People
The Smith International Inc. board of directors of has electedMichael D. Pearce to the position of president of Smith Technologies. His appointment was effective May 15. Pearce previously held the position of vice president of sales for Smith Bits.
Brady
Knowledge Systems added two members to its staff.Dave Savelle joined its board of directors to guide the company in executive decisions and directions. The company also named Kevin Brady as vice president - marketing. Brady will lead marketing efforts to build the company’s global presence, customer base, and product mix.
Foster Marketing Communications namedTiffany Harris as executive vice president. She will oversee all Louisiana operations.
Atlantia Offshore Ltd. hired three industry professionals to its staff.John R. Gommel joined as project controls manager. He was previously with J. Ray McDermott Engineering where he served as manager of project services. Malcolm J. Taylor joined as senior project manager. He was previously with ABB Floating Production Systems as project director. Hardy Thomas joined Atlantia as engineering project manager. He was previously with Technip Offshore Engineering Inc. where he served as project manager.
Nomads
The Houston chapter of the National Oilfield Manufacturers and Delegates Society installed its new slate of officers including:Kurt Abraham as vice president, Jimmy Morris as treasurer, Richard Parliman as secretary, Richard Vernotzy as president, Gary Kirsch as sergeant-at-arms, and Bedford Pearcy as immediate past president.
Knight Oil Tools promotedKeith Alexander to senior technical support coordinator and Richard Moak to Houston sales manager. Alexander will oversee technical support for fishing services and oilfield rental tools in Houston. Moak will manage the Houston-based sales force.
Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd. appointedPatrick Bird as exploration manager. Bird previously held exploration roles at Dragon Oil and Scott Pickford.
The Association of British Independent Oil Exploration Companies electedTom Cross as chairman. Cross is CEO of Dana Petroleum plc and succeeds RoyFranklin, CEO of Paladin Resources plc, who was chairman from 2001 to 2004.
Companies
National-Oilwell Inc. and Varco International Inc. merged. The companies shareholders approved the $2.5-billion combination.
OceanWorks International Inc. and Deep Down Inc. have formed a strategic alliance to provide subsea distribution hardware to subsea distribution suppliers. The scope of the agreement includes engineering design and manufacturing services, J-plate and flying lead equipment, installation hardware and services, ROV tooling, extended factory acceptance and system integration testing, installation monitoring, post installation testing, system commissioning services, installation engineering, management services and storage, maintenance, and logistical support of subsea equipment.
Expro International Group PLC acquired DHV International Inc., which supplies downhole video services with its Hawk-Eye III, Fibre-Optic, and Slickline camera systems.
Modec Inc. received a Letter of Intent from Korea National Oil Corp. for an FSO vessel for KNOC’s Rong Doi/Rong Doi Tay fields offshore Vietnam together with Petroleum Technical Services Co., a subsidiary of Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. as consortium. The LOI includes a seven-year charter of the FSO to KNOC with a maximum 30-year operation.
PSL Energy Services Ltd. won a BP federal contract to provide coiled tubing and pumping services. The three-year contract, with options, covers BP’s Miller assets in the central North Sea and the Wytch Farm facility in Dorset, and could be worth £6 million.
Labtech's cabins will be used for subsea completions.
Labtech Modular Engineering delivered two process units worth over £110,000 to the independent drilling, fluid control, and automation company, Hitec Products, based in Stavanger. The cabins will be used for subsea well completions on the Greater Plutonio field, block 18, offshore Angola.
TSC Holdings Group Inc. opened a Houston division, merging with Offshore Technological Consulting Group LLC. OTC Group’s president, Bradley Parro, will manage OTC.
Ødegaard opened new offices in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in collaboration with StrataImages, a locally based oil and gas consulting company.
emgs (ElectroMagnetic GeoServices AS) opened an office in Houston. Mark Wilkinson, president of emgs Americas LP, leads the new operation.
T&T Marine Salvage Inc. of Galveston, Texas, and the Bisso Marine Co. Inc. of New Orleans, Louisiana, formed a new response alliance, T&T Bisso LLC. The alliance was established to help operators meet the OPA 90 US Coast Guard requirements for a spill response plan. T&T Bisso will offer OPA 90 coverage throughout the US including salvage masters, salvage engineers, heavy lift, diving, survey, towing, lightering, and firefighting.
Addendum
Due to space limitations,Offshore omitted acknowledgements and references for “Velocity variations...,” page 118 in the April 2005 issue. They are presented here:
Thanks to the Edinburgh Time-Lapse Project (phase 1) and its sponsors (BG Group, BP, ChevronTexaco, Concept Systems, Fairfield, Landmark, Shell, Statoil, Schlumberger, Total) for supporting the author’s PhD research at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, UK), from which this article is derived. Thanks to Charles Carvill of WesternGeco who provided the seismic section.
MacKay, S., Fried, J., and Carvill, C., 2003; The impact of water velocity variations on deepwater seismic data;The Leading Edge, 22, 344-350.
Medwin, H., 1975; Speed of sound in water: a simple equation for realistic parameters;J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 58, 1318-1319.
Bertrand, A. and MacBeth, C., 2005; Repeatability enhancement in deepwater permanent seismic installations: a dynamic correction for seawater velocity variations; Geophysical Prospecting, in press.
