President

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has named Jimmie Cho as COO and Maryam S. Brown as president, succeeding former COO/President Bret Lane, who recently was appointed CEO. Cho currently is senior vice president of customer services for SoCalGas and senior vice president of distribution operations for both of Sempra Energy’s utilities, SoCalGas and San Diego Gas & Electric. Brown currently serves as vice president of federal government affairs for Sempra.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed the nominations of Dawn Stump and Dan Berkovitz to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), completing the full slate of five. Stump is president of Stump Strategic, a consulting firm she founded in 2016. She was formerly executive director and senior vice president of U.S. Policy for the Futures Industry Association and vice president at the New York Stock Exchange. Berkovitz is a partner and co-chair of the futures and derivatives practice at the law firm of WilmerHale. From 2009-2013 he served as general counsel of the CFTC.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy has named Carlos Ruiz Sacristan, 68, as CEO of a newly formed North American infrastructure business. He has run Sempra’s Infraestructura Energetica Nova SAB de CV (IEnova) since 2012. The North American business will include Mexico-based IEnova, Sempra LNG & Midstream and all other liquefied natural gas (LNG) development and marketing activities. Tania Ortiz Mena, 48, was named IEnova CEO as of Sept. 1.

Austin, TX-based Jones Energy Inc. has ousted founder and CEO Jonny Jones and President Mike S. McConnell effective Tuesday (April 17), according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K. Jones is to continue to serve as chairman and McConnell will continue as a board member. Jeff Tanner has been appointed COO and will serve as interim CEO until a successor is appointed. Tanner, 55, has been executive vice president of geosciences and business development; he previously was vice president of exploration for Southwestern Energy Co. The onshore-focused producer was notified by the New York Stock Exchange in late December that it was noncompliant with continued listing standards as the stock fell below $1.00/share over 30 consecutive trading days.

Kleinschmidt Associates reported that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Tom Russo of Russo on Energy, LLC to strengthen its natural gas and oil infrastructure and environmental services offerings. The company said Russo, who spent more than 30 years as a manager and energy analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will complement Kleinschmidt’s natural gas energy expertise in reducing permitting schedules and associated costs while addressing the permitting, engineering and biology associated with mitigation for natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids pipelines, and liquefied natural gas clients. Russo will work with Kleinschmidt Senior Vice President Scott Ault and Senior Project Manager Kelly Schaeffer on all oil and natural gas services projects. Currently, Russo and Kleinschmidt are conducting training on the company’s Pipeline Waterbody Risk Assessment tool and FERC’s hydroelectric project relicensing in Houston and Washington, DC, respectively.

Williams has appointed Chad Zamarin senior vice president of corporate strategic development effective June 26 to succeed Frank Billings, who is retiring. Zamarin would oversee business development, customer relationships and be responsible for government affairs and project analysis. He formerly was president of pipeline and midstream at Cheniere Energy Inc. and also previously worked for a NiSource Inc. affiliate.

Williams has appointed Micheal G. Dunn executive vice president and COO, effective Feb. 27. Dunn will report to CEO Alan Armstrong. Dunn most recently served as president of Questar Pipeline and executive vice president of Questar Corp. From 2010 to 2015, Dunn served as president and CEO of PacifiCorp Energy, a multi-state regulated electric power generating company and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Dunn graduated in 1988 from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Oklahoma. Dunn began his career with Williams as an operations engineer and spent 14 years with the company in a variety of technical and leadership roles.

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.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s board was scheduled to meet to elect a new CEO and chairman after Rex W. Tillerson on Tuesday officially was nominated by President-elect Trump to serve as secretary of state.