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Atlas Interactive has appointedAlan Pollock as VP of global sales to assist the company’s strategy to double its sales within the next four years. His responsibilities include harnessing the company’s global sales operations, and capitalizing on new opportunities and new services.

W. Reid Lea has resigned as executive VP and manager of corporate development for W&T Offshore. He has agreed to serve as a consultant for 10 months to assist with the company’s transition. He is leaving to pursue other business opportunities.

John L. Whitmire has resigned from Transocean’s board of directors because of health reasons. He has served on the board since November 2007.

Alderley Systems has appointedEddie McCusker as regional sales director.

Reef Subsea has appointedMark Preece as CEO.

CGGVeritas has appointedJean-Georges Malcor as CEO. Robert Brunck will continue as chairman of the board of directors.

SeeByte has appointedBob Black as CEO. Black’s mission is to take SeeByte deeper into global energy and defense markets.

InterMoor has namedDavid Cobb as business development VP. Cobb will be responsible for overseeing the company’s global sales, marketing, and business development efforts based out of InterMoor’s Houston office.

Granherne has appointedJohn M. Vitucci as field development manager for the Americas.

Cutting & Wear has namedSiân Jones as sales and marketing assistant.

Fluor Corp. has electedRosemary T. Berkery and H. Paulett Eberhart to its board of directors. Berkery is vice chairman of UBS Wealth Management Americas, and chairman of UBS Bank USA. Eberhart is chairman and CEO of HMS Ventures.

Hardy Exploration and Production India has appointedWilliam Satterfield as technical director, and Robert White as drilling manager. Satterfield will be responsible for Hardy’s exploration, appraisal, and development activities in India.

OMM has appointedRobert Skidmore as finance director.

Hoover Materials Handling Group has appointedDean Freeman to lead business development in Latin America. Freeman will be responsible for sales, customer service, and expansion of the intermediate bulk containers market in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela.

UniversalPegasus International has namedJohn M. Jameson as CEO. He succeeds Jerry Mayfield who will become executive chairman.

Pulse Structural Monitoring has appointedRichard Kluth as managing director. Kluth will oversee the company’s global operations, and will be responsible for the development of business and marketing strategies, and managing business development activities.

Ferguson Modular has appointedBjarte Andreassen as business development manager for Norway.

Halliburton has addedAbdallah S. Jum’ah to its board of directors, effective July 14. Jum’ah is the former president and CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

Ciaran Dreelan, director of Aker Qserv, was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2010 Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise.

Wood Group Surface Pumps has hiredRyan Ballard as an applications engineer.

Simmons & Company International’s chairman emeritus,Matthew R. Simmons, announced his retirement. He plans to focus his attention on the Ocean Energy Institute.

Company News

FMC Technologies has contracted with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro to build a technology center in Brazil. The center will be at the university’s Technology Park. The building will contain engineering offices, technical training and design areas, research and development laboratories, and the capability for full-scale prototype integration and testing of subsea systems. Construction will begin this month, and is expected to open in the first half of 2011.

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has unveiled the country’s 21st Licensing Round, all in frontier northern offshore areas. Fifty-one blocks are on offer in the Barents Sea and 43 in the Norwegian Sea. Applications must be submitted by midday, Nov. 3. Resultant production licenses should be awarded during 2Q 2011.

Twenty-six oil and gas industry professionals from 20 countries have participated in theGE Oil & Gas University graduation ceremony held at the company’s headquarters in Florence, Italy. During the six-month program, experts and instructors from GE Oil & Gas, university professors, and international professionals covered different aspects of the energy sector, from the exploration and production of energy sources to their utilization.

ITS Group’s Aberdeen machine shop facility has received the Fearnley Procter NS-1 Approved Service Centre status by Fearnley Procter Group, a global company focused on the provision of knowledgeable solutions to prevent drilling incidents occurring downhole. The award recognizes ITS for its quality and process control procedures for new and refurbished drilling equipment used during the drilling and completion of oil and gas wells.

Statoil has awarded Aker Solutions a significant part of the frame agreement for inspection services on all of its offshore installations and onshore plants in Norway. The contract period is for four years, with options for further extensions up to four years. The yearly volume of the contract will fluctuate, but Aker Solutions estimates the typical value to be approximately NOK 182.5 million ($28.5 million) per year.

C-MAC MicroTechnology has enhanced its test house facility in Great Yarmouth, UK. The enhancements include a cold storage facility for testing instruments to -85 °C (-121° F). A new vibration system allows electrical, electro-mechanical, and mechanical components, and products to be tested. The test house’s accreditation has been extended to include EIA-364.

dGB Earth Sciences has donated $4.8 million in licenses of its OpendTect software and corresponding commercial plug-ins to 20 universities in Nigeria. dGB Earth Sciences provides seismic interpretation software to the oil and gas industry. The company partnered with Danvic Concepts International, a Nigerian oil and gas services provider, to help PhD and MSc students in Nigeria hone their seismic interpretation techniques.

Atlas Copco has opened Atlas Copco DRC Sprl., a fully-owned legal entity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Acteon has completed its acquisition of mooring equipment and services supplier IOS Holding AS and its subsidiary IOS Offshore AS from Norse Cutting & Abandonment.

Total says it has acquired from Shell a 20% interest in Brazil’s BM-S-54 license in Santos basin. Shell remains the operator and has the remaining 80% interest. BM-S-54 is 200 km (124 mi) south of Rio de Janeiro in 2,000 m (6,562 ft) water depth and covers 700 sq km (270 sq mi).

Maven Capital Partners has invested more than £2 million ($3 million) in XPD8 Solutions Ltd. The investment has facilitated a management buy-out estimated to be worth more than £6 million ($9 million). The transaction enables XPD8 to buy into the safety management and maintenance sector of the global oil and gas industry.

Deepwater has relocated its fabrication operations in the US to a facility in Houston’s energy corridor. The 16,000-sq ft (1,486-sq m) facility is located on FM 529, near the corporate headquarters on Britmore (Train Court location).

Oilfield Material Management has announced a seven-figure investment deal with Dubai-based oil and gas services group COR International. The deal aims to open up complimentary market opportunities for both drilling rental equipment firms.

Noble Corp. has agreed to acquire Frontier Drilling Inc. for $2.16 billion. Frontier has three dynamically positioned drillships, two conventionally moored drillships, a conventionally moored deepwater semisubmersible rig, and one FPSO. The transaction is expected to close by the end of July 2010, says Noble.

Sander Geophysics has acquired a de Havilland DHC-6 300 Twin Otter survey aircraft from the Geological Survey of Finland, and the British Geological Survey. The aircraft is equipped with a frequency-domain electromagnetic system, a stinger mounted magnetometer, and a radiometric system.

Baker Hughes has opened its Eco-Centre waste management facility in Peterhead, Scotland. The installation will provide compliant waste processing for all liquids and solids generated during drilling. The plant also has remote monitoring capabilities for online tracking of waste streams.

Claxton, the Acteon Group drilling services company, is to offer further equipment for rental from its base in Dubai. Companies in the Middle East region can now order items including riser tension rings and tension systems; flushing and brushing tools; hot tap kit from 2 in. to 36 in. (5-91 cm); and cold-cutting equipment from 7 in. to 30 in. (17.8-76 cm).

In a joint venture,Kongsberg Maritime and Unique Systems have established Kongsberg Maritime Middle East. Kongsberg Maritime Middle East is a service, support, and after sales company, established to support vessels and yards in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

InterMoor has won the 2010 Best of Amelia Award in the Drilling Oil & Gas Wells category from the United States Commerce Association. The association identifies companies they believe have achieved marketing success in their local community and business category.

GE Oil & Gas has opened a $6-million facility south of Baku to serve the Caspian region. The facility, which will employ 14 local personnel by year-end, will provide GE’s range of drilling and production equipment repair, maintenance, and refurbishment services.

Sembcorp Marine broke ground on Singapore’s first integrated yard facility at the company’s Tuas View Extension. The facility is designed for ship repair and conversion, shipbuilding, rig building, and offshore engineering and construction and to meet new regulatory requirements and environmental standards.

C & C Technologies has opened a West Coast division, and appointed Richard McGee as manager. The Bothell, Washington, office will provide hydrographic, geophysical and soils engineering services, and physical oceanographic projects.

Hess has exercised its right to pre-empt Total’s sale to BP of its interests in the Valhall and Hod fields in the Norwegian North Sea. As a result, Hess will gain a further 7.85% stake in Valhall and 12.5% in Hod for a cash consideration of $496 million.

Gazprom and Statoil have signed a scientific and technical cooperation agreement that will lead to joint programs and studies. According to the terms of the agreement, the two parties will compile a “Sci-Tech Cooperation Program” which will be open to adjustment every one to three years. Gazprom and Statoil are partners in Phase I of the Shtokman gas and condensate field development in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea.

The boards ofAcergy and Subsea 7 have agreed to combine the two companies. The new entity – to be named Subsea 7 – will be headed by Subsea 7’s current chairman, Kristian Siem. Others in the executive management team will include Jean Cahuzac as CEO, and John Evans as COO. Assuming regulatory and shareholder approvals, the merger could be completed toward the end of this year or early in 2011.

A consortium fronted byAdira Energy has been awarded the “Samuel” petroleum license offshore Israel. Adira has a 38.25% in the license held through subsidiaries Adira Oil Technologies (100% owned) and Adira GeoGlobal (60% owned). Other participants are GeoGlobal Resources (India), Brownstone Ventures, and Pinetree Capital. Adira GeoGlobal and GeoGlobal Resources (India) have been designated as joint operators of the permit, which adjoins the Israeli coast, stretching from Ashkelon to Bat Yam. Samuel also is contiguous and southeast of Adira’s Gabriella license. The new permit, granted for an initial three-year term, is in shallow water, with many of the target structures in water depths below 100 m (328 ft).

Devon Energy has completed the $515 million sale of its Panyu field offshore China to China National Offshore Oil Corp. According to the company, in 2009 the Panyu field produced about 12,000 b/d of oil.

Rosneft and Chevron have agreed to jointly explore the Val Shatsky (West Chernomrsky) license area in the Black Sea. Val Shatsky covers 8,600 sq km (3,320 sq mi) in the eastern part of the Black Sea. Studies have identified 10 potential structures, with potential resources of around 860 million tons of oil. A first exploratory well is planned for end-2011.

Gazprom and Siemens have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in LNG technology projects, which will lead to various joint development programs. These will include the construction of a demo plant for LNG production based on the “Liquefin” liquefaction technology, and a study to evaluate joint manufacturing of components for Russian LNG plants.

DSME and Russian United Shipbuilding Corp. will jointly construct a new shipyard in Zvezda, northern Russia. The existing yard is equipped to build and repair only Russian naval vessels. Under the new arrangement, DSME will install new facilities, including a dry dock and a Goliath crane. The yard will be extended in size to 1.6 million sq m (17 million sq ft), allowing it to build offshore structures and large vessels. DSME expects to gain new orders from Russia as a result.

The Rowan Co. board of directors has approved Rowan’s purchase of all of the ordinary shares in Skeie Drilling & Production ASA. The company will launch a tender offer for the remaining 49.7% of SKDP’s outstanding ordinary shares, and expects to complete the offer in Sept. 2010, following the prospectus review of the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority.

MacDermid Offshore Solutions has signed a frame agreement with Woodside Energy thereby consolidating its subsea production control fluids. The agreement is for a three-year period with a two-year option.