People

G. Steven Farris has retired from the role of chairman, president and CEO of Apache Corp. He will continue as nonexecutive chairman of the board until May 1, 2015, at which time he will retire from the board. John J. Christmann IV will succeed Farris as president and CEO. Director John Lowe has been elected to succeed Farris as nonexecutive chairman. The company also appointed Stephen Riney as executive vice president and CFO.

Knight Oil Tools named Earl J. Blackwell president and CEO. Former CEO Mark Knight will remain chairman of the board of directors.

Adrian Bannister has been tapped as CFO of the OEG Offshore group of companies.

Nicole Kivisto has become president and CEO of MDU Resources Group Inc.’s utility group. The group also has promoted Pat O’Bryan to the position of CEO of Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. He succeeds J. Kent Wells, who has retired from his positions as Fidelity CEO and vice chairman of the corporation.

UK Oil & Gas tapped Stephen Sanderson as CEO.

Sami Zouari has taken on the role of CFO for Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

Golar LNG Ltd. has chosen Gary Smith to become CEO.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Berhad selected Abu Fitri Abdul Jalil as managing director and CEO.

Thomas Rajan has become CFO of Rex Energy Corp.

Polarcus Ltd. has chosen Rod Starr to be CEO.

John Rider has taken on the post of vice president, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, of Deep Casing Tools.

Seadrill Ltd. has chosen Dr. Charles Woodburn as a director of the company.

Andrew N. Schock has joined Jackson Kelly PLLC as an associate in the land and natural resource development practice group.

Bureau Veritas has selected Paillette Palaiologou as marine marketing and sales director within the marine and offshore operating group. Matthieu de Tugny has become senior vice president in charge of offshore activities within the marine and offshore operating group.

Stephen Sheppert has been appointed engineering manager for Wellsite Rental Services LLC.

Rajesh Salem has joined RigNet Inc. in the new position of vice president, strategy and marketing.

IHS brought on Carlos Pascual as senior vice president to focus on global energy issues and international affairs.

EnerNOC has hired Eric Erston as vice president of global enterprise sales.

João Adalberto Elek Jr. was chosen for the position of director of governance, risk management and compliance at Petrobras.

Advanced Insulation appointed David Raynor business development manager.

Michael P. Joy has joined the Denver office of BakerHostetler as a partner in the litigation group and energy and shale team.

Cara Lewis has been promoted to the position of marketing manager for Nautronix.

Richard Erskine, president of Atmos Pipeline–Texas, has been elected chairman of the Texas Pipeline Association.

Flotek appointed Stephen A. Marinello, Ph.D., to the position of director of CnF applied technology.

Greene’s Energy Group promoted Tracy Cummins to vice president of key account management.

Abdel Ben Amara has become business development manager for the Middle East and North Africa region for Camcon Oil.

iSURVEY named Iain Milroy as business development manager at the company’s Aberdeenshire office.

Jayson Payne has been promoted to vice president of digital operations for the Coastal Flow Measurement family of companies.

Colette Cohen, head of Centrica’s U.K. oil and gas production business, has been named chair of the U.K.’s new National College for Onshore Oil and Gas.

The Repsol board of directors selected J. Robinson West as independent director of the company.

Inge G. Thulin has been elected to Chevron’s board of directors.

Bruce H. Vincent has retired from his position as Swift Energy’s president and resigned as a member of the board of directors. The Swift Energy board has appointed Ron Saxton and William A. Bruckmann III as board members.

Companies

AVEVA opened a new office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that will offer sales and support for AVEVA’s services with particular focus on owner operators and engineering, procurement and construction contractors in the oil and gas and power sectors.

MacArtney has opened its fifth dedicated business unit in North America. Located in Jupiter, Fla., the new Southeast Operations will cover a six-state area including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. It will supply underwater technology products and solutions to clients and operators within the region. [Image: MacArtney, if needed]

Semco Maritime has opened a new Houston office offering services for rig customers in Canada, the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil.