January 2016, Vol. 243, No. 1
Business Meetings & Events
Company & Association News
The Board of Directors of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers elected Robert W. Osborne vice chairman at its recent meeting in Fort Worth. Osborne, who has been in the oil and gas business since 1971, is vice president and 50% owner of Cobra Oil & Gas Corp. in Wichita Falls.
Personnel Changes
EQT Corp. promoted Steven Schlotterbeck, who led its natural gas exploration and production business, to company president. Schlotterbeck, an executive vice president since 2013 and president of E&P since 2010, replaces David L. Porges, who remains chairman and CEO. Schlotterbeck joined the Pittsburgh-based company in 2000.
AGL Resources announced the retirement of John W. Somerhalder II, chairman and CEO and a member of the AGL Resources board of directors. AGL Resources veteran Andrew W. (Drew) Evans will become president and CEO. James A. Rubright, lead director of the board of directors, will become non-executive chairman.
Randall Hartsfield, PE, has joined Stress Engineering Services Inc. where he will work on onshore pipeline systems and facilities.
MPG Pipeline Contractors named Dan Murphy as quality assurance manager in its Houston office. He will enhance and implement a quality-assurance program to manage quality control, ensure traceability of components and materials and organize construction turnover through commissioning and startup functions.
Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P (ETP) announced the promotion of Marshall (Mackie) S. McCrea, formerly president and COO of ETP, to group chief operating officer and chief commercial officer for ETE. Also effective is the appointment of longtime ETE board member Matthew S. Ramsey as president and COO of ETP.
Smith Flow Control appointed Tracey Goldsmith as president. She is responsible for strategic development and global operations.
Matt Kirk has joined Wood Group Kenny as vice president of operations. He will focus on broadening the company’s client base in the Americas.
Guojin (Gordon) Wang joined Entech Engineering, Inc. as senior natural gas technical manager. He will be work in the Reading, PA office.
Asset Risk Management (ARM) hired three senior executives and promoted another. The appointments include Michael Christopher as CFO and chief investment officer, Shannon Flowers as senior vice president, head of Crude Marketing, North America, and Bruce Bianchini as senior vice president, Origination. ARM also promoted Stephanie Barker to senior vice president, Origination.
Energy veteran and former Access Midstream CEO Mike Stice joined EIM Capital’s board of advisors to help plan energy infrastructure in Mexico. According to EIM, Stice will join similar luminaries such as former Mexican President Vicente Fox, former Minister of Communication and Transportation Pedro Cerisola, and the Dean of Escuela Libre de Derecho Fauzi Hamdan.
PG&E Corp. promoted Jason P. Wells to senior vice president and CFO. He succeeds Kent Harvey who is retiring after 33 years with PG&E.
UGI Corp. appointed Roger Perreault to the new created position of president, UGI International. He will lead merger and acquisition activities in Europe and be responsible for UGI’s global LPG supply strategy.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) named Mike Celata as regional director of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region. Celata has been with BOEM and its predecessors since 1988.
Ken Cohen, vice president, Public and Government Affairs, ExxonMobil, is retiring after 38 years of service. Suzanne McCarron is expected to be his replacement. She is currently general manager, Public and Government Affairs, and president, ExxonMobil Foundation.
Sheila Gailloreto was promoted to vice president of marketing for Fairbanks Morse Engine, an EnPro Industries company.
Bond promoted Sean McAuliffe to director, Mid-Atlantic Region, while Michael Dahlheimer was elevated to regional manager, Southern New England. They will help the construction management and general contracting company expand its presence in the Northeast.
Company News, Mergers & Acquisitions
Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. will acquire Pecten Midstream LLC, which owns the 2 MMbbl Lockport crude terminal in Chicago and the 175-mile Auger Pipeline system in the Gulf of Mexico for $390 million from Shell Pipeline Company LP.
Lincoln Electric Co. is investing $30 million in a new Welding Technology Center on its Euclid, OH campus to train welding educators. The center will provide training for veterans. Construction is expected to begin soon with an opening anticipated in 2017.
GE Oil & Gas signed a $610 million agreement with Corpus Christi Liquefaction, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, to provide spare parts and planned inspections, maintenance services and technical support for the gas turbines and refrigerant compressors on the first two LNG trains under construction at Cheniere’s LNG export facility in Corpus Christi, TX.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. has acquired Infield Systems. The company will become part of Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk Analytics business, and will provide services to enhance Wood Mackenzie’s upstream and supply chain capabilities.
McElroy has added Fortiline to its growing network of distributors. Fortiline will sell and service McElroy fusion equipment and provide operator training to customers throughout the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
H&E Equipment Services, Inc.’s operation in Columbia, SC relocated to 125 Cort Road, Columbia, SC 29203.
iSURVEY secured a framework contract with Total E&P UK Limited for the provision of rig move navigation and positioning services. The three-year deal gives the iSURVEY team the opportunity to provide platform, rig and vessel-based positioning services to Total’s offshore operations in the U.K. Continental Shelf.
Ritchie Bros. sold 4,200 equipment items and trucks for $50 million at an unreserved public auction Nov. 11-12 in Houston. The company conducted five auctions in the city during 2015, selling a combined 19,700 lots for $238 million with over 21,000 total bidder registrations, making it the site’s largest year ever. The two-day auction attracted 4,500 bidders from 55 countries, including 2,700 online bidders. More than half of the equipment was sold to out-of-state buyers from as far away as Turkey, China and India, Ritchie Bros. said.
Shafer, Kline & Warren (SKW) launched a construction services group to focus on underserved small capital, and operations and maintenance projects.
Gardner Denver’s Petroleum & Industrial Pumps Division opened a regional repair center in Odessa, TX. The center also offers equipment and advanced testing capabilities. Gardner Denver has five facilities for repair, testing and manufacturing in Quincy, IL, Tulsa, OK, Altoona, PA, Fort Worth and Odessa.
Genel Energy Plc, one of the main oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, plans to establish a joint company with the Iraqi Kurdish government to develop gas fields, according to Reuters. The Iraqi Kurdistan region accounts for 600,000-700,000 bpd of crude exports.
The Hobart Institute of Welding Technology will break ground on a welding learning center at its Troy, OH campus shortly. The facility will feature state-of-the-art capabilities for welder education, welding procedures, welder qualification testing, certification services and specialized training.
A University of Houston researcher has earned a $1.8 million grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to determine how the use of dispersants to break up an oil spills affects the natural cleaning role played by bacteria. Jacinta Conrad, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, will lead the effort that was formed after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Obituary
Dennis E. Bennett, 69, of Plainfield, IL died Nov. 13. A native of Rockford, IL,
he leaves his wife, Joan; daughter, Angela (David) LoConte; two grandchildren; father, Robert E. Bennett; and sisters, Joy (Jon) Wirth and Carla (Bradley) Miller. He was preceded in death by his son, Dennis James “Jaime” Bennett; and mother, Doris Bennett. Bennett served in the U.S. Air Force and for the past 15 years worked as a field sales/rental representative with Illinois Truck & Equipment Co., in Morris, IL.
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