Stokes & Spiehler, one of the most experienced petroleum engineering and consulting firms in the oil and gas industry, has announced several promotions to enhance its management team and better serve its offshore and onshore clients, announced President Bruce Jordan, P.E.

Blair LeBlanc, P.E., has been named Vice President – Offshore Operations; Russ Bellard, P.E., has been named Vice President – Onshore Operations; Tony Shell has been named Vice President – Sales & Marketing; and Donnie Busscher has been named Engineering Manager.

“This group has proven their skill and commitment to our customers while at Stokes & Spiehler,” Jordan says. “This is the type of dedication we need guiding our future efforts as we move into new markets and expand our role with new and existing clients.”

Blair LeBlanc is a Registered Professional Engineer. He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering; and he previously worked with Unocal, Sperry Drilling Services, Transocean and Ocean Energy. As a drilling, completion and workover engineer for Stokes & Spiehler since 2003, Blair has been supervising and guiding engineering and field efforts. As Vice President - Offshore Operations, Blair will focus on enhancing offshore operations by working with the Stokes & Spiehler team to customise engineering solutions to meet operational, financial and deadline goals.

Russ Bellard is a Registered Professional Engineer. He is experienced in supervising drilling, completion and workover field operations on wells, as well as detailed project design, procedure writing, cost estimate preparation and regulatory compliance. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Russ previously worked with Halliburton prior to joining Stokes & Spiehler in 2001. In his new role as Vice President - Onshore Operations; Russ will oversee onshore and inland water efforts across all active oil and gas regions, and he will work with the engineering team to fully evaluate each project’s scope and landscape to provide a comprehensive solution to clients.

As a senior account manager in Houston with more than 20 years of oil and gas experience, Tony Shell was the logical choice to set the future direction of the Stokes & Spiehler sales team, Jordan said. As Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Tony will work with individual sales team members to ensure responsiveness to clients’ needs. Additionally, as Stokes & Spiehler moves into new oil and gas markets, he will guide these efforts to market more than 250 consultants specialising in drilling, completions, workover and concentric operations. Tony previously worked in retail management and earned a degree in Organizational Behavioral Management from the University of Houston.

Donnie Busscher worked as an in-house engineer and wellsite consultant for land and offshore operations before joining the Stokes & Spiehler team after earning a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2005. In his new role as Engineering Manager, Donnie will oversee daily engineering operations including assigning team members with the proper skill set for each project and managing deadline demands.

“By expanding our core management team, Stokes & Spiehler is better positioned to meet our clients’ needs, as well as expand our role with clients, our geographic reach and position within the industry,” Jordan says.

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