Transocean Appoints Jeremy D. Thigpen President & CEO
The CFO of Houston-based National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) is stepping down to become CEO of Transocean Ltd. (RIG), one of NOV’s largest customers. Effective April 22, Jeremy Thigpen will become CEO of Switzerland-based Transocean, which has its main U.S. office in Houston. Thigpen succeeds Ian Strachan, who had been serving as interim CEO since Steven Newman stepped down in February. Strachan, who is also the company's Chairman of the Board of Directors, will retire from the Board at the end of his term at the 2015 Annual General Meeting following approximately 16 years of service. Prior to joining Transocean, Thigpen spent his career in various roles at NOV and has served since 2012 as NOV's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
The Scottish Loan Fund Invests £3.5 Million in Coretrax
Maven Capital Partners (Maven) announced a £3.5 million Scottish Loan Fund (SLF) investment in energy services business Coretrax Technology Limited (Coretrax). Set up in 2011 by the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, and managed by Maven, the £113 million SLF provides loans of up to £5 million to ambitious Scottish businesses. Since launch the SLF has committed over £30 million in support of growth-focused companies. Coretrax was established in 2008 and offers a wide range of downhole tools and services with applications across the well life cycle…
Severn Glocon Acquires Calidus Engineering
Control valve engineering specialist, Severn Glocon Group has strengthened its presence in the subsea oil and gas market with the acquisition of HPHT downhole tools company Calidus Engineering. Now renamed Severn Subsea Technologies Ltd, the company will provide research, development and test facilities to enhance Severn Glocon’s subsea valves capability. A former subsidiary of Badger Explorer (Norway), Calidus is a multi-discipline engineering firm developing innovative subsea and downhole technologies for harsh HPHT environments.
New Operations Manager at Coretrax
Aberdeen-based oilfield services firm Coretrax Technology Limited appointed an operations manager to focus on the planning, development and execution of wellbore cleanup and displacement. In his new role, Jim Hepburn is responsible for the pre- and post-job analysis of wellbore cleanup activities, ensuring maximum value to client offshore operations. He joins the company with 12 years’ experience within the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining Coretrax, Mr. Hepburn worked as an operations engineer for two years and an offshore wellbore clean up engineer for four years, at Baker Hughes.
Neilson NSRI’s Academic Research Director
The National Subsea Research Institute (NSRI) has appointed Dr. Richard Neilson as academic research director. Dr. Neilson has more than 20 years experience as a lecturer and researcher in a number of Scottish Universities. During this time he spent four years on secondment with oil service company, Rotech Drilling Services, where he was responsible for the design and analysis of downhole tools. Dr Neilson has a PhD and BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Biomedical Engineering.
