Preng & Associates Assists SeekOps in CEO Search
September 17, 2020 – Houston, TX-based executive search firm Preng & Associates has assisted SeekOps in the recruitment of Iain Cooper as its new CEO. The move strengthens the current executive team as the company’s founder and CEO of three and a half years, Andrew Aubrey, transitions to a new role as senior vice president of strategic partnerships.
Mr. Copper, who previously led technology development, strategy and investment at Schlumberger, brings 30 years of experience in the energy sector. His experience is expected to lead SeekOps through effective international scaling of its technology and services. He will also help expand beyond traditional energy-sector business into other major industrial verticals, such as biogas, waste management and mining, monitoring a broader range of chemical species.
“SeekOps actionable data products have been demonstrated in rigorous oil and gas environments, and while we will continue global growth to support upstream operations, SeekOps will also translate its capabilities to meet the needs of the midstream and downstream sectors,” said Mr. Cooper. “Furthermore, there are similar environmental and sustainability pressures across other industries that must be validated using accurate and reliable technologies, as typified by SeekOps.”
SeekOps develops and deploys advanced sensor technology for the energy sector to detect, localize and quantify methane emissions through integrated drone-based systems. SeekOps’ sensor design eliminates false positive readings and localizes emissions sources to provide actionable data to oil and gas operators in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East. It is backed by funding from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative Climate Investments (OGCI-CI), and Equinor Technology Ventures (ETV).
Energy-Focused Recruiters
Preng & Associates, founded in 1980, is a retainer-based, international executive search firm specializing solely in the energy industry. The firm’s experience spans the entire energy value chain – from the well head to the wall socket. Its subsector verticals have specific expertise in oil and gas (upstream, midstream and downstream), oilfield equipment and services, power and utilities, renewables, engineering and construction, and industrials. Preng & Associates has conducted more than 3,700 engagements for over 750 companies and placed highly qualified individuals for board, executive management, and professional positions in 75 countries.
David Preng is the founder, president and CEO of the search firm. He has worked on over 2,000 energy-related searches throughout the world, ranging from board and senior executive to managerial and senior technical positions. His current focus is primarily at the board, CEO and C-suite level positions. Mr. Preng’s industry experience includes financial, managerial and executive positions with Shell Oil, Litton Industries and Southwest Industries.
Preng & Associates recently placed Matthew DeNezza as the new CFO of Crusoe Energy Systems. He brings decades of financial and strategic leadership experience to the digital flare mitigation and distributed cloud computing company and will allow Crusoe to finance and build a new paradigm of ESG-forward energy and computing services for the oil and gas industry.
Cully Cavness, Crusoe’s president and co-founder, said: “Early in our conversations with Matt, he recognized the need for today’s oil and gas operators to embrace novel, efficient environmental technologies like digital flare mitigation as part of the industry’s response to environmental, social and governance (ESG) demands from investors and the public. As an industry insider who wants to make a difference and be part of the solution, Matt is well aligned with Crusoe’s mission and environmental goals.”
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
