Permian People November 2024

The November edition of the hirings, promotions, and other personnel matters in the nation’s biggest oil patch—or in companies who do business here.

 

Denver, Colo.-based SM Energy hired Beth McDonald, former Pioneer Natural Resources executive, as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, effective Sept. 9. McDonald has 23 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Her role at Pioneer was as Executive Vice President / Strategic Planning, Field Development, and Marketing. For approximately the last 20 years, McDonald worked in roles of increasing responsibility at Pioneer, holding leadership positions focusing on both the Permian Basin and South Texas. Prior to joining Pioneer, Beth held various engineering roles at Hess Corporation and Total E&P USA. McDonald currently serves as an Industry Board Member for the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University and is a member of the Advanced Women Executives in Energy.

 

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Whitley Penn welcomed Aditya Ganesh as a new Audit Senior Manager in the firm’s Midland office on Sept. 5. Ganesh is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA-Canada) who has specialized in business combinations and asset acquisitions, consolidation and control assessments, and revenue recognition throughout his career. Ganesh also has had previous experience in go-public transactions and IFRS adoptions. He formerly served as a Senior Manager where he built a core team of industry focused audit professionals. Ganesh received his Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Toronto. “We are excited to have Aditya join Whitley Penn,” stated Steven Jeffcoat, Midland Market Leader. “His wealth of knowledge and commitment to quality will greatly enhance our team’s capabilities. We look forward to the positive impact he will bring to the firm.”

 

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Baker Hughes Company made updates to its leadership team effective Oct. 1. Amerino Gatti was appointed Executive Vice President of Oilfield Services and Equipment (OFSE). Gatti joined Baker Hughes as a seasoned energy and industrial executive, recently serving as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of TEAM, Inc. from 2018-2022, as well as serving on the board of directors of Helix Energy Solutions from 2018-2024. Gatti previously spent 25 years in various leadership roles at oilfield services firm Schlumberger (now SLB). His experience at Schlumberger included serving as president of the production group, president of well services, general manager for Qatar and Yemen, and vice president of production group in North America. Gatti’s domain expertise in oil and gas as well as industrial services will be tapped to drive profitability, growth, innovation, and customer satisfaction within OFSE.

 

Maria Claudia Borras, Executive Vice President of OFSE since 2022, was appointed Chief Growth and Experience Officer. This newly created role will focus on driving enterprise growth and enhancing customer experience, creating and implementing commercial, regional, and marketing strategies and leading transformation to energize business expansion across the company’s portfolio. Borras has more than 30 years of leadership at Baker Hughes, having previously held positions across the company’s commercial, operations, and engineering organizations.

 

In addition, Muzzamil Khider Ahmed, Senior Vice President and chief people officer since 2023, was promoted to the executive leadership team as Chief People and Culture Officer. In his new role, Khider Ahmed will continue focusing on strengthening human resources capabilities and systems while shaping the company’s culture to foster a productive, inclusive, and engaging work environment. He brings more than 20 years of industry experience, including more than 10 years of human resources leadership at Baker Hughes. With these changes, Deanna Jones, Executive Vice President of People, Communications, and Transformation and Chief Human Resources Officer, will transition into an advisory capacity before departing the Company in 2025.

 

Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, remarked: “We continue to successfully execute on our strategy at Baker Hughes, fulfilling our purpose to take energy forward and playing a clear role to help lead sustainable energy development. Today’s leadership changes will ensure we deliver on our growth ambitions for our customers, shareholders, and employees in the energy and industrial segments,” said  “I welcome Amerino to Baker Hughes and congratulate both Maria Claudia and Muzzamil on their new roles. I would also like to thank Deanna for her strong contributions to our Company’s transformation and culture. Our leadership team presents a diverse and unmatched level of expertise I believe is critical to our success in 2025 and beyond, and I remain excited for our future.”

 

If you have personnel news you would like to announce—promotions, moves, retirements, etc.—please send your information to jesse@zacpubs.com.