TILLERSON RETIRES FROM EXXONMOBIL, WOODS IS NEW CHAIRMAN AND CEO
President Donald Trump's nominee for US Secretary of State, Rex W. Tillerson, has announced his intention to retire as chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation at year-end after more than 41 years of service. Darren W. Woods, currently president of ExxonMobil, has been elected chairman and CEO by the board of directors effective Jan. 1. Tillerson was scheduled to retire in March 2017 when he reached 65, the company's mandatory retirement age for his position. After consideration, Tillerson concluded, and the board agreed, that given the significant requirements associated with the confirmation process, it was appropriate to move the retirement date.
Tillerson joined Exxon Company USA in 1975 as a production engineer. He held various senior roles in the corporation throughout his career spanning more than four decades, including executive vice president of ExxonMobil Development Company. He was named senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation in 2001 and was elected president and a member of the board of directors in 2004. Tillerson was elected chairman and CEO in January 2006.
Woods, 51, was elected president of ExxonMobil and a member of the board of directors in January 2016. Born in Wichita, Kansas, Woods joined Exxon Company International in 1992. During his career he held various senior domestic and international positions in ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Company, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, and Exxon Company International. He also served as manager of ExxonMobil investor relations.
In 2012, he was appointed president of ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Company and a vice president of the corporation. In this role, Woods had primary responsibility for the company's global refining, supply, and transportation activities. In 2014, he was named a senior vice president of the corporation and became a member of its management committee.
Woods earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University and a master's degree in business administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
With the retirement of Tillerson, the ExxonMobil board now is comprised of 12 directors, 11 of whom are non-employees.
TOM WALTERS TO RETIRE, NEIL DUFFIN AND LIAM MALLON PROMOTED AT EXXONMOBIL
Tom Walters, president, ExxonMobil Production Co., is retiring after more than 38 years of service. Neil Duffin, currently president of ExxonMobil Development Co., has been appointed president of ExxonMobil Production Co. and elected to be a vice president of the corporation. Liam Mallon, currently executive vice president of ExxonMobil Development Co., has been elected president of ExxonMobil Development Co. All changes are effective Jan. 1. Walters joined Exxon USA in 1978 in Los Angeles and has held a variety of technical and managerial positions in production, operations, development, and global services. He was appointed to his current role as president of ExxonMobil Production Co. in 2013. Walters has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University and a master's degree in ocean engineering from Texas A&M University.
Duffin joined Mobil in 1979 in Aberdeen, Scotland, and has held a variety of managerial positions in production, operations, and development. He became EVP of ExxonMobil Development Company in 2006 and was elected as president of ExxonMobil Development Company in 2007. Duffin was born in St. Andrews, Scotland. He is a graduate of Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK, with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
Mallon joined Mobil in 1990 in Aberdeen, Scotland, and held a variety of progressively senior positions before he became operations manager in Nigeria in 1998. He was appointed to his current position as executive vice president of ExxonMobil Development Company in 2014. Mallon was born in Drogheda, Ireland, and has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Trinity College in Dublin. He also holds a master's in petroleum engineering from Heriot Watt in Edinburgh.
WPX ENERGY'S MUNCRIEF ADDS CHAIRMAN'S TITLE
WPX Energy's board of directors has unanimously elected Richard E. Muncrief as its next chairman, effective Jan. 1. Muncrief also is WPX's president and CEO, positions he has held since May 15, 2014. OGFJ spoke with Muncrief in November about the company's turnaround. The turnaround entailed more than $5 billion of A&D activity and WPX's entry in the Permian's Delaware Basin where it has an estimated 2.4 billion boe of net resource potential and more than 5,500 gross drillable locations across 102,000 net acres. He succeeds William G. Lowrie, who will become the board's lead independent director. Lowrie has been WPX's chairman since its spinoff five years ago. Ten of WPX's eleven board members are independent. Muncrief is the sole inside director.
BOURBON NAMES ASTRID DE BRÉON CFO
French offshore services giant Bourbon has appointed Astrid de Bréon as chief financial officer. She will assume those duties Feb. 1. She currently serves on the Bourbon board of directors and will resign her seat at that time. The corporation's general management will then be composed of Jacques de Chateauvieux, chairman and CEO; Christian Lefevre, deputy CEO; Gael Bodenes, chief operating officer; and Astrid de Bréon, CFO. Bréon, 37, is a graduate of the ESSEC Business School with a specialty in finance. She has worked at BNP Paribas as a project manager and as coordinator of emerging markets. In 2010, she directed corporate strategy and worked with the general management of BNP Paribas and coordinated the launch of Hellobank for the French network of BNP Paribas. Since 2014, she has been in charge of institutional and corporate clients at the Business Center Paris Etoile Entreprises. She is the daughter of Henri de Chateauvieux, who holds through Mach-Invest International and Mach-Invest, 7.6% of Bourbon's capital.
WOOD GROUP APPOINTS NEW SENIOR LEADERSHIP FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Wood Group has named four senior managers to assist with leading key functions within its Asset Life Cycle Solutions business for the Western Hemisphere. Vikas Moharir, Joe Sanders, Chris Strohman, and Sharon Ramsey will be leading business development; delivery assurance; health, safety, security, environment; and assurance; and strategic resourcing, respectively. Vikas Moharir will lead the business development team. He joined Wood Group in 2012 and has more than 30 years of global industry experience spanning multiple industry sectors, including oil and gas upstream, midstream, and downstream and industrial manufacturing and covering a range of project lifecycle services from process engineering through construction to operations and maintenance. Joe Sanders will lead the delivery assurance team. He has been with Wood Group for 16 years and served as vice president of global engineering for the past seven years. Sanders is a registered professional engineer in Texas and founder and long-term sponsor of the Young Guns development program for employees who are new to the oil and gas industry. Chris Strohman joins Wood Group as vice president of HSSEA for the construction, maintenance, and operations arm of the business. Previously, he was a global subject matter expert in contractor safety and other HSE areas for Shell. He has more than 16 years of experience and holds board certifications as a certified safety professional and construction health and safety technician. Sharon Ramsey has been appointed to the role of strategic resourcing manager and will lead the people resourcing approach across the West region. She has been with Wood Group since 2013, providing talent attraction and delivery solutions to all parts of Wood Group in the UK and Africa.
MURPHY OIL ELECTS NEW DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTS
Murphy Oil Corp. has elected Elisabeth W. Keller to the company's board of directors, and Eugene T. Coleman and Michael K. McFadyen have been named executive vice presidents of the company. Currently, Keller is chair of the board of directors of Keller Enterprises LLC. Coleman is currently serving as executive vice president, offshore for Murphy Exploration & Production Co. and has been elected EVP of Murphy Oil Corp. Coleman joined Murphy in 2001 and has held roles with increasing responsibility abroad and domestically culminating in 2011 becoming EVP, Offshore for Murphy Exploration & Production Co. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from West Virginia University. McFadyen is currently serving as EVP, onshore for Murphy Exploration & Production Co. as well as president, Murphy Oil Co. Ltd., the company's Canadian subsidiary, and has been elected EVP of Murphy Oil Corp. with responsibility for all the corporation's onshore operations. Joining the company in 2002, McFadyen earned roles of increasing responsibility domestically and internationally culminating in president of Murphy Oil Co. Ltd. Following that, he served as EVP of Murphy Exploration & Production Co. since 2011. McFadyen earned a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Wyoming.
MCNAIR JOINS EXECUTIVE TEAM AT H2O AS EVP AND CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
H2O Midstream LLC has added Stephen McNair to its executive leadership team as executive vice president and chief development officer. He served most recently as president of Pioneer Water Management LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneer Natural Resources, one of the largest independent producers in the Permian Basin. In his role at Pioneer, McNair oversaw the largest midstream water operation in North America, responsible for Pioneer's water requirements including supply, transportation, storage, re-use, and disposal of up to 2 million barrels of water per day. Over his 31-year career, he has worked in both the upstream and midstream sectors of the oil and gas industry, at majors and independents, including Conoco, Phillips, DCP Midstream, Teppco, Crosstex, and Pioneer. McNair earned a BS in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.
DAVID SWEENEY JOINS AKIN GUMP IN HOUSTON
David H. Sweeney has joined Akin Gump as a partner in its energy practice in Houston. He comes to Akin Gump from K&L Gates, where he was a partner. He advises clients on a broad range of US domestic and international oil and gas, coal, and other natural resource, infrastructure and finance transactions and comes to Akin Gump from K&L Gates, where he was a partner. During the past 11 years, he has advised on energy-related M&A deals with an aggregate transaction value of more than $60 billion. He regularly represents capital providers, lenders, companies, and management teams in connection with structuring and negotiating equity and debt transactions. Sweeney received his JD, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law and his BA, cum laude, from Yale University.
BANKRUPTCY LITIGATOR NICHOLAS FOLEY JOINS MCKOOL SMITH IN DALLAS
Bankruptcy litigator Nicholas Foley has joined McKool Smith as a principal in its Dallas office. He has more than 25 years of experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in multi-million dollar disputes, in bankruptcy court and in follow-on litigation, and has tried a number of cases in federal, state, and bankruptcy courts as well as in arbitration proceedings. Prior to joining McKool Smith, Foley was a partner at Neligan Foley LLP where he represented receivers in various matters arising from the Stanford insolvency, as well as the receiver for Idearc Litigation Trust, in a multi-billion-dollar claim. Foley has represented the receiver and liquidator in a major cross-border insolvency proceeding, and also represented debtors, trustees, and creditors in significant bankruptcy cases in various bankruptcy courts, including in Texas and New York. In addition to bankruptcy matters, Foley has represented clients in complex commercial litigation in numerous state and federal courts, including matters involving oil and gas disputes, contract claims, and breach of duty claims.
JOHN SNELL JOINS TRUSTAR ENERGY AS CFO
TruStar Energy, a developer of compressed natural gas fueling stations, has hired John Snell as its chief financial officer. Snell comes to TruStar Energy with over 15 years of accounting, operations, and finance experience in public, private, and multinational corporate settings. Snell, a California State University graduate, spent the last 13 years with accounting firm Moss Adams, serving in various audit, consulting, accounting, operations, and finance rolls. Most notably, he was named a partner in the firm in 2014. Snell has more than 17 years' experience in corporate finance, strategy operations, financial planning, forensic accounting, internal audit, and risk management. As the leader of the southwest region of Moss Adams Business Risk Services, Snell helped companies comply with SEC and GAAP reporting regulations, increase profit, and design corporate structure. Over the past five years, Snell has directed forensic investigations leading to sizable cost recoveries. He has operationally driven efficiencies in inventory costing, revenue recognition, and expense management. Snell took the reigns as CFO on December 1.
PENNINE PETROLEUM TAPS HOLUB AS CFO
Calgary-based Pennine Petroleum Corp. has named Michal J. Holub as CFO. Holub, a Chartered Accountant, has held leadership positions with numerous private and public companies in Morocco, Colombia, Tunisia, Indonesia, and the US, as well as Canada, and has accrued extensive experience in financial reporting, accounting, financial modeling, and taxation. He has had stints at Croverro Energy Ltd.; as vice president finance and CFO of Serrano Energy Ltd.; and as controller and corporate secretary at RedStar Oil & Gas Inc. Prior, Holub was a senior manager with BDO Dunwoody LLP. The appointment is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Jeff Saxinger has served as interim CFO since Nov. 10, 2016. He will continue to serve on Pennine's board of directors.
