Walter Reinhold, longtime leader of National Oilwell Varco, passes away

Walter Benjamin Reinhold, 85, passed away August 2, 2010. Beni, as he was known by his many friends around the world, was born of Swiss and German immigrants on December 29, 1924 in Los Angeles. After graduation from high school, Beni went to serve in World War II, in the Army Air Corp. He attended USC and, after the war, received a degree from Stanford and joined his father's company, Abegg and Reinhold, full time. The privately owned company was founded by his father and his father's partner, Walter Abegg, in 1908. It manufactured a few oil well drilling tools that were considered the best in the world. Beni started out in the machine shop as a helper, and eventually rose to the position of world wide sales manager. In the fall of 1969, Beni took over the company from his father, bought out the Abeggs, and changed the company name to Varco. In 1975 Beni took Varco public on the NASDAQ with the First Boston Corp. Varco grew to over 1,000 employees by the end of the decade and in 1981 became a member of the NYSE. By 1980, Varco had expanded from California and Texas to Louisiana, Singapore, Scotland, England, and Germany. Beni continued to lead Varco into new areas during the 1980's. Always an optimist, he encouraged his engineers to introduce a revolutionary new drilling method called a Top Drive Drilling System. By the end of the 80s, almost all offshore drilling rigs in the world had been converted to Top Drive Drilling Rigs and Varco prospered. He had built his father's company from less than 100 employees to over 3,000 employees, all whom will be forever grateful for the opportunity to work in a company built around his dream of "a people culture." Upon his retirement, because of his lifelong love of surfing, he moved to the North Shore of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. There he built his home overlooking Sunset Beach, where on September 4, 2010 his ashes were scattered.

Diamond to succeed Varley as group chief executive at Barclays

Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC announce that John Varley intends to step down as group chief executive, and from the Barclays boards and the group executive committee, on March 31, 2011. He will be succeeded by Robert E. Diamond Jr. From October 1, 2010, Diamond will be president and deputy group chief executive. He currently leads the Corporate and Investment banking, and Barclays Wealth businesses of the Group. He has been a member of the board of Barclays since 2005. Varley will become a senior advisor on regulatory matters to Diamond and to the board until September 30, 2011. Varley was appointed group chief executive in September 2004, having been deputy chief executive from October 2003. Prior to this, he was group finance director. He joined the group executive committee in September 1996 and was appointed an executive director of Barclays in June 1998. Diamond holds more than 30 years' experience in the banking sector, the last 14 of which have been with Barclays. Jerry del Missier and Rich Ricci have been named co-chief executives of Barclays Capital, in addition to being co-chief executives of the Corporate and Investment Bank.Simmons returns to Stewart & Stevenson as CFO, director

Houston-based Stewart & Stevenson LLC has appointed John B. Simmons as CFO and as a director of the company. Simmons has 30 years of experience in the oil service business. He has served as CFO of Production Operators Inc. and vice president/CFO of Cooper Energy Services, a division of Cooper Cameron Corp. Simmons previously served as controller and chief accounting officer and subsequently as senior vice president and CFO at Stewart & Stevenson Services Inc. He also served as vice chairman and CEO of Stewart & Stevenson LLC. He holds a bachelor's degree from Lamar University. Stewart & Stevenson designs, manufactures and markets specialized equipment for the oil and gas and other industries.Patton Boggs adds environmental lawyer to Dallas office

Scott Deatherage has joined the Dallas office of law firm Patton Boggs LLP. Deatherage, a well known environmental attorney, joins as a partner from Thompson & Knight LLP where he led the firm's climate change and renewable energy practice group. At Patton Boggs, Deatherage plans to help corporate clients navigate a host of impending environmental regulations, climate change and greenhouse gas regulation, renewable energy and the carbon trading markets. Deatherage's practice includes permitting, compliance, administrative law and judicial litigation on a variety of environmental issues including, air emissions, wastewater discharges, hazardous waste, hazardous substances and toxic substances. He earned his law degree from Harvard Law School.Logica promotes Strasner to CEO

Logica, a business and technology services company, has promoted Josh Strasner to CEO of the company's operations in North America. He joined Logica in March 2008 as senior vice president of sales. In his 25-year career, Strasner has held a variety of sales executive and management positions. Prior to joining Logica, Strasner was client sales executive at EDS, where he focused on global integrated oil and gas companies in the energy sector. He holds a bachelor's degree from Texas State University. In the North American market, Logica has a strong and presence in the energy, manufacturing, and financial services industries.Trelleborg Offshore names Wallis senior vice president

Trelleborg Offshore, a global manufacturer of polymer and syntactic foam-based solutions for the offshore industry, has appointed Eric Wallis senior vice president of innovation. Wallis, who has 20 years of experience in materials research and development, joins Trelleborg from chemical company BASF. He previously held senior positions at Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Chevron Philips, and Philips Petroleum. He will manage the company's product solutions group and will have functional responsibility for all R&D activity within the wider offshore organization.MacNeill named acting CEO of Oilsands Quest, COO resignsAs Oilsands Quest Inc. seeks a strategic partner in hopes of accessing capital needed for oil sands development in northwest Saskatchewan and northeast Alberta, the company has made senior organizational changes. Brian MacNeill has been appointed acting CEO, replacing T. Murray Wilson. The board's decision on a permanent CEO appointment will depend on the outcome of the strategic alternatives process. MacNeill joined the board in August, 2009. From 1991 to 2001 he served as the president and CEO of Enbridge Inc. He has been a non-executive member on boards of a number of Canadian organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of Petro-Canada from 2000 to 2009. The board has appointed Ron Blakely as non-executive chairman of the board. Blakely joined the board in April, 2009. He has 38 years of experience in the industry. Paul Ching, as part of his role on the Special Committee, will provide added support to the technical staff of the company through the period of the strategic alternatives review. Ching joined the board on January 7, 2010. He has experience in heavy oil production, operations, development, and reservoir research achieved during his a 34 year career with Royal Dutch Shell. T. Murray Wilson, who was most recently chairman and CEO, has been appointed as executive deputy chairman. Wilson will advise the Special Committee and he will also remain a member of the board and board committees of which he is currently a member. Independent of these appointments, Susan MacKenzie has tendered her resignation as COO. She was appointed COO of the company in March. Because MacNeill is assuming the acting CEO position, Blakely will now serve as chair of the Special Committee, which will also continue to include MacNeill and Ching.Achauer resigns CFO post at Kinetex ResourcesRobert D. Ashauer, CFO of Kinetex Resources Corp. has resigned. The company is searching for a new CFO. Kinetex provides seismic planning, acquisition, processing and interpretation services to the oil and gas industry.CNOOC names new CFOThe board of directors of CNOOC Ltd. has named Zhong Hua to succeed Yang Hua as the company's CFO. Zhong Hua joined CNOOC in 1982, and has been working in the oil and gas industry for over 28 years. He received his bachelor's degree from Southwest Petroleum Institute and a master's degree from Heriot –Watt University in the UK. Since August 2005, Zhong has served as the executive vice president and CFO of China Oilfield Services Ltd. From September 1999 to August 2005, Zhong was general manager of Administration Department and General Manager of Development and Planning Department of CNOOC Ltd.Equal Energy names Chapman CFOCalgary, Alberta, Canada-based Equal Energy Ltd. has named Dell Chapman CFO. Chapman was most recently the vice president, finance and CFO of Berens Energy Ltd. from its inception to its sale earlier this year. Prior to that, he held various senior finance positions with a number of oil and gas companies, including Suncor Energy Inc. and Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. Chapman graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor's degree.

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