The
NewsRoom
Release #: 3126
Date: Auguat 26, 2004
MMS
Gulf of Mexico Region Names
Chief of Staff and Two Deputy Regional Supervisors for Field
Operations
Chris Oynes, Regional
Director, Gulf of Mexico Region (GOMR), Minerals Management Service
(MMS), announces the names of three employees who will fill new
management positions in the regional office in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Jim
Grant was named Chief of Staff, Office of the Regional Director. He
began his career with MMS in 1984 in Corpus Christi District office
and has served as Chief of the Technical Assessment and Operations
Support Section; Chief of the Production, Commingling and Rate Control
Section; and Chief of the Plans, Platforms and Pipelines Section. In
his new position, Mr. Grant will
serve as immediate advisor to the Regional Director on major
programmatic, policy, and budget issues as well as organizational
issues. He will work with the Regional Director in planning,
organizing, and overseeing program initiatives. Mr. Grant is
a native of Russellville, Arkansas; he attended the University of
Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree
in Geology.
Joe
Gordon has been appointed Deputy Regional Supervisor, Field
Operations, for Regional Operations. His responsibilities include
managing the technical functions of the regional activities within
Field Operations. The Regional Office of Field Operations evaluates
and approves operator proposals to install and modify platforms and
pipelines on OCS leases, evaluates new technology to be used in the
Gulf of Mexico, reviews and approves exploration and development
plans, and administers the GOM accident investigation and civil
penalty programs.
Mr. Gordon graduated from the
University of Missouri – Rolla with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Petroleum Engineering in 1987. Upon graduation, he worked in
production operations for Murphy Oil U.S.A. in the east Texas area.
He joined MMS in 1988 as a staff engineer in the Technical Assessment
Unit in the Gulf of Mexico Region. He has served as the Lafayette
District Drilling Engineer, the Lafayette District Manager, and, most
recently, Chief of the Office of Safety Management.
Lars Herbst has been appointed to
the position of Deputy Regional Supervisor for District Operations in
the Office of Field Operations in the Gulf of Mexico Region. His
responsibilities include oversight of the five Gulf of Mexico District
Offices located in New Orleans, Houma, Lafayette, and Lake Charles in
Louisiana, and Lake Jackson, Texas. The primary functions of the
District Offices include permitting and inspection activities related
to offshore operations, including drilling, workover, completion, well
abandonment, and production operations.
Mr. Herbst is a graduate of
Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering. He
began his career with MMS in 1983, after working for Schlumberger in
the well testing group. At MMS, he started as a staff engineer in
Technical Assessment Unit in the Gulf of Mexico Region. In 1990, Mr.
Herbst was named Drilling Engineer in the New Orleans District, and in
1995, became the New Orleans District Manager.
The Minerals Management Service is
the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages
the nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the
Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters. The agency also
collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal
and American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion
in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in
1982. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and
Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development
of state and Federal park and recreation lands.
Relevant Web Sites
MMS Main Website
Gulf of Mexico Website
Media Contacts
Debra Winbush
(504) 736-2597
Caryl Fagot
(504) 736-2590
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior |