News Cuttings
Thomas Burke, former IADC Chairman, honored as 2017 IADC Contractor of the Year
Dr Thomas Burke, President and CEO of Rowan Companies, was presented with the 2017 IADC Contractor of the Year Award at the IADC Annual General Meeting in Austin, Texas, on 10 November.
The award is presented annually to recognize an individual drilling contractor’s outstanding lifetime achievements in technical innovation, safety and economic efficiency within the drilling industry. Sponsored by National Oilwell Varco (NOV), the award, now in its 30th year, is the only one in the industry reserved solely for drilling contractors.
In his acceptance remarks, Dr Burke noted, “It’s been an absolute delight to be involved with IADC. What’s special about our industry is that it’s highly competitive – being competitive is important, it makes us all better and change with the times – but it’s also a collaborative industry.”
Dr Burke was appointed CEO and elected a director of Rowan Companies in April 2014. He served as Chief Operating Officer beginning in July 2011 and was appointed President in March 2013. He first joined the company in December 2009, serving as CEO and President of LeTourneau Technologies until the sale of LeTourneau in June 2011. From 2006 to 2009, Dr Burke was a Division President at Complete Production Services, an oilfield services company, and from 2004 to 2006, served as its Vice President for Corporate Development. In addition, he has been active in IADC for several years, serving as the association’s Chairman in 2016.
IADC prepares to roll out WellSharp well servicing accreditation in early 2018
This spring, IADC will roll out the new WellSharp Well Servicing Accreditation, which will replace the old WellCAP well servicing courses. The new accreditation will offer four standalone course options: coiled tubing; snubbing; wireline and workover. It also introduces two new courses: subsea supplement and oil and gas operator representative workover & intervention well control.
The first WellSharp track, for drilling operations, was launched in 2015. It was the result of an industry-led effort to improve well control training and assessment. Compared with WellCAP, the curriculum puts greater emphasis on risk awareness and assessment.
Scott, Lebrija, Poosuthasee recognized with IADC Exemplary Service Awards
During the IADC Annual General Meeting in Austin, Texas, in early November, IADC presented industry veterans Dan Scott, Jorge Lebrija and Andy Poosuthasee with Exemplary Service Awards. The awards recognize their outstanding contributions to the industry and to IADC. Recipients of the Exemplary Service Award have, through the course of their careers, demonstrated their commitment to improving the drilling industry and advancing its safety, training or technology.
Mr Scott, who is retired, most recently served as Senior Technical Advisor for Baker Hughes. He has spent his career developing innovative products and processes for bits and other downhole drilling tools. He holds 140 US patents and is recognized as one of the most prolific inventors in the history of Baker Hughes, receiving the BHI D&E Inventor of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and recognized as the 2017 Inventor of the Year by the State Bar of Texas.
Mr Scott has published more than 65 papers and written book chapters on drill bits and drilling technology for several entities, including the IADC Drilling Manual. He is a distinguished member of SPE, an ASM Fellow, recipient of the ASME Silver Patent award and recipient of the Chairman’s Lifetime Technology Achievement from BHI. He serves on the MS&T Petroleum and Geology Advisory Boards and was inducted into the Academy of Mines and Metallurgy at MS&T.
He served 26 consecutive years on the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference Program Committee and currently serves on the IADC Drilling Engineers Committee Board. Mr Scott has also contributed several articles to Drilling Contractor magazine.
Mr Lebrija is the Director of Supply Chain, Global Sourcing for Ensco. Prior to joining Ensco, he held multiple supply chain, sourcing and procurement leadership positions within Baker Hughes, Transocean and Cemex. Mr Lebrija is the Chairman of the IADC Supply Chain Committee and has participated in the committee since its creation in 2013. Additionally, he led the Manufacturing Record Book Subcommittee and, by working together with the primary OEMs, classification societies and offshore drillers, the group was able to standardize the format for the manufacturing book records and publish the first IADC Manufacturing Record Book Guidance document.
He graduated from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey with a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and earned an Executive MBA from the University of Houston.
Mr Poosuthasee graduated with a bachelor of science in industrial engineering, with a minor in Spanish, from Purdue University. He then worked for Halliburton for eight years in a variety of roles, the most prominent of which was managing manufacturing plants/business units. He has spent the past six years with drilling contractors, with the last four years as the Director of Supply Chain for Vantage Drilling, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for all procurement, logistics, customs, warehouse and inventory activities globally. In addition, he has served two terms as Co-Chairman of the IADC Supply Chain Committee.
IADC Houston Chapter hands out scholarships to 14 students from Texas universities
The IADC Houston Chapter gave scholarships to 14 students at Texas universities in 2017: seven students from the University of Houston and seven students from Texas A&M University. The amount of scholarship money awarded totaled approximately $35,000. Pictured at left are scholarship recipients from the University of Houston: Micah Bullock (from left), Fernando Rodriguez, Shubh Mistry, Ishit Amin, Jonah Smith, David Newman and Kaitlin Miller.
Student chapter members undergo WellSharp training
