Appointed

The Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) has elected Matthew Hammond to serve as executive vice president. He would work as the organization’s public face to pursue its legislative agenda, advocacy efforts and lead day-to-day operations. Hammond formerly worked as a lobbyist at Vorys Advisors LLC, where he advised oil and gas industry clients, and as senior director of government affairs for Chesapeake Energy Corp. He replaces Shawn Bennett, who resigned last year to pursue other opportunities, according to a spokesman.

Paul Sullivan and Gerry Peereboom have joined British Columbia LNG developer Steelhead LNG Corp., which has a proposal for a C$30 billion (US$27 billion) chain of plants on Canada’s West coast. Sullivan, a former senior vice president of global LNG and floating LNG at Worley Parsons Group, has been appointed vice president, projects, for Steelhead; and Peereboom, with 38 years of experience with Noble Energy, BP and Amoco, was named vice president, integration.

Warren Resources Inc. has appointed its new CEO, James A. Watt, to serve on the company’s board of directors. Watt was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board, and the company said he would stand for reelection at its annual shareholder meeting next year. Watt was named CEO Nov. 16, ending a nearly one year-long search to fill the position. Lance Peterson had served as interim CEO until Watt’s arrival. Peterson continues to serve on Warren’s board of directors. The company, which tested its first Marcellus Shale wells earlier this year (see Shale Daily,Aug. 18), also said it has appointed Frank T. Smith, Jr. as its CFO. Smith had previously served as the CFO of Dune Energy Inc. Watt also joined Warren from Dune, where he had served as its CEO.

Ben van Beurden, 55, who was appointed downstream director and a member of the executive committee for Royal Dutch Shell plc in January, was named to succeed Peter Voser as CEO on Jan. 1 (see NGI, May 6). Van Beurden has been responsible for refining and marketing businesses, as well as overseeing the trading companies. He also is responsible for the petrochemicals manufacturing and marketing business, which has been eyeing expansions in the United States because of increased natural gas activity, as well as the gas-to-liquids business. He joined Shell in 1983 and has worked in Houston, the Netherlands, Africa, Malaysia and most recently, the UK. He is credited with helping to turn the petrochemicals operations to profitability after several quarters of big losses. The Dutch national earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Former Anadarko Petroleum Corp. chief Jim Hackett was appointed to co-lead the Houston office of private energy investment giant Riverstone Holdings LLC. Hackett stepped down as Anadarko CEO in 2012 and retired as executive chairman in May; he still plans to pursue a master’s degree in theological studies at Harvard Divinity School, completing a two-year program over the next four years (see Daily GPI, March 12). Working at Riverstone is “a way to still stay in touch with a business I love as a principal, but to do it very much in light of my primary duty, which is to go back to school.” Riverstone, founded in 2000, has nearly $24 billion in seven investment funds, with equity invested in operators that include deepwater explorer Cobalt International Energy Inc., midstreamer Magellan Midstream Partners LP and UK shale explorer Cuadrilla Resources Ltd.

BP plc has appointed John Minge as chairman and president of BP America Inc., the producer’s chief U.S. representative. Former chief Lamar McKay is to lead BP’s upstream business. BP’s capital investments in the United States over the past five years exceed $52 billion, more than any other company and more than BP invests in any other country. Minge, who takes over the Houston-based U.S. operations on Feb. 15, has led BP Alaska since January 2009. In 2012, BP Alaska achieved the lowest recordable incident rate in its history, with a 50% reduction from 2009. Minge, who began his BP career in the Gulf of Mexico as a drilling engineer, formerly was president of BP Indonesia, chief of BP’s Asia Pacific Unit and president of exploration and production for Vietnam and China. BP also has named Bob Fryar, now executive vice president for upstream production, as executive vice president for Safety and Operational Risk. Mark Bly, who has headed safety functions since March 2008, plans to retire.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed Richard L. Kauffman as “energy czar” and said he would chair a newly created cabinet position for the Energy Policy and Finance Subcommittee. In a state of the state address, Cuomo said his “ambitious agenda” includes “investments in energy infrastructure, solar power and an electric vehicle network. Kauffman would be tasked with, among other things, creating the state’s first “green bank” within the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The bank would offer loans and grants to further “clean” energy deployment, coordinate and leverage the state’s energy spending and alleviate financial market barriers “that currently impede the flow of private capital to renewable energy projects.” Kauffman is a senior adviser to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. He serves on the boards of the Brookings Institution and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell has been appointed to serve as mediator in ongoing talks aimed at resolving a series of enforcement cases against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) stemming from a natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion two years ago in San Bruno, CA, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said.

David Porter, commissioner on the Railroad Commission of Texas, has been appointed by the state’s governor to serve as the official representative of Texas to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), a multi-state agency that works to ensure that the nation’s oil and natural gas resources are conserved and maximized while protecting health, safety and the environment. Porter will serve as host for IOGCC’s 2012 Annual Meeting Oct. 29 through 31 in San Antonio. His ongoing responsibilities at IOGCC include serving as spokesman for the group in Texas, meeting with the governor to discuss current issues, authoring/sponsoring IOGCC resolutions, voting during business session, participating in committees and regularly attending meetings.