Named

President Obama Wednesday named Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) CEO Sally Jewell as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Interior, to succeed Ken Salazar, who is departing at the end of March.

President Obama Wednesday named Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) CEO Sally Jewell as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Interior, to succeed Ken Salazar, who is departing at the end of March.

A deep freeze named Brutus hammered North Dakota with a pre-winter force in November, knocking down oil and gas production from all-time record levels the previous month, according to the latest statistics from the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Friday has offered a “voluntary separation program” for some of its employees as part of efforts to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. The layoffs, the third round since June, would remove about 2% of Chesapeake’s workforce of nearly 12,500.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) named Gil Bujano as director of the commission’s oil and gas division. Bujano has been serving as the acting director since March and is a 28-year veteran of the commission. He began his employment at the commission in 1984 at the San Antonio RRC district office and also has worked in the Abilene, Pampa and Houston district offices. After serving as assistant director in the Houston district office, Bujano transferred to Austin in June 2009 to supervise the commission’s technical permitting unit. In August 2010, Bujano was promoted to deputy director of the oil and gas division.

Double Eagle Petroleum Co. said Tuesday it is joining Warren Resources Inc. to increase its stakes in Wyoming’s Atlantic Rim by acquiring some of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s remaining interests.

The center of Tropical Storm Isaac, the ninth named storm of the 2012 hurricane season, was moving west-northwestward and was south-southwest of Puerto Rico late Thursday afternoon and was expected to approach Florida’s southwestern coast by Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

David Ciarlone, Manager, global energy services, Alcoa Inc., has been named chairman of the Process Gas Consumers Group, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Alex Strawn. In addition, Audrea Hill, senior director of raw materials / hedging, Potash Corp., has been elected Vice Chair, and Robert Cooper, director of energy, USG Corp., has been elected secretary/treasurer. Strawn, North American energy purchasing manager at Procter & Gamble, had been chairman of the group since 2004.

Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. named a new executive vice president/CFO, Cynthia Walker, a managing director with Goldman, Sachs & Co. Walker starts her new job Aug. 6, replacing James Lienert, who will move to the position of executive vice president for business support after two years as CFO. Walker has had a 12-year career with Goldman Sachs, during which she advised clients on energy industry transactions as a senior member of the natural resources group based in Houston. She also was a member of Goldman’s mergers and acquisitions group.