, serving as VP research and product development for WesternGeco and Camco.
Thyl Kint (pictured) has been named as global director, floating systems and Asia Pacific field developments for Peritus International, working out of the company's Perth, Western Australia, office. Kint previously served with Shell, BP, BHP, Kerr McGee and BW Offshore.
Dick Martin has been appointed Subsea 7's VP business development for the AsiaPacific region, based in Perth. Stuart Cameron becomes Asia Pacific commercial director, based in Kuala Lumpur.
Mike Bowyer (pictured) has joined Aberdeen headquartered Senergy as its first COO. A 35-year oil industry veteran, Bowyer's previous posts included UK country VP for Halliburton, MD of ‘smart well' completion system pioneer PES International and GM well services at Baker Hughes.
Bryant Morris (pictured, left) has been named Gulf Coast region GM for Acteon's project management business unit, InterAct. Morris has more than 30 years' experience in drilling, completion and production operations and management as both an operator and a consultant. He joins another recent InterAct recruit, regional business development manager Megan Hayes (pictured, right), at the company's Houston office.
Gary Yu has been promoted by Geotrace from chief geophysicist, reservoir technologies to the company's first-ever CTO. Yu previously worked with CGG, Exxon Production & Research, Superior Oil, Elf Exploration and Total E&P.
Kirk Barwick (pictured) will serve as director of Angola operations for Paragon Angola Engenharia e Serviços, the Amec/Prodoil Exploração e Produção de Hidrocarbonetos joint venture.
Neil Gibbins has been appointed COO at Beach effective 1 July. He will head the E&P team, with Steve Masters taking over as chief commercial officer and Gordon Moseby as general manager. Current CEO Hector Gordon continues as an executive director of Beach while also acting as managing director of Somerton Energy (formerly Essential Petroleum Resources).
Craig Arnold (pictured) became general manager of Dow Oil & Gas on 1 June and has relocated to the Dow Chemical business unit's Houston headquarters. Previously with Dow in South Africa and Switzerland, he succeeds Janet Giesselman who will retire at the end of the year.
Graeme Rogerson (pictured) has been appointed subsea director for Europe by the Aberdeenheadquartered Xodus Group.
GL Noble Denton's Henry H Rachford Jr and Richard Carter received the Pipeline Simulation Interest Group's first-ever Technology Advancement award for their ‘outstanding work in the field of pipeline optimisation under transient conditions'. The award was presented during PSIG's recent annual meeting in Bonita Springs, Florida.
C Andrew Smith has been named VP and CFO of Global Industries. He joins Global after a decade at Natco Group, where he most recently served as SVP and CFO.
Kris Volpenhein (pictured) has been promoted to Asia technical sales manager at Samson effective 1 September. Previously in the R&D;department, Volpenhein will focus on the region's offshore and commercial marine markets.
Jose Octavio has been named as general manager of AETI Alliance Group Brazil, the newly formed alliance between American Electric Technologies and Macae-based Five Star Services.
Perry Elders has been elected CFO of J Ray McDermott. He previously served as VP finance at Vetco International and EVP and CFO of the Bristow Group.
Shawn Ellis (pictured, left) has been promoted to Gulf of Mexico director at Greene's Energy Group. Tom Sawyer (pictured, right) was recently appointed the group's VP international business.
Dr James Coogan has been appointed exploration manager for Petro Matad, parent company of a group focused on oil exploration, development and production in Mongolia.
Richard Duff (pictured) has taken on the role of global HSE manager at Production Services Network (PSN), taking over from Pat Bonner. Duff previously managed PSN business units in Sub-Sahara Africa and North Africa.
Stefano Bertilone, Michele Francioni and Massimo Volta have been appointed marine division regional managers for Europe, Asia and the Americas, respectively, by Genoa-based classification society Rina.
Steve Chew (pictured) has been named Southeast Asia region business development manager for InterMoor, based in Singapore. He was previously marketing manager for Toll Offshore Petroleum Services.
Steve Williamson (pictured) has been appointed CFO at UTEC Survey. He was previously VP finance at Helix Energy Solutions.
Carlos Albano has been appointed Latin America area manager by SMT and will head up the geoscientific interpretation software provider's newly opened sales and support office in Rio de Janeiro.
James Moffett will pick up the additional roles of president and CEO at MMR following the retirement of Glenn Kleinert, president and CEO since 2004. Moffett and Richard Adkerson will continue as co-chairmen of the MMR board.
Chris Hand has been promoted from VP commercial to COO of UAE-based offshore engineering and construction services provider Lamprell. Peter Whitbread, a Lamprell director and former CEO, retires this month.
Terry Teo (pictured) has been hired as Asia Pacific sales and marketing director for PAS Technologies, based in Singapore. He reports to Thomas Tan, SVP for PAS Technologies and MD of Asian Surface Technologies.
Esa Ikäheimonen has been appointed CFO and SVP of Seadrill Management. Ikäheimonen, an EVP and CFO of Finland-headquartered consulting and engineering company Pöyry, was previously with Royal Dutch Shell for almost 20 years.
Clayton George is the new technical division manager for Superior Energy Services' HB Rentals business. David Spurgin (pictured), previously with Sodexo Remote Sites in Australia, has been named as HB Rentals' global HSEQ director.
Peter Robertson (pictured) has joined the roster of energy professionals at the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions. The 35-year Chevron veteran will serve as an independent senior advisor to Deloitte's oil & gas group.
Carl Garrison has been appointed VP, IHS Canada. Garrison was named VP, strategic marketing for the Americas region at IHS in May 2008 after holding several key leadership roles within the organization.
Rik Dawson has joined produced water treatment specialist Opus as business development manager.
Kristian Lier (pictured, left) and Shantanu Agarwal (pictured, right) have joined the Energy Ventures management teams in Houston and Aberdeen respectively. Lier previously headed the DnB NOR Markets Corporate Finance group while Agarwal served with Schlumberger as business development manager, engineer in charge (well construction services), offshore and lead engineer.
Chris Rosson (pictured) has been named business development manager at Knight Oil Tools. Pat Clark steps up from inventory control manager to business manager.
Liz Foubister has been named as alternative energy director and Eric Doyle as alternative energy manager at Xodus.
John Jungman (pictured) has joined Solomon Associates as a senior consultant and will focus on the company's worldwide liquid pipeline study and worldwide liquid terminals study. He was previously EVP of Westway Terminal, where he led operations and engineering.
Antony DSouza was named as DNV's regional manager for Middle East & Indian Subcontinent.
Henrik Uhd Christensen has been appointed CEO of Viking Life Saving Equipment following the retirement of Kjeld Amann.
Stephen Butz has been appointed CFO at Hercules Offshore. Butz, who most recently served as the company's VP finance and treasurer, replaces Lisa Rodriguez, who has resigned as SVP and CFO but remains with Hercules Offshore as VP human resources.
John Bush was appointed manager, strategic business development, at RigNet.
Alf Hesthag heads Bergen Oilfield Services' newly established office in Oman, overseeing the Norwegian company's offshore seismic acquisition business.
Lisa Mitchell (pictured) has been appointed commercial director of lifting, tooling and marine services provider Cosalt Offshore.
Amber Glass has been appointed sales manager for the new Houston office of OilCareers. com.
Paul McAlister has been appointed business development director of waste management specialist Sureclean. Other recent appointments include Lachlan Mackay as health and safety manager, Bill MacDonald as HR manager and Richard McDonald as business development manager, North Africa.
Bill Donaldson has joined Quest Offshore Resources as Scotland/North England manager. OE