Marin Koceic, ED-INA, receives IADC Exemplary Service Award

Marin Koceic, technical manager for ED-INA, received an IADC Exemplary Service Award from IADC president Dr Lee Hunt during the World Drilling 2010 Conference in Budapest on 16 June.

Mr Koceic joined the IADC community in 1992 and has worked extensively to help promote the association’s activities in Eastern Europe. “Our first World Drilling conference in Croatia was held in Dubrovnik. It came about almost solely due to the initial and joint efforts of Marin and his colleagues at Crosco,” recalled Dr Hunt. “I see many of you in here who I recall attending that conference, and I think you will all agree that, more just a conference, it was a genuine experience that we will all value and treasure.”

Mr Koceic has been active with IADC on many fronts since 1992, serving on the IADC Executive Committee, board of directors, World Drilling program committees and the European Operations Forum. “It’s a real pleasure working with Marin over the years… He’s an individual who’s very enthusiastic, very energetic, and very persuasive,” Dr Hunt said. “Marin, thank you deeply from our hearts.”

Mr Koceic joined INA Naftaplin in 1978, starting as a field drilling engineer, then as directional drilling engineer and rig superintendent during the construction of the jackup platform Labin in Rijeka shipyard Viktor Lenac. He was also rig superintendent on the same platform.

In 1986, he was named head of directional drilling, diamond drilling and coring for INA Naftaplin. In 1990, he became operations manager for three offshore platforms for INA Naftaplin and AGIP.

In 1996 he was appointed CFO of Crosco. He served as CEO and president of Crosco from 1999 to 2004. Then he became general manager for INA Naftaplin E&P in Libya. Since March 2010, he has served as technical manager for ED-INA, a joint operating company of INA Naftaplin for E&P in the north Adriatic Sea.

In accepting his award, Mr Koceic thanked IADC for the support he has received over the years. “For someone from a small country and a relatively small company and for myself, we learned a lot from IADC and from this community. And we taught a new generation in Croatia. I think this is good reason for us to turn around to see small countries and small companies and to find good potential for this work. It is hard work.”

He added: “I would like to thank my mother company INA Naftaplin to allow me to be here and to contribute all this time to IADC. Thanks to my family, who have supported me all this time.”

Mr Koceic lives in Zagreb, Croatia, with his wife Brigitta. They have three children – daughters Daria and Nina, plus son Marin Jr, who has followed his father’s footsteps into the drilling industry. He is now operations manager for Nabors Drilling International in Croatia.

Dr Hunt said to Mr Koceic and his son, who was present during the award presentation: “Marin, you should be very proud of your father and his whole career. And, Marin, I’m sure you are contributing to the future of our industry with your son. I think you’ll be very proud of him.”

Marin Koceic earned his degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Zagreb in 1975. He worked as a professor’s assistant in drilling engineering at the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Zagreb until 1978, when he joined INA Naftaplin.