Newfield Exploration has made recent management changes. Lee K. Boothby was named president. The company’s board of directors expects to name Boothby to the additional role of CEO at the company’s annual meeting in May 2009, where he will also stand for election to the board. Boothby will succeed David A. Trice who plans to retire as CEO at the meeting. Trice will stand for re—election to the board at the meeting and, if elected, will serve a one—year term as non—executive chairman to assist the board in the transition. Boothby joined Newfield roughly 10 years ago and most recently served as senior vice president — acquisitions and business development. The board also plans to name Gary D. Packer executive vice president and COO at the meeting. Packer joined Newfield in 1995 and currently serves as president of Newfield’s Rocky Mountain division in Denver. Packer graduated from Penn State University. Trice, one of the company’s 23 founders, had expected to retire in May 2008. He extended his tenure following the death of Newfield President, David F. Schaible in late 2007.
Stephens joins Burleson Cooke
Burleson Cooke has added Timothy Stephens to the firm as Of Counsel. He previously served in senior management and board roles with several public entities including executive vice president, secretary, and general counsel for Plains Resources Inc. and Plains Exploration and Production Co. Stephens earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and his law degree from the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio.
MegaWest shuffles management
MegaWest Energy Corp., specializing in non—conventional oil and gas projects, has reorganized its management team and made staff reductions. George T. Stapleton, II has resigned as CEO, but will continue as chairman of the board, where he will remain active in the company without cash compensation. Stapleton desired the change to demonstrate his commitment to cost reductions. R. William Thornton will assume the role of president and CEO (formerly president and COO). Kelly Sledz has resigned as VP finance to pursue other opportunities. Farid Naghiyev has been promoted to finance manager and controller. In addition, the company has significantly reduced its overall staffing level. Compared to December 1, 2008, the company has reduced overall staffing by 71% and corresponding salaries by 63%.
Hackett to lead Dallas Fed Board
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors has reappointed oil and gas independent Anadarko Corp.’s CEO, James T. Hackett, as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas board of directors for 2009. He was appointed to the Dallas board in 2006 and served as chairman in 2007 and 2008. He previously served on the Bank’s Houston Branch board.
Hardisty leaves Particle Drilling for privately—held Kerogen Resources
Thomas E. Hardisty, senior vice president, corporate development, has resigned from Houston—based Particle Drilling Technologies Inc. Hardisty joined privately—held Kerogen Resources Inc. as its vice president of business development and land. As part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs and to focus company resources on the technical side of the business, Particle Drilling does not plan to replace Hardisty at this time.
CNSOPB appointsPinks new CEO
The Canada—Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) has appointed Stuart Pinks as CEO. The appointment was recently approved by both the federal and provincial governments. Pinks is a senior regulatory and operations executive with experience in the petroleum sector in Canada, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Thailand. He has served as manager of HS&E, and chief safety officer with the CNSOPB since joining the organization in 2002. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
New COO for Gran Tierra
Shane P. O’Leary has joined Gran Tierra Energy as COO. O’Leary will be based out of the Calgary corporate head office and report to Dana Coffield, the company’s president and CEO. Prior to joining Gran Tierra, O’Leary was president and CEO of First Calgary Petroleums Ltd. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and his MBA from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
Standard Chartered tapsAhmad vice chairman, head of corporate finance
Standard Chartered Bank has named Zubaid Ahmad to the newly—created position of vice chairman, head of corporate finance, Americas, based in New York. Zubaid has 25 years of industry experience. He previously served as vice chairman and COO of Americas Investment Banking for JP Morgan. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BSBA from Georgetown University.
Eagle Energy expands management team
Eagle Energy Partners, a wholly—owned subsidiary of EDF Trading Ltd., has appointed Philipp Bussenschutt as Head of Origination and Business Development. He will be based in Houston, join Eagle’s executive management team, and report to Griff Jones, CEO. Bussenschutt will be responsible for expanding Eagle Energy’s business including the development of synergies with EDF Trading’s global commodity trading business. His will also support EDF Group in its expanding US operations following the recent Constellation transaction. Bussenschutt joins from EDF Trading in London, where he was a senior originator. Prior, he was at Enron in London, trading natural gas.
Webb joins IntellectualProperty Practice atBracewell & Giuliani
Wayne Webb has joined Bracewell & Giuliani’s Austin office as counsel in the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice. Webb has experience in all facets of intellectual property law for large corporate clients in multi—million dollar litigation in state and federal courts, as well as prosecution before the US Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to joining the firm, he was employed by JME Software LLC as a senior vice president and general counsel, and by Scalable Software Inc. as general counsel and interim CEO.
New leadership for Talisman Energy
Talisman Energy Inc. has made changes to its senior leadership team. Nigel Hares, executive vice president, international operations (West) and John t’ Hart, executive vice president, exploration are retiring. The company has appointed Paul Smith and Richard Herbert, respectively, in these roles. They will report directly to John A. Manzoni, president and CEO. Smith joins from TNK—BP where he served as upstream vice president, responsible for operations in West Siberia. Herbert was recently a member of the TNK—BP management board, holding the position of executive vice president technology, and prior to that was vice president, exploration.
Blake’s chairman sells company stake, exits board
Houma, La.—based Blake International USA Rigs LLC’s chairman, Michael E. Blake, has sold his ownership interests in Blake Offshore Holdings, parent company of Blake Offshore, along with Blake Drilling and Workover’s interest in Blake Offshore to Avista Capital Partners. Blake has resigned from the Blake Offshore board of directors, along with his wife Ramona Blake and his son Michael E. Blake, Jr. Blake will focus all of his attention on growing his newly—acquired platform drilling company that he purchased from Pride International in mid—2008.
Key Energy Services’ CFO steps down
Key Energy Services’ senior vice president and CFO, William M. Austin, has left his positions at Key Energy to join the turnaround and restructuring group at Alvarez & Marsal. Marshall Dodson, the company’s vice president and chief accounting officer, has assumed the additional role of principal financial officer until the board elects a new CFO.
Saratoga completes senior management transition
Saratoga Resources has completed the transition of all senior management functions from the former principals of Harvest Oil & Gas and The Harvest Group. In addition, Barry Salsbury has retired as president of the Harvest companies. Salsbury co—founded the Harvest companies in 2004. Saratoga acquired the Harvest companies in July 2008.
Baker Hughes appoints Cancilla VP, HS&E, security
Baker Hughes Inc. has named Russell J. Cancilla vice president of HS&E and security. He will report to Chad Deaton, chairman, president, and CEO. Previously, Cancilla served as chief security officer for Baker Hughes since June 2006. He holds a bachelor’s degree, a graduate degree, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy Executive Program at Quantico, VA.