Houston-based Pride hires Voegele as CFO, senior VP
Brian Voegele has accepted the position of senior vice president and CFO of Pride International Inc. He joins the company from Offshore Logistics Inc., where he has been senior vice president, CFO, treasurer, and secretary since June of this year. Voegele previously was employed by Transocean Inc. from 1989 to 2005, where he held several executive finance positions including vice president of finance; vice president of tax; and vice president of corporate planning and development. Prior to that, he was a tax manager with Arthur Young & Co. Voegele is a certified public accountant with a BBA in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. Louis Raspino, president and CEO, commented, “Brian’s in-depth experience in finance, including sixteen years of executive experience in the drilling industry, will be beneficial to Pride as we continue our growth as one of the world’s premier international drilling companies.” Houston-based Pride International Inc. provides onshore and offshore drilling and related services in more than 30 countries, operating a diverse fleet of 284 rigs, including two ultra-deepwater drillships, 12 semisubmersible rigs, 29 jackup rigs, 19 tender-assisted, barge and platform rigs, and 224 land rigs.
Auxis hires director of management consulting
Harold Kingham has joined Auxis Inc. as director of management consulting. Kingham will be responsible for project quality and client satisfaction within the Houston management consulting group. He joins Auxis with over 30 years of consulting experience in a broad range of industries. He has extensive international experience enhancing client operational and financial performance through process improvement initiatives. Kingham earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston and is a certified public accountant. He is on the board of directors of the Ronald McDonald House (Houston) and is chairman of its technology committee. Founded in 1997, Auxis is a management and technology solution firm that provides management consulting, business technology, and managed services to clients worldwide. Auxis is headquartered in Coral Gables, Fla., with offices in Houston and Plantation, Fla.
Noble appoints Bruning CAO, Van Kleef to board
Frederick (Fred) B. Bruning has joined Noble Energy Inc. and will serve as chief accounting officer, reporting to Chris Tong, senior vice president and CFO. Bruning brings over 30 years of experience, having served most recently as vice president of business operations for Fidelity National Financial, Business Systems Group in Santa Ana, Calif. Previously, Bruning served 25 years in various financial leadership and accounting positions at Occidental Petroleum Corp. He earned a BBA in accounting from Loyola Marymount University and is a CPA in California and Texas.
Noble Energy has also elected William T. Van Kleef to its board, increasing the number of directors to eight. Van Kleef served in executive management positions at Tesoro Corp. from 1993 to 2005, most recently as Tesoro’s executive vice president and COO. During his tenure at Tesoro, he held various positions, including president, Tesoro Refining and Marketing, and executive vice president and CFO. Before joining Tesoro, Van Kleef, a CPA, served in various financial and accounting positions with Damson Oil from 1982 to 1991, most recently as senior vice president and CFO.
Noble Energy is an independent energy company operating throughout major basins in the US including the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the recently added Patina Oil & Gas properties located primarily in Colorado’s Wattenberg Field, the Mid-continent region of western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, and the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. In addition, Noble Energy operates internationally in Argentina, China, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the North Sea. Noble Energy markets natural gas and crude oil through its subsidiary, Noble Energy Marketing Inc.
Black & Veatch hire Maragos as senior associate in Houston
Dr. Spyros A. Maragos has joined the Lukens Energy Group, a Black & Veatch company, as a senior associate based in the Houston office. He will provide services for the power, natural gas, LNG, and crude oil markets. His expertise includes conducting asset valuation and optimization, risk management, economic analysis, energy and weather derivatives valuation, decision analysis, and supply/demand analysis. “Spyros brings over 10 years of critical energy industry expertise to Black & Veatch,” stated Scott Smith, senior vice president, of Black & Veatch’s Enterprise Management Solutions (EMS) business of which Lukens Energy Group is a part. “His analytical capabilities, academic training, and extensive energy background position him to immediately deliver value to our clients.” Maragos holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied finance and operations research. He has been an author and a frequent speaker on the topics of option valuation, real options, natural gas storage valuation, volatility measurement and projections, developing forward price curves, value-at-risk, and capital allocation. Most recently Maragos was vice president of Energy Quantitative Research for the Citadel Investment Group, where he supervised the quantitative analysis of the electricity market in the Northeastern US. Maragos previously worked as a director of New Products Development & Risk Analysis with Dynegy Inc. where he developed a Gas-Storage Optionality Valuation & Trading tool to support the storage acquisition, leasing, and asset management activities of the firm. Black & Veatch Corp. is a global engineering, consulting, and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in the fields of energy, water, and information.
Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch serves its clients with conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services. The employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Enterprise Management Solutions is the management consulting division of Black & Veatch. The Lukens Energy Group, acquired by Black & Veatch in 2005 as part of its EMS division, is a management consulting company serving the energy industry.
Burton to serve in acting position at Interior Department
US Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton named Johnnie Burton as acting assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management. Burton currently serves as the director of the Minerals Management Service and will retain her current responsibilities while serving in the newly assigned capacity. She was appointed by Norton to serve as MMS director in March of 2002. She will take on her new duties upon the departure of assistant secretary Rebecca Watson, whose resignation was effective October 28 and will serve in the acting position until a permanent replacement for the post is nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the US Senate. Before joining the Interior Department, Burton served as director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue, serving the governor’s cabinet from 1995 to 2002. Before that she served in a leadership role in various energy exploration and service companies and was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1982 to 1998.She holds degrees from the Lycee Fromentin in Algiers, the Universities of Algiers and Paris, and holds a master’s degree from the University of Wyoming. She studied at the University of Arkansas and completed management training by the Presidents Association and Duke University.
Barnet gets seat on Duke Energy’s board, committees
Duke Energy’s board of directors elected William Barnet III to the company’s board. Barnet is mayor of the city of Spartanburg, SC, and chairman, president, and CEO of The Barnet Co. Inc., a real estate and investment firm. From 1976 to 2001, he was president and CEO of William Barnet & Son LLC, a global synthetic fiber processing company. He currently serves as chairman. Barnet, 62, has been mayor of Spartanburg since 2002. He also serves on the board of Bank of America. Barnet earned a BA degree from Dartmouth College in 1964 and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth in 1965. Barnet has been appointed to serve as a member of the board’s audit and nuclear oversight committees. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Duke Energy is a diversified energy company with a portfolio of natural gas and electric businesses, both regulated and unregulated, and an affiliated real estate company. Duke Energy supplies, delivers, and processes energy for customers in the Americas.
Promotions change landscape of Encore Acquisition
Encore Acquisition Co. has promoted Jon S. Brumley to CEO. He will continue in his current roles of president and director. I. Jon Brumley stated, “This is an opportune time to step down as CEO. For the past three years, all of the officers have reported to Jonny and look to him for leadership. This is an obvious and positive step in the evolution of a great company.” I. Jon Brumley will remain chairman of the board and an employee of the company.
In addition, Ben Nivens has been promoted to senior vice president, CFO, treasurer, and secretary of the company. Nivens, 45, has served as vice president of corporate strategy and treasurer since June 2005. From April 2002 to June 2005, he served as an engineering manager of the company. Prior to joining Encore, he worked as a reservoir engineer for Prize Energy from 1999 to 2002. From 1990 to 1999, he worked in the corporate planning group at Union Pacific Resources and also served as a reservoir engineer. In addition, he worked as a reservoir engineer for Compass Bank in 1999. Nivens holds a BS degree in engineering from Texas Tech University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Robert C. Reeves, the company’s vice president and controller, has been promoted to senior vice president, controller, and chief accounting officer.
Roy W. Jageman has resigned as executive vice president, CFO, and secretary of the company to pursue other interests.
Organized in 1998, Encore is an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, development, and exploitation of North American oil and natural gas reserves. Encore’s oil and natural gas reserves are in four core areas: the Cedar Creek Anticline of Montana and North Dakota; the Permian Basin of West Texas and Southern New Mexico; the Mid Continent area, which includes the Arkoma Basin and Anadarko Basins of Oklahoma, the North Louisiana Salt Basin, the East Texas Basin and the Barnett Shale; and the Rocky Mountains.
IntercontinentalExchange promotes Vice to president
Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has promoted Charles A. Vice, COO, to president. Vice, 42, will retain the title of COO while adding expanded responsibilities. He will continue to report to ICE chairman and CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher. Vice has served as COO of ICE since July 2001, and he will continue to oversee the company’s operations, including market development activities. As president, Vice will also oversee the execution of ICE’s technology strategies. Vice, a 20-year technology veteran, has more than 15 years of experience in applying information technology in the energy industry. He has been with ICE since its founding, having previously been a member of management of Continental Power Exchange Inc., ICE’s predecessor company. He joined CPEX at its inception in 1994 as marketing director. Prior to joining CPEX, Vice was a principal with Energy Management Associates for five years, providing consulting services to energy firms. From 1985 to 1988, he was a systems analyst with Electronic Data Systems. He holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. ICE operates an electronic global futures and OTC marketplace for trading energy commodity contracts. These contracts include crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions.
Lawrence Finn new CFO at Terax Energy
Terax Energy has named Lawrence J. Finn CFO. Finn will also serve as interim CEO, pending completion of Terax’s executive recruitment process. Finn, a 37-year industry veteran, joins Terax from Petrol Oil & Gas in Las Vegas where he served as vice president of finance and CFO. Prior to that, Finn was with CDX Gas LLC in Dallas and was vice president of finance and coordinator of shale projects. Before that, Finn served as vice president of finance and CFO of The Wiser Oil Co., CWF Energy Inc., Verado Energy Inc., and May Petroleum. He earned a BBA degree from the University of Houston and is a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. Terax Energy is an independent, managed risk, gas exploration, development, and production company, headquartered in Austin. The company focuses on the optimal exploitation and development of large, mostly contiguous acreage blocks in the Barnett Shale play within the Fort Worth Basin of Texas.
Charles Groat joins Pogo Producing Co.
Pogo Producing Co. has named Dr. Charles G. Groat, 65, of Austin, to the board of directors of the Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company. Groat currently serves as the director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy and as the Director of the Energy and Mineral Resources Graduate Program at the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds the Jackson Chair in Energy and Mineral Resources at the university. Before joining the University of Texas at Austin, Groat served for 6 1/2 years as director of the US Geological Survey, having been appointed by President Clinton and retained by President Bush. Throughout his career, Groat has been involved with both public policy and academic pursuits. He held top posts in geosciences at three different universities, and has previously served as director of the Louisiana Geological Survey and as executive director of the American Geological Institute. Groat earned a BA degree in geology from the University of Rochester, a MS in geology from the University of Massachusetts, and a PhD in geology from the University of Texas at Austin. Pogo Producing Co. explores for, develops, and produces oil and natural gas. The company owns interests in 89 federal and state Gulf of Mexico lease blocks offshore from Louisiana and Texas. Pogo also owns approximately 3,500,000 gross leasehold acres in major oil and gas provinces in North America and 1,043,000 acres in New Zealand.
Thielen, Baldwin new officers at Veritas
Houston-based Veritas DGC Inc. has appointed Vincent M. Thielen as vice president of business development and Dennis S. Baldwin as vice president, corporate controller.
Prior to his new appointment, Thielen was the company’s vice president, corporate controller, having assumed that role in September 2003. Previously, he served as the company’s corporate controller for four years. In his new role, Thielen will focus on identifying new business opportunities for the company.
Baldwin, 44, joined Veritas in June 2005 as CFO for Veritas’s North America/South America region. From April 2002 until joining Veritas, he was employed by Universal Compression Holdings Inc., most recently as corporate controller and principal accounting officer. From 1989 through April 2002, he was employed by CEMEX/Southdown Inc. and its predecessor, Southdown Inc. in a variety of financial and accounting roles. Baldwin is a certified public accountant and has experience with a major public accounting firm. In his new role, Baldwin will serve as the company’s chief accounting officer.
Veritas DGC, headquartered in Houston, is a provider of integrated geophysical information and services to the petroleum industry worldwide.
New managing director position at Dominion filled by Whiteley
Alison B. Whiteley has joined Dominion Exploration and Production Inc. in the newly-created position of managing director of planning and engineering. She is responsible for the management and direction of corporate engineering and business planning and development. Whiteley has more than 20 years of oil and gas experience, from roustabout to senior manager. Prior to joining Dominion, she served as senior manager of business development for EOG Resources in Houston. She also has served as a production/reservoir engineer for Chevron, a senior petroleum engineer for Tenneco, and an assistant reservoir engineer for Marathon. Whiteley is a registered professional engineer (PE) in Texas. She holds an MBA degree with a focus in international business, summa cum laude, from the University of Houston and a BS degree in petroleum engineering from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. She appears in the 1996 Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. Dominion Exploration & Production Inc., is the natural gas and oil exploration and production subsidiary of Dominion. The company is an independent natural gas and oil operators. The company has onshore and offshore reserves in major North American basins, including West Texas, Appalachian basin, Michigan basin, Mid-continent, Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, western Canada, and offshore Gulf of Mexico.
Smith announces management changes
Peter Pintar has been appointed vice president of corporate strategy and business development of Smith International Inc. Reporting to Doug Rock, chairman, president, and CEO of Smith International, Pintar will identify strategic opportunities to grow the company and will also oversee mergers and acquisitions. Pintar joined the company from DTE Energy, an electric utility and energy services company based in Detroit. While there, he had a broad range of responsibilities including running an energy technology venture capital fund, overseeing strategic planning, and leading a $4 billion acquisition. Smith International is a worldwide supplier of products and services to the oil and gas exploration and production industry, the petrochemical industry, and other industrial markets through its four principal business units - M-I SWACO, Smith Technologies, Smith Services, and Wilson. In related news, the company has acquired Nuñez Oil Field Pipe Ltd. and a related inspection business, privately-held operations based in Odessa, Tex. The acquisition, which will primarily serve the Permian Basin and East Texas markets, generated revenues of about $18 million.
Marshall succeeds Cunningham as TEPPCO chairman
Dr. Ralph S. Cunningham has resigned as chairman of the board of directors of Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. LLC, the general partner of TEPPCO Partners LP. Lee W. Marshall, Sr. will succeed Cunningham as chairman.
Marshall serves as a member of the Audit and Conflicts Committee and as a member of the Governance Committee. He has been the managing partner and principal owner of Bison Resources LLC, a privately held oil and gas production company, since 1993. Previously, he held senior management positions with Union Pacific Resources as senior vice president of refining, manufacturing, and marketing; with Wolverine Exploration Co. as executive vice president and CFO; and with Tenneco Oil Co. as senior vice president of marketing. Previously, Marshall served as a director of Enterprise Products GP LLC, the general partner of Enterprise Products Partners LP from 1998 until his resignation on March 22, 2005.
TEPPCO Partners LP is a publicly traded partnership, which conducts business through various subsidiary operating companies. TEPPCO owns and operates common carrier pipelines of refined petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gases in the United States; owns and operates petrochemical and natural gas liquid pipelines; is engaged in crude oil transportation, storage, gathering and marketing; owns and operates natural gas gathering systems; and owns 50-percent interests in Seaway Crude Pipeline Co., Centennial Pipeline LLC, and Mont Belvieu Storage Partners LP, and an undivided ownership interest in the Basin Pipeline. Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of DFI GP Holdings LP (a privately owned partnership indirectly controlled by Dan L. Duncan), is the general partner of TEPPCO Partners LP.
Murray to head Guggenheim’s new Houston office
Guggenheim Partners has opened an office in Houston, which will be led by Tim Murray, who has been named a managing director of the company. Murray was the executive vice president and manager of Wells Fargo’s energy group, as well as president of Wells Fargo Energy Capital. Murray is a 27-year industry veteran, having devoted 21 years to Wells Fargo in building its energy franchise. Prior to Wells Fargo, Murray was a senior reservoir engineer with Arco Oil and Gas Co. He is the past president of the Houston Producers’ Forum, and IPAA finance committee director, and chairman of the IPAA capital markets committee. He has served as chairman of the IPAA Oil and Gas Investment Symposium Private Capital Conference, and as a frequent industry speaker. Murray is also active on the board of Lowry Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University. Guggenheim Partners is a diversified financial services company with approximately $100 billion of assets under supervision. The Guggenheim family together with other investors founded Guggenheim Partners to provide investment solutions to investors worldwide. The firm employs more than 400 people and maintains principal offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Geneva, Hong Kong, and London.
Yorke added to board at PRB
PRB Gas Transportation has appointed Justin W. Yorke as a member of the board of directors. Currently, Yorke is director of Dunes Advisors, a corporate advisory group he founded during 2002 that assists domestic and international middle market companies with strategic planning, private equity fund raising, as well as structuring joint ventures and financial reviews. Yorke also serves on the board of directors of JED Oil Inc. From 1992 to 2001, he held fund manager/vice president positions with Darier Hentsch Asia Ltd., Peregrine Asset Management, and Unifund Global Ltd. based in Hong Kong. In these positions, he managed institutional Asian equity funds and focused on companies located in Singapore, India, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Yorke started his career with William Finkle and Associates where he focused on revenue and risk analysis of international joint ventures in the healthcare and petroleum industries. Yorke holds a BA in history with a minor in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tri-Valley hires Evans, promotes Cunningham
Tri-Valley Corp. has hired Art Evans as its CFO to succeed Tom Cunningham, who has been promoted to vice president and chief administrative officer.
Evans has a full range of accounting and financial management experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, an MBA in finance from Golden State University, Los Angeles, and an MS in systems management from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. His professional designations include Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Certified Financial Manager. Evans and his family lived in Bakersfield for three years while he was a controller for Getty Oil Co. and will now relocate from Salt Lake City to Tri-Valley’s Bakersfield, California headquarters. He will initially report to Tom Cunningham.
After nine years of progressive responsibility, including the positions of secretary, treasurer, and CFO, Thomas J. Cunningham will oversee the organization and administrative structuring of Tri-Valley as it expands personnel and projects.
Through its operating subsidiaries, Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. and Select Resources Corp., Tri-Valley is engaged in high impact wildcat oil and gas exploration and production and precious and base metals exploration and industrial minerals production. The company is actively seeking acquisitions of properties and companies in those fields. Tri-Valley currently holds more than 100,000 acres of selected petroleum and mineral leases for both exploration and production.
Herschmann new senior VP at Southern Union
The board of directors of Southern Union Co. has appointed Eric D. Herschmann, 41, to senior executive vice president. Herschmann, a partner specializing in litigation at the New York office of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, has been serving as interim general counsel of the company since January 2005 and will continue in that capacity in the near-term. He has served as counsel for Southern Union since 1997, was named national litigation counsel for the company in 1999, and was involved in Southern Union’s sale of its Texas local distribution company to ONEOK in 2003 and the Panhandle Energy and CrossCountry Energy acquisitions in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Herschmann also has represented the board and board committees. Herschmann will remain a Kasowitz partner, and the firm will continue to represent the company in the future. Prior to joining Kasowitz in 1996, Herschmann served as vice president and legal counsel of the investigations department at Citibank NA. From 1987 to 1993, he was an assistant district attorney and senior investigative and trial counsel for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He earned a BA from Yeshiva University and a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Southern Union Co. is engaged primarily in the transportation, storage, and distribution of natural gas. The company’s pipeline interests operate about 18,000 miles of interstate pipelines that transport natural gas from the San Juan, Anadarko and Permian Basins, the Rockies, the Gulf of Mexico, Mobile Bay, South Texas, and the Panhandle regions of Texas and Oklahoma to major markets in the Southeast, West, Midwest, and Great Lakes region. Southern Union serves about one million natural gas end-user customers in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
