FIRMS
Subsea 7 has entered a global technology partnership agreement with CRC-Evans Pipeline International. Under the agreement CRC-Evans' automatic welding, coating and testing technologies will be installed at the Subsea 7 pipeline fabrication spoolbases in Angola, Brazil, Norway and the UK. CRCEvans will also work with Subsea 7's Houston-based J-lay team to develop and enhance the Seven Seas' current J-lay and double jointing capability. The companies will also collaborate on projects and technologies aimed at ultradeepwater developments in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil.
Aberdeen-headquartered Xodus Group is launching a new value, decision and risk management service to the oil, gas and renewable energy sectors. Graeme Birkhead (right), pictured with Xodus' director technical safety and risk Colin McWhirr, joins the energy consultancy from Aker Solutions to head up this new service.
Dana Petroleum completed its acquisition of Petro-Canada Netherlands on 9 August following the unanimous approval of shareholders at Dana's AGM.
Halliburton, having signed a strategic partnership agreement with the University of Aberdeen, is donating £200,000 worth of equipment towards the creation of a 3D visualization suite at the university. The Halliburton Room, as the new facility will be known, is expected to open later this year. Halliburton has also pledged £30,000 over three years in support of scholarships.
FIVE INTO ONE: Forum Energy Technologies, a major new oilfield services group with 2000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $700 million, came into being last month following the merger of five separate companies: Forum Oilfield Technologies, Triton Group, Subsea Services International, Global Flow Technologies and Allied Technology. Cris Gaut, who became a managing director of SCF Partners last year after retiring from Halliburton, joins Houston-based FET as CEO and chairman. SCF, already a majority owner of all five companies, has committed $100 million of new equity capital to support the combined entity's strategic growth initiatives.
The range of manufactured products provided by FET includes drilling, flow control, ROVs, surface production process and pipeline equipment, and the company has two operating divisions: drilling & subsea, headed by Charles Jones, the former CEO of Forum Oilfield Technologies, and production & infrastructure, led by former Allied Technology CEO Wendell Brooks.
McDermott International completed the spinoff of its Babcock & Wilcox subsidiary, shedding its power generation systems and government operations segments and becoming a standalone engineering, procurement, construction and installation company focused on the offshore upstream oil & gas market. B&W becomes a separate, publicly traded company.
GL Noble Denton has opened a new office in Stavanger, Norway, to get closer to oil & gas companies operating in the country. The company also has offices in Oslo, Sandefjord and Brevik, the latter serving as its competence centre for general design and FPSOs.
Amec and Shanghai Zone Petrochemical Engineering (SZPE) have formed SPZE Amec, a new engineering services joint venture based near Shanghai which will allow Amec for the first time to undertake detailed engineering in China. It has purchased 35% of SZPE, with an option to purchase a further 15% on 1 January 2012.
Subsea excavation and dredging specialist Scanmudring UK has signed a strategic alliance agreement with Marin Group and will establish a new base within the Marin headquarters near Aberdeen. The two plan to offer a full service mirroring the existing operation provided from Mandal, Norway.
The UK West Africa Action Group (UK WAAG) has been rebranded Africa Business Centre. ABC provides market intelligence and support services for member companies looking to develop business in the region.
International logistics group Asco is expanding its freight management operations into Norway by acquiring Stavanger-based multi-modal freight forwarding company Sped>Partner.
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) crane & winch operations work group has established a Rope Forum to facilitate discussions between offshore crane, winch, wire and fibre rope manufacturers and the users of their equipment. Companies interested in joining should contact [email protected]
Subsea grouting services provider FoundOcean has established a three-way strategic alliance in Australia with ROV-based subsea intervention specialist Tamboritha and subsea engineering group IEV.
FACES
Doug Suttles (pictured) has returned to his role as COO for BP Exploration & Production in Houston following last month's appointment of Mike Utsler as COO for the BP Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, which will manage BP's ongoing spill response and restoration activities following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Utsler, a BP VP, had served as the company's commander in the Houma incident command post since April.
Michael Tweedy has joined Marathon Oil as chief procurement officer. He was most recently BHP Billiton's global supply manager for drilling and exploration and spent nearly 25 years at Chevron.
Peter Cleary (pictured) has joined Santos in the role of VP strategy and corporate development, reporting directly to CEO David Knox. Cleary was with BP for 24 years, serving most recently as president of North West Shelf Australia LNG, the LNG marketing arm of Western Australia's North West Shelf Venture.
Richard Spies, a former CEO of Pan American Energy and president of BP Russia, has been appointed COO at BPZ Energy. He succeeds Frederic Briens, who becomes chief of strategy and technology. BPZ also appointed Cesar Ortega, previously with BP Americas, as VP operations, based in Lima, Peru.
Martin Craighead (pictured) was named president and COO at Baker Hughes. He joined Baker Hughes in 1986 and has served in a number of senior management positions, most recently SVP and COO.
Charles Woodburn (pictured) became CEO of Expro on 1 September. A Cambridge graduate with a PhD in Engineering, he joins Expro after 15 years with Schlumberger where he was president of Wireline up to 2009 and latterly in charge of the company's engineering and manufacturing. With Woodburn's appointment, Graeme Coutts reverts to chairman, the position he temporarily vacated in February when stepping back in as chief executive.
John CS Lau has been named president and CEO, Asia Pacific, at Husky Energy.
Mike Coady (pictured) has been named general manager, Americas, in the EFC Group's expanding Houston operation. He was formerly an instrument engineer at Odfjell Drilling and KCA Deutag. Also in the EFC Houston office, Vance Williams has been appointed senior account executive, having previously served 26 years with Cameron Controls.
Gary Caswell, former VP eastern hemisphere operations at Pride International, is the new president and CEO of Northern Offshore. Jim LaChance steps down as president and CEO but continues to serve as chairman. Northern Offshore also announced the resignations of Steven Gangelhoff, SVP marketing, and Fred Brooks, SVP operations.
Dr Trudy Schoolenberg has been appointed VP global R&D at Wärtsilä Industrial Operations. She has been with Shell since 1989, most recently as general manager, strategy for Shell Chemicals in London.
Joe Campbell (pictured left) has joined Bisso Marine as general manager, diving and subsea services. He was previously director of projects for Crossmar and spent 13 years with Cal Dive International. John Baker (pictured right) has been named as Bisso Marine's director of quality and compliance.
Pete Haburt, a 35-year veteran at the Pipe Line Development Company (Plidco), has been promoted to general sales manager following the retirement of Frank Castro.
Norman Porter has been appointed operations manager and Jim Clark project manager at Superior Energy Services subsidiary HB Rentals. Porter most recently served as operations director for Labtech Engineering Services, while Clark previously worked for Consafe Engineering and Aramark. Myron Manuel was also named HB Rentals' refurbishing manager.
Tiffany Harris (pictured) has been named president of Foster Marketing Communications, succeeding company founder George Foster who remains CEO. Harris joined the Lafayette oil & gas marketing communications specialist in 1995.
Paul Bayliss (pictured) has joined the expanding London secretariat of the International Marine Contractors Association as a technical adviser. He previously worked for IMCA members Saipem and CTC Marine Projects.
Mauricio Garrido (pictured) has been appointed president of T&T Bisso. He joined the company in 2008 as general manager for the Americas and Europe, having earlier served as managing director of Titan Marine.
Steve Bonell has become a director of Arc Energy Resources, responsible for sales. Vince Wheeler has joined the weld overlay cladding specialist as a sales engineer and Stuart Rhodes has been promoted to production manager.
Brady Overton has relocated to the Gilmer, Texas facility of Duoline Technologies as an application engineer.
Gary Oliver (pictured) has joined the oil & gas team at engineering consultancy Frazer- Nash as business manager. He joins from Logica, where he became oil & gas sector BDM having earlier worked for BP in Europe and Africa.
Roser Segarrra has transferred from Wood Group Engineering in Aberdeen to become CFO at Alliance Engineering.
David Mair has joined the Aberdeen-based Aiken Group as business development manager. Alexander Reah (pictured) joins the company as projects manager, Paul McAnespie as electrical and instrumentation engineer and Samantha Black as project administrator.
Mohd Rizal Ismail has joined HB Rentals as regional sales manager based in the company's newly established offices in Kuala Lumpur. Noria Raja becomes HB's regional office manager and Annes Kazal regional sales and marketing coordinator. OE
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