Compiled by Ariana Hurtado, Editor-in-Chief
The new year has brought on a lot of personnel changes. Catch up on the "who's who" news you may have missed. This roundup also highlights the latest company news, M&A deals, transfer of interests, new facilities, and more.
C-suite changes
Joseph A. Mills resigned Jan. 6 as Talos Energy's interim president and CEO and as a member of the company's board to pursue other opportunities. Tim Duncan stepped down from his role as the former president and CEO at the end of August 2024, which is when Mills began serving as interim president and CEO. The company says it has identified a finalist candidate to serve as the permanent CEO and is in the final stages of the process with this candidate. This person is expected to join the company by the end of first-quarter 2025. Read more.
Galp announced Jan. 7 that Filipe Silva resigned as CEO and vice president of the board of directors for family reasons. A few days later, on Jan. 10, the company's board of directors unanimously appointed board members Maria João Carioca (CFO) and João Diogo Marques da Silva (EVP commercial) as interim co-chairmans of the executive committee (CEO), accumulating both functions. Read more.
Arthur Halleran, Trillion Energy International's CEO and director of the company, resigned and retired on Dec. 27, 2024. Sean Stofer has been appointed chairman of the board of directors and will also assume the role of interim CEO while the company completes its executive search for a permanent CEO. Moreover, Scott Lower was appointed as president on Jan. 3 and Burak Tolga Terzi has been named a vice president and deputy general manager. Read more.
A. Paul Blakeley has elected to step down as executive director, president and CEO of Jadestone Energy. Joanne Williams, currently an independent non-executive director, has been appointed COO. Dr. Adel Chaouch, currently non-executive chairman, has been named executive chairman. Lastly, Linda Beal, currently an independent non-executive director, has been appointed senior independent non-executive director. Read more.
Naser Saif Al Yafei of ADNOC has been named CEO of newly formed Arcius Energy, and bp’s Katerina Papalexandri will serve as CFO. Read more.
Global Gravity COO Tom Rasmussen has been promoted to CEO. He succeeds Kenneth Hagelskjær, founder of Global Gravity, who will continue as the chairman of a newly established board of directors. Jacob Gehlert, currently HR manager at sister company Engineered Market Solutions, also has joined the new board of directors.
Byron Bright, currently president of Government Solutions US, has been appointed to serve in KBR's newly created COO role, effective May 2025.
James Thomson assumed the position of Kistos' CFO and become a member of the board of directors on Jan. 1. He succeeded Richard Slape who held the position since October 2021 and has stepped down from his board responsibilities.
Wood Mackenzie Inc. has appointed Garet Guthrie CFO. He succeeds Simon Crowe, who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities.
APA Corp. has named Kimberly Warnica executive vice president and chief legal officer.
Chevron Corp. has named Laura Lane vice president and chief corporate affairs officer, effective Feb. 1, succeeding Al Williams, who is retiring in April after 34 years at the company. Read more.
Quorum Software has appointed Radhika Krishnan its new chief product and technology officer and Jamie Graves executive vice president and chief legal officer.
OEG Energy Group Ltd. has selected Paula Richardson for the newly created role of chief human resources officer, based at the company's new headquarters in Dyce, Aberdeen. She will also join the executive team as part of her responsibilities.
Additional appointments, promotions and resignations
Clay Bretches, executive vice president of APA Corp.'s Operations, has announced plans to retire July 1, 2025. The company has launched an internal and external search for a replacement. Bretches will remain with the organization to help ensure a smooth transition to a new leader, anticipated in the first half of 2025.
KOIL Energy Solutions Inc., a provider of subsea equipment and support services, announced on Jan. 15 the resignation of Trevor Ashurst from his position as vice president of finance and administration, effective Feb. 1, 2025.
EnerMech has appointed Jason Harrower global HSE director. Based in Aberdeen, Harrower takes a position as part of the organization’s senior leadership team having joined EnerMech earlier this month.
Interocean Marine Services has named Robert Dalziel managing director for the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Motive Offshore Group has appointed David Mitchell MENA regional manager.
EastWind, the eastern region’s Offshore Wind Cluster, has elected Denise Hone (RWE) and Esmee Thornton (Siemens Gamesa) as the new chair and vice chair of EastWind, respectively. The pair will lead EastWind for the next three years and are set to begin their new roles Jan. 24.
Renewable energy consultancy and service provider Natural Power has appointed Matthew Kelly head of asset management. He replaces Alistair Parlett who was with the company for more than 20 years and retired in December.
ALLY Energy has welcomed Dr. Paul G. Stoltz as its co-founder and adviser, joining Founder Katie Mehnert.
TWMA has appointed Jonathan Parkes its new group commercial director.
Board of directors updates
Jadestone Energy Plc has appointed David Mendelson to its board of directors as an independent non-executive director. He also joined the board’s Remuneration Committee and Governance and Nomination Committee.
KBR Chair, General Lester L. Lyles, notified the board of directors of his decision to retire from service, effective post KBR's 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. General Lyles has served on the board since 2007 and as chair since 2019. The board appointed Stuart Bradie, president and CEO, to serve as chair, effective following the 2025 annual meeting. An independent lead director will be appointed ahead of the same meeting.
Gunnar Eliassen has resigned as deputy chair from Prosafe's board of directors due to other commitments. Eliassen had been a member of the board since February 2024.
Newly formed Elementz was launched last year, providing subsea asset integrity management software. CEO Jason Brown will be joined on the board by Aize CEO Jarle Skrebergene who will take on the role of chairman, supported by board member Camilla Leon (vice president of subsea, AkerBP).
Vallourec has appointed Annelise Le Gall as a new employee representative director to its board of directors for a four-year term. The board now includes two employee directors, Annelise Le Gall and Patrick Poulin.
Oceantic Network has selected Joe Tirone, energy partner at Jones Walker, as the board of director’s new chair and Zach Skelton, business development manager for US renewables at Seaway7, as its new secretary. Nat Spencer, COO with Kraken Robotics, will continue to serve as treasurer. In addition, five new members began their term Jan. 1: Mark Benacquisto, executive director, millwright/piledriver labor management at the United Carpenters and Joiners of America; Michael Braid, vice president of renewables at Edison Chouest Offshore; Amanda Lefton, head of the East at RWE Offshore; Kent Herzog, senior managing director with Burns & McDonnell; and Joshua Weinstein, president of offshore wind Americas with bp.
Company news: acquisitions, investments and joint ventures
SBM Offshore has made an initial equity investment in Ocean-Power, based in Ronglan, Norway. It follows a memorandum of understanding that both parties signed last June. SBM views the arrangement as providing entry point for its carbon capture capability in the power market. Read more.
Vantage Drilling International Ltd. has created a joint venture entity with TotalEnergies to be called TEVA Ship Charter LLC. Read more.
Solstad Subsea Holding has agreed to acquire a 35% stake in Omega Subsea, according to a Dec. 20 company news release. Omega Subsea supplies ROVs and associated tools, personnel, survey and project management services to the subsea industry. Read more.
Talos Energy has agreed to sell an additional 30.1% interest in Talos Mexico to Zamajal, a company co-owned by Grupo Carso and Control Empresarial de Capitale. Upon closing of the transaction, Talos will receive $49.7 million followed by a further $33 million once the Zama field offshore Mexico has produced first oil. Read more.
CNOOC has agreed to sell subsidiary CNOOC Holdings U.S.A. to INEOS Energy. The stock purchase agreement covers CNOOC’s upstream oil and gas interests in the US Gulf of Mexico, mainly non-operated shares of producing oil and gas projects such as the deepwater Appomattox and Stampede, plus other more mature fields. Read more.
bp and XRG have completed the formation of Arcius Energy, their new joint venture and international natural gas platform. XRG, ADNOC’s investment company, has a 49% share, with bp owning 51%. Read more.
Kosmos Energy confirmed on Dec. 12 that it has held preliminary talks concerning an all-share offer for Tullow Oil. The two companies are partners in the deepwater Jubilee and TEN fields offshore Ghana, both of which Tullow operates. As of today, Kosmos has not released any updates regarding this matter. Read more.
Serica Energy has agreed to acquire Parkmead (E&P) for up to £14 million ($17.9 million), according to a Dec. 12 company news release. The transaction should close in the first half of 2025, subject to consent from the North Sea Transition Authority and the carve-out of PUK’s Dutch assets to a Parkmead affiliate. Read more.
TotalEnergies has completed its acquisition of the 100% interests held by OMV (50%) and Sapura Upstream Assets (50%) in Malaysian gas producer SapuraOMV Upstream, according to a Dec. 10 TotalEnergies press release. Read more.
Equinor has completed the sales of its upstream businesses in Azerbaijan and Nigeria at an estimated price of up to $2 billion. Chappal Energies has acquired Equinor Nigeria Energy Co., which has a 53.85% ownership in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including a unitized 20.21% stake in the Chevron-operated Agbami oil field. In Azerbaijan, Equinor has completed a transaction under a sales and purchase agreement for the offshore Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) field and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. The company has sold its 7.27% interest in ACG to SOCAR and ONGC, and its 8.71% in BTC to the same companies. Read more.
bp and JERA plan to combine their offshore wind businesses into a new standalone 50:50 joint venture. The new entity, to be named JERA Nex bp, will have mix of operating assets and projects under development with a potential total 13 GW net generating capacity. Read more.
Swire Group’s wind turbine maintenance division Swire Renewable Energy (SRE) has agreed to acquire Rope Access Sverige, a Swedish blade repair specialist, according to a Dec. 6 company news release. Read more.
ABL Group entered into an agreement Dec. 5 to acquire Rio de Janeiro-based Proper Marine, a naval architecture and engineering consultancy. The intention is to merge the company with ABL’s design and engineering division, Longitude, expanding the group’s capabilities in design and engineering for offshore energy and maritime construction and operations. Read more.
Wavecon Ltd., which designs and manufactures subsea connectors and cable harnesses for ROVs used by offshore energy operators, has secured a second investment from UKSE, the Tata Steel business-support subsidiary. The five-figure unsecured loan from UKSE has helped Wavecon purchase vital capital equipment to automate production and increase its stock levels. UKSE provided a similar investment soon after the company was set up in 2021.
GD Energy Products, a provider of frac, drilling and well servicing pumps, has successfully integrated ValTek, a manufacturer of hydraulic fracturing pumps, parts and consumables, into its portfolio.
Varel Energy Solutions has acquired Ace Well Technology, an international supplier of oilfield casing, cementing and completion products.
New facilities/centers
Drydocks World officially opened its new South Yard expansion in late December. The 75,000-sq-m facility increases the site’s fabrication capacity by 40% and yard capacity by 25%. Drydocks World says it made the investment to enable it to execute multiple large-scale projects at the same time, such as FPSO conversions; constructing topsides for offshore platforms; and fabricating HVAC and HVDC converter platforms for offshore wind developments. Read more.
McDermott has invested in Dubai, opening a new welding and technology center for research, development and qualification at the Oilfields Supply Center in the Jebel Ali Freezone. It provides more than 4,100 sq m of office and workshop space and capacity for 250 personnel, and it will offer a full range of welding, pipeline coating, non-destructive testing, equipment management, and production simulation services, alongside R&D initiatives. Read more.
