Firms and Faces

National Oilwell Varco is acquiring California-based fiberglass pipe manufacturer Ameron International in a deal valued at approximately $772 million. Subject to Ameron shareholder approval, the transaction could close as early as the fourth quarter. The acquisition ‘will enhance the scale and scope of the solutions we offer to our oil and gas customers worldwide', said NOV chairman, president and CEO Pete Miller. ‘Ameron's marine and offshore products will expand NOV's offering into seawater handling systems in new oil & gas drilling and FPSO vessels, and our combined oilfield composite pipe operations will benefit from purchasing efficiencies and scale.' 

Waterford Energy Services and Trendsetter Engineering are to form a JV company to leverage their strengths in providing the Canadian offshore market with a capping stack and containment service. The two companies have developed a first response well containment system using equipment and technology located in Newfoundland and Labrador and Waterford project manager Ian O'Leary said: ‘We are well positioned to provide expertise and solutions to Canadian clients in areas such as capping stacks and containment, secondary BOP controls, subsea trees, manifolds, and related equipment.' 

Private equity fund Intervale Capital, advised by Simmons & Company International, completed the simultaneous merger and financing of the Galathea and Proserv groups last month. Galathea has three businesses: Hydrafit Subsea in Aberdeen, and Gilmore Valve and Argus Subsea, both based in Houston. Proserv Group is made up of two divisions, Technology and Offshore. Funding for the merger was provided by Haymarket Financial, Cyrus Capital Partners and HSBC. 

Schlumberger inaugurated the WesternGeco Penang Product Centre (WPPC) in Malaysia on 1 July. The new facility, expected to employ around 300 people by the end of 2012, will play a central role in the continuing development and deployment of WesternGeco Q-Technology. It will also support the roll out of Q-Marine Solid streamer technology and deliver UniQ integrated point-receiver seismic acquisition systems.

Fugro has acquired AOA Geophysics and will merge the company into the Fugro GeoConsulting business unit. The deal gives Fugro access to AOA's marine seep exploration capability and complementary marine mapping and geohazards expertise. Dan McConnell will serve as MD of Fugro GeoConsulting when the current incumbent, Mike Horsnell, relocates back to the UK from Houston.

A new company, Step Oiltools, has been established to offer solids control and drilling waste management services. The company, a JV between Aker Solutions' subsidiary Step Offshore and drilling waste management authority Chris Pianca, will initially focus on the representation of the Derrick Equipment Company's range of solids control equipment, screen surfaces and spare parts in Russia, the Caspian and West Africa.

Lloyd's Register Americas recently moved its Houstonarea operations to a new regional headquarters to capitalise on the growing opportunities arising from the new regulatory regime in the Gulf and a thriving merchant marine business. The move brings together under one roof Lloyd's Register Energy Americas, Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance, Lloyd's Register North America, ModuSpec USA and Scandpower.

Lancashire, UK-based Balltec is relocating to a large new workshop and office facility to keep up with demand for its mooring connectors, pipeline recovery tools, lifting tools and load testing services. The move from Carnforth to Morecambe just four miles away trebles the company's available square footage.

Viking Moorings has signed an exclusive agency agreement with Newfoundland Offshore Services (NOSO) under which it will provide Viking's mooring equipment and services to operators and drilling contractors offshore Canada.

Marine rental company Ashtead Technology has appointed MacArtney Norge as its agent for the Nordic region. 

Faces:

 

Kevin Gallagher succeeds John Smith as CEO of Australian contractor Clough in August. Gallagher previously served as EVP of Woodside's North West Shelf business unit and CEO of the North West Shelf Venture. In other recent Clough moves Mike Harding, Brian Bruce and Roger Rees stepped down as non-executive directors and were replaced, respectively, by David Crawford, Henry Laas and Cobus Bester. 
 

Andrew Gould (pictured) retired as CEO of Schlumberger on 1 August after 36 years with the company. He will serve as chairman until next April's AGM when Tony Isaacbecomes non-executive chairman. Gould's successor as CEO is Paal Kibsgaard, who became COO in February 2010 having previously served as president of Schlumberger's reservoir characterization group. 


 

Hans-Joachim Polk (pictured) has been appointed MD of RWE Dea Norge following Hugo Sandal's return to the company's Hamburg head office as SVP production Europe. Prior to his posting to Oslo, Polk – a former head of production at Germany's Mittleplate oilfield – was responsible for RWE Dea field developments. 



 

Jan Maier has been named as COO of pan-African upstream oil & gas company SacOil. He previously served as Tullow's exploration manager for sub- Saharan Africa. Bradley Cerff, former PetroSA regional manager for East and West Africa, also joined SacOil recently as VP commercial. 

John ‘Jack' McCormack (pictured) has been appointed EVP & COO of McDermott International in succession to retiring COO John Nesser. McCormack joined McDermott in 2003 as VP project services and moved into operations the following year, initially as VP and in 2006 as SVP. His most recent role, encompassing responsibility for eastern hemisphere operations, was acknowledged by McDermott chairman, president and CEO Stephen Johnson as being ‘instrumental in leading our Asia Pacific and Middle East operations to exceptional performance'. 

 

Dan Heintzelman, currently CEO of GE Energy Services, has been named CEO of GE Oil & Gas. He succeedsClaudi Santiago, who has occupied that post for the last 12 years and is retiring in December.

David Salisbury, CEO and MD of New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG), has given six months notice of resignation for personal reasons. He will leave the company on 29 December.

Chow Yew Yuen (pictured) has been appointed MD of Keppel Offshore & Marine, based in Singapore. Chow, who will continue as president of the Americas for Keppel O&M, is also chairman of Keppel AmFels, deputy chairman of Keppel Fels Brasil and president of Keppel O&M USA. 


 

Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani has been elected chairman of Norwegian oil & gas exploration company DNO International. He is also chairman and CEO of Middle East-based E&P independent Rak Petroleum. 

Chris Braithwaite (pictured) has been appointed nonexecutive chairman of the Ashtead Technology asset rental business. An engineer and 25-year veteran of the oil & gas services sector, he has worked with ABB, Halliburton/Brown & Root and Transfield and was most recently COO of Wellstream, having overseen its IPO from private equity ownership in 2007. 



 

Dr Andrew Tyler is the new CEO at tidal stream energy company Marine Current Turbines. 

Scott Gartshore (pictured) has been appointed to the new post of trenching systems sales manager at IHC Engineering Business. As well as taking responsibility for sales of the company's trenching products and associated handling systems, he is tasked with further developing products for this market. 




 

Joan MacNaughton, SVP power and environment policies at Alstom Power, has been appointed the new president of the Energy Institute for 2011-13. 

Upstream production chemistry specialist Carolyn Hare (pictured) has joined the wells and subsurface division of Xodus Group in Aberdeen as senior consultant. She joins from CheckPoint UK and previously worked for ProductionQuest, Baker Hughes and Baker Petrolite. 



 

Paolo Scaroni (pictured) has been appointed CEO and GM of Eni. The Eni board confirmed that Giuseppe Recchi will continue as chairman of the company, tasked with identifying and promoting integrated projects and international agreements of strategic importance. 


 

Victor Rudenno will succeed the retiring Neil MacLachlan as chairman of Perth, Western Australia-based Samson Oil & Gas. 

Steve Sinclair has joined subsea and floating systems engineering and project management services provider Peritus International as a principal technical consultant, Asia Pacific field developments. 

Daniel Rojas (pictured) has been named as GM of TAM International's new Completion Systems business unit. Previously international manager at Peak Completions, Rojas is tasked with launching and growing the new TAM Completion Systems PosiFrac multi-stage hydraulic fracture system. 



 

Michael Scott, current MD of Perth, Western Australiaheadquartered Cooper Energy is stepping down. He will also relinquish his posts will all Cooper subsidiaries, serving out a six-month contractual notice and handover period upon selection of a new MD. 

Dave McKechnie (pictured) has taken up the new role of general manager at Aquatic and will oversee its European. Middle Eastern and African projects and service delivery. He joins Aquatic from Oceaneering's deepwater technical solutions division, where he served as eastern hemisphere manager. 




 

Andy Waterstreet (pictured) has been appointed engineering and projects manager at Offshore Solutions, the joint venture between Amec and Cofely Nederland. He joins from the Dutch electrotechnical installation company Croon Elektrotechniek, where he was a senior project manager in the marine and offshore division, and earlier worked for Mampaey Offshore Industries. 



 

George Wang, a manager in the ABS advanced analysis department, heads up the new ABS China Offshore Technology Center established in Shanghai in partnership with Jiaotong University. 

Karen Rumble has joined the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) secretariat team as technical adviser competence and training/certification schemes co-ordinator. 

Kerric Peyton (pictured) has been named VP of corporate HS&E at Superior Energy Services, based in Houston. 





 

Andy Brown has been appointed regional manager in the Houston office of marine environmental consulting firm CSA International. 

Mechanical engineer Richard Carroll (pictured) has joined Aberdeenbased engineering consultancy Cognity as consultant. The firm also recently appointed Stuart Rothnie as senior designer. 



 

Nick Cooper has joined Ophir Energy in London as MD. Dr Cooper, a geophysicist, was previously CFO at Salamander Energy, the Asia-focused E&P company he co-founded in 2005. 

Craig Latch (pictured) has been promoted to deepwater projects coordinator, Gulf of Mexico, at Devin International. Latch, previously international projects coordinator, will be based at the company's Lafayette, Louisiana office. 



 

Simon Marr has become BDM of subsea simulator and visualisation systems developer Fugro GRL. He joins from VisualSoft, where he was sales manager. 

NICHE PLAYER: Formation of a new international niche integrity group of companies was heralded by the recent secondary buy-out of engineered composite technology specialist Walker Technical from Maven Capital Partners by the existing management team backed by Gresham Private Equity with support from HSBC. ICR Integrity, a newly formed vehicle and group brand under which other businesses in the integrity, corrosion and repair sectors can be acquired, will be headed by current Walker Technical CE O Willie Rennie(pictured), who led an MBI of the company in 2009 backed by Maven Capital. Gresham's backing is expected to ‘facilitate growth on a global scale both organically and through a "buy and build" strategy