Appointed

Responding to creditor’s concerns, Enron’s bankruptcy court judge has granted a request for the appointment of an examiner to monitor cash flow at Enron North America. Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez appeased creditors by approving the installation of an examiner, but refused their demands that Enron N.A. be allowed to control its own finances.

Canada’s newly appointed natural resources minister is considering ending a ban against drilling in one of the nation’s most environmentally-sensitive spots, the Queen Charlotte Islands area offshore of British Columbia. Herb Dhaliwal pledged to keep an open mind — and hinted at adopting an encouraging attitude toward industry expansion in British Columbia — after an introductory meeting in Calgary with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Dhaliwal said he will be “very interested” to see the forthcoming report of a review panel that has been reconsidering Canada’s 30-year-old West Coast drilling moratorium since last summer.

Canada’s newly-appointed natural resources minister is considering ending a ban against drilling in one of the nation’s most environmentally-sensitive spots, the Queen Charlotte Islands area offshore of British Columbia. Herb Dhaliwal pledged to keep an open mind — and hinted at adopting an encouraging attitude towards industry expansion in British Columbia — after an introductory meeting in Calgary with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Dhaliwal said he will be “very interested” to see the forthcoming report of a review panel that has been reconsidering Canada’s 30-year-old West Coast drilling moratorium since last summer.

Former Enron executive Mario Max Yzaguirre, who recently resigned as president of Enron de Mexico, has been named by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to fill the spot vacated by Judy Walsh on the three-member Texas Public Utilities Commission. Perry still has one spot to fill after former Chairman Pat Wood III was named to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Dynegy Inc. said Wednesday that it has appointed Matt K. Schatzman, previously president of Energy Trading, to the positions of president and CEO of the company’s energy convergence business. In his new roles, Schatzman will add energy marketing and origination, commercial asset management, operations and development of Dynegy’s U.S. generation facilities, and Dynegy Canada to his current responsibilities, which include all energy transportation, logistics and risk management activities. He will continue to report to Steve Bergstrom, Dynegy Inc. president and COO. Schatzman joined Dynegy in 1990 as director of transportation after spending three years at Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. Cliff Hare, formerly senior vice president of marketing and origination for the Southeast, will replace Schatzman as president of Energy Trading. After spending 10 years with Southern Natural Gas Co., Hare joined Natural Gas Clearinghouse, Dynegy’s predecessor company, in 1987 and has served in various departments within the company, including transportation, gas trading, power fuel and gas and power marketing. He will relocate to Dynegy’s Houston headquarters and will report to Schatzman.

Shell Oil Co. said Wednesday that it has appointed Steve Murray, currently president of Shell Trading United States, to succeed Alan Raymond as CEO of Shell Energy Services Co. LLC. The company said the switch will take effect on Dec. 1. Shell said that Raymond has been instrumental in the operation of Shell Energy Services since its inception. He is retiring after 34 years of service.

Amerada Hess Corp. reported that John J. O’Connor has been appointed to the position of president, Worldwide Exploration and Production. The company said O’Connor also will be an executive vice president of Amerada Hess and a member of the board of directors. Prior to joining Amerada Hess, O’Connor was president, Worldwide Exploration and Production of Texaco Inc. Prior to joining Texaco in 1998, O’Connor was CEO and Director of BHP Petroleum in Melbourne, Australia, the oil and gas exploration division of the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd., from 1994 to 1997. He also previously served in a wide variety of international management positions with Mobil Oil Corp. Amerada Hess’ $3.2 billion acquisition of Triton Energy Ltd. in August has “substantially expanded” its exploration and production business.

FPL Energy LLC reported that it has appointed Michael O’Sullivan as senior vice president of development for the independent power producer, a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc. O’Sullivan previously served as a vice president of AES Great Plains Inc., the Midwestern division of The AES Corp. FPL said that prior to joining AES in 1999, O’Sullivan was a vice president of NRG North America, a unit of NRG Energy, Inc., now an affiliate of Xcel Corp. He was responsible for business development, project finance and asset management. He also has held a variety of project development, management and engineering positions with Indeck Energy Services and Commonwealth Edison Company.

Gasco Energy Inc. has appointed W. King Grant as the company’s CFO. Grant was a senior vice president in ING Barings LLC’s natural resources group where he was responsible for providing financing and advisory services to mid-and small-cap oil and gas companies. Prior to joining ING Barings, Grant spent 11 years at Chase Manhattan where he held several positions, most recently as a vice president in the oil and gas group. Gasco Energy is a Denver-based natural gas and oil exploration and development company that focuses in the Rocky Mountain region. The company currently holds interests in properties located in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah, which are being developed under an agreement with Phillips Petroleum.