Murray Selected to Lead ICoTA
Oil and gas industry body, the Intervention & Coiled Tubing Association (ICoTA) European Chapter, has appointed Former vice-chair Kelly Murray as the new chair and vice-chair. Murray will be the first women to take the helm as chair of the organization in the chapter’s 20-year history, while fellow committee member Andrew Louden has been appointed as the new vice-chair.
Murray becomes chair after spending five years as an ICoTA committee member where she has played a pivotal role increasing awareness of the organization within the industry and the wider community. Most notably, she has played a vital role in organizing the SPE ICoTA Junior Energy Apprentice competition aimed at encouraging school pupils to think about a career in the oil and gas industry.
Both appointments were announced at the ICoTA European Chapter’s annual dinner at the Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen, attended by more than 300 leading figures from the region’s intervention and coiled tubing industry.
Currently U.K. intervention solutions manager at Halliburton, Murray was previously the chief operating officer at Red Spider before it was bought over by the American oil giant. Murray started her career in the industry with Baker Hughes and spent the majority of those nine years in the well intervention group.
Louden is currently the U.K. managing director of Interwell and has been a member of ICoTA Europe committee for three years. With nearly 25 years experience in the well intervention sector, Louden started his career with Marathon Oil before taking on a number of roles at Schlumberger and Helix RDS. Under his leadership, Interwell has grown from a head count of just four in the U.K. to more than 40.
Murray said, “ICoTA is 20 this year. I want as chairman to continue the momentum of previous committees to ensure we can attract the new breed of engineers, which the industry needs both now and for the future. The adoption of new technologies and more collaborative ways of working will help to secure the ever-changing North Sea landscape going forward. ICoTA is pivotal in sharing this information and learning across all of the wells’ disciplines.”