Williams’ board of directors has approved spinning off the exploration and production (E&P) business as WPX Energy Inc. through a tax-free dividend at the end of this month.
Directors
Articles from Directors
Gazprom Doubts European Shale Prospects
The board of directors of Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom sounded another blast on its shale gas alarm Tuesday, questioning the environmental and economic viability of the process that is overhauling North American markets and promising to do the same in Europe.
People
Brian Gilvary, who has worked at BP plc for 25 years, has been named CFO effective Jan. 1 and will join the board of directors. Current CFO Byron Grote, 63, will become executive vice president, corporate business activities. Gilvary, 49, has been deputy group CFO and head of finance for BP for nearly two years. He previously was CEO of BP’s commodity trading arm, Integrated Supply and Trading (IST). He also has been a board member of TNK-BP since December, having previously also served on the board from 2003 to 2005. Grote, 63, has been CFO since 2002. In his new role he will have responsibility for BP’s IST, alternative energy and shipping businesses as well as the company’s technology and remediation management activities.
Superior’s Complete Takeover Adds Leverage in Pressure Pumping
In a merger that would create a formidable onshore oilfield services company, Superior Energy Services Inc. on Monday agreed to pay $2.7 billion in cash and stock to buy Complete Production Services Inc. — a 62% premium to Complete’s closing share price on Friday.
Sinopec Takes Stake in Canada’s Unconventional Gas Patch
China’s largest producer, Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp., is grabbing access to Canada’s unconventional plays in northeastern British Columbia and the Deep Basin of Alberta through a C$2.2 billion cash deal with Calgary’s Daylight Energy Ltd.
CONSOL Sells Big Chunk of Marcellus Leasehold to Noble
Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Inc., which has increasingly been focused on its Appalachian natural gas operations, agreed Thursday to sell Noble Energy Inc. half of its 663,350 net-acre leasehold in a portion of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including a half-stake in existing wells, under a multi-year transaction valued at $3.4 billion.
Barnett Shale Continues to Drive Quicksilver Growth
Quicksilver Resources Inc. set another production record in the second quarter and rebounded from a 1Q2011 net loss with net income of $109 million (61 cents/share) in 2Q2011. Production in the Barnett Shale, which has been a primary driver of the company’s recent growth, is expected to ramp up through at least the end of the year.
EXCO Gives Up On Sale
The EXCO Resources Inc. board of directors is ending its bid to sell the company.
Industry Briefs
Mountainview Energy Ltd. announced Wednesday that its founder, Joseph Montalban, has resigned from the company’s board of directors effective May 19. Montalban began his career in the oil and gas industry in the early 1950s, first as a roughneck in Alberta and then as a vice president for Flank Oil. He discovered oil in the Bakken Shale after drilling the Bugby #1 well in Glacier County, MT for Flank in 1957. He formed Montalban Drilling in the late 1950s and two public companies in the early 1970s, which would become MSR Exploration Ltd. in 1983. He also founded Gyspy Highview Gathering System Inc. In 2001 Montalban and his son, Patrick, formed Mountainview, which trades on the TSX Venture Exchange. Mountainview, based in Cut Bank, MT, is focused on exploration, production and development of the Bakken and Three Forks shales in the Williston Basin and the south Alberta Bakken shale play.
People
Former Fluor Corp. CEO Alan Boeckmann has been elected to the Sempra Energy board of directors, bringing a background in international business management in the engineering/construction sector. Boeckmann is a director of BHP Billiton and a board member of the National Petroleum Council. He also serves as the nonexecutive chairman of the board at Fluor, where he held several senior management and operating positions before becoming CEO in 2002.