James Galbraith

Achieving excellence for the 2nd time!

Congratulations for a second perfect score to James, who once again achieved 100% in his P&P paper recently. James is a Toolpusher on the Mariner ICU and is relatively new to installation. He began life as a roustabout in the Forties Field back in 2006 before moving onto decommissioning projects on the Dunlin and more recently Tern and East Brae.

Married with two boys, Ollie and Sam, he likes to spend his spare time on the golf course. His charity of choice is Cancer Research, a cause close to his heart following his father’s diagnosis a few years back.

Mike Thomson

A late entry to the 100 club!

Belated congratulation to Mike who achieved 100% in his P&P paper all the way back in 2009.

An industry stalwart, he’s worked in the drilling sector for the past 28 years in a mixture of offshore drilling supervisor and onshore drilling specialist roles, and is currently working as a Senior Drilling Engineer for his own company providing contracting services to Oil Companies.

He lives in Aboyne with his partner and 11yr old son, living an active life, enjoying mountain biking, Concept2 rowing and racquet sports in his spare time.

Darren Stuart

Racing into the 100 club!

Darren joins the 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper, congratulations! Darren currently works as a Senior Drilling Engineer with Exceed. He graduated with an MEng in Chemical Engineering from Edinburgh University in 2011 and joined the industry on the ADTI graduate Drilling Engineer program. Darren joined Exceed in 2018 and has worked on a mixture of Drilling and Decommissioning projects in both offshore supervisory and onshore engineering roles for the likes of Fairfield, RockRose, Repsol, Serica and Centrica.

He lives in Aberdeen with his wife and 2 year old son and in his spare time plays the bagpipes in the Lonach Pipe Band and is an enthusiastic F1 fan.

Darren has chosen the Archie Foundation to donate the £200 cash prize with it being a great local charity who’s work really helped his family when his niece was poorly shortly after being born. A great charity to choose!

Congratulations, Darren!

Muhammad Mubasher

Joins the 100 club!

We’re delighted to welcome Muhammad to our 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper! Muhammad is currently a Senior Night Drilling Supervisor for MOL Pakistan. After earning his bachelor’s degree in Petroleum & Gas Engineering he began his career in the energy sector in 2013. Over the past 11 years, Muhammad has worked with prestigious multinational E&P companies such as OMV, ENI, and MOL.

Muhammad is happily married and in his spare time likes spending quality time with his family, exploring new places through traveling and dining out. He also thoroughly enjoys watching cricket.

Congratulations, Muhammad!

Richard Bolton

Walking into the 100 club!

Huge congratulations to Richard for joining our 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper! Richard is currently working as a Driller, working on BP Clair Ridge for Odfjell Technology, and has worked in the offshore drilling industry for 16+ years.

Richard lives in Durham with his wife, two children and two dogs, and in his spare time likes walking the dogs with his kids.

Richard has chosen the charity Stray Aid – Dogs and Cats Home to donate the £200 cash prize. The charity takes in strays and prepares them for adoption, and is where Richard and his family adopted one of their dogs from. A great charity to choose!

Congratulations, Richard!

Sathish Arumugam

P&P Perfection!

Sathish joins the 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper, congratulations! Sathish currently works as a Senior Drilling Supervisor working for Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sathish has 8 years of experience in supervising drilling operations offshore on various types of drilling rigs (semi-submersible, tender assisted barge, jack-up, drillship and workover barge) and has been involved in various types of drilling operations on surface & subsea for P&A, workover, development, MPD & deepwater wells.  Sathish is happily married and in his free time likes playing football and going river fishing.

Congratulations again, Sathish.

Kenneth Weir

Riding into the 100 club!

We’re delighted to welcome Kenneth to the 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper, congratulations!

Kenneth currently works as a Senior Drilling Engineer having held numerous well planning and operational roles from Drilling Engineer through to Engineering Team Leader. He has mostly been based in Aberdeen supporting UK sector operations, however he also worked out in Indonesia for 3 1/2 years.

Away from work, Kenneth loves photography, landscape painting and outdoor activities, particularly running and road biking.

Kenneth has chosen the charity Cash for Kids (North East) to donate the £200 cash prize. Supporting families in some of the most depirved areas with beds, bedding, carpets, specialist equipment for children with additional support needs, Cash for Kids is a local charity with all money raised in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire and is distributed right here. A great charity to choose!

Congratulations, Kenneth!

Allan Brands

Top marks for Allan!

Huge congratulations to Allan for joining our 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper! Allan is currently a Senior Drilling Engineer with TotalEnergies working on Central North Sea HPHT wells.

He joined the oil industry in 2011 on ADTIs graduate drilling engineering development program and has since worked with various operators in offshore supervisor and onshore engineering roles, including EnQuest and Premier Oil.

Allan has been married for 12 years and has 3 children. In his spare time he enjoys playing golf and football.

Allan has chosen AberNecessities Children’s charity to donate the £200 cash prize. A great, local charity to choose!

Congratulations, Allan!

Philip Downie

Racing into the 100 club

Philip joins the 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper, congratulations! Philip is currently working as a driller and has been offshore since 2007. He has been up and down the ladder multiple times working as a driller to a roughneck and then back again to being a driller.

Philip is getting married in July and in his spare time likes to keep active. He enjoys his cars and also likes to do a bit of DIY when he has the time.

Having his own dog, Philip would like to donate the £200 cash reward to 8 below husky rescue which is a dog rescue charity based down in England which he has been following for years and they do great work. A great charity to choose, Philip!

William Latham

Joins the 100 club!

Huge congratulations to William for joining our 100 club! William currently works as a Drilling Supervisor for Harbour Energy. Having a background in Mechanical Engineering, he has worked in Well Planning and DSV roles in the UK and Norway since 2012 starting at E.ON before moving to Premier Oil and then on to Harbour Energy.

William is married and outside of work enjoys skiing, hiking and running!

William has chosen the charity Mental Health Aberdeen to donate the £200 cash prize. An excellent choice!

Congratulations, William!

John Holland

Sailing into the 100 club!

We’re delighted to welcome John to our 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper, congratulations!

John is a Senior P&A Engineer and is currently planning a North Sea P&A campaign. He joined the oil field in 1993 and has held a number of international Drilling Engineering roles over that time. In his free time John likes to go sailing and walking!

His choosen charity to donate the £200 cash reward to is the Canine Concern Scotland Trust. The Trust was formed to help dogs and their owners, and to improve their position in present-day society. A great charity to pick!

Congratulations, John!

Michael Anderson

Welcome to the ADS 100 club!

Michael is our first member to join the 100 club in 2023 after achieving 100% in his Principles and Prodecures paper, congratulations!

Michael is currently an Assistant Driller with ten years of experience in the oilfield. He is engaged with 2 children; Charlie, 11, and Harriet, 4 months old.

His choosen charity to donate the £200 cash fund to is The Little Princess Trust. The Little Princess Trust provides free real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment or other conditions.

We think they are a great choice, congratulations again Michael!

Khoo Chong Chuan

Top marks for Khoo!

Khoo joins our 100 club after achieving 100% in his P&P paper in our training centre in Kuala Lumpur, huge congratulations! Khoo currently works as a Drilling Superintendent for Petronas having worked in the Oil & Gas industry for 28 years. Starting as a Wellsite Drilling Engineer in Sarawak Shell Berhad in 1994 he progressed to Drilling Supervisor and Front End Planning Engineer. Khoo’s longest work was 12 years in Brunei Shell as Operation/Drilling Superintendent role before joining JX Nippon as Head Drilling.

Khoo is married with three daughters and in his free time likes to workout at the gym, watch movies and relax.

You certainly deserve to relax now Khoo, congratulations!

Adrian Robert Ene

Secures his spot in the ADS 100 club

Huge congratulations to Adrian Robert Ene for achieving 100% in his P&P paper and joining our ADS 100 club. Adrian is currently working as a Drilling Supervisor/Wellsite Leader in Saudi Arabia, working directly with Saudi Aramco. He started working as a Trainee Assistant Drilling Supervisor in his home country, Romania, with OMV-Petrom Company. In between that and his current job, Adrian has worked for Schlumberger in the Netherlands and ItalGas Storage in Milan, Italy.

Adrian met his wife while working on ItalGas Storage Project in Milan , Italy and got married in December 2019. He enjoys skiing and travel in his spare time.

Adrian has chosen the British Heart Foundation to donate the £200 cash fund. A great charity to choose, congratulations again Adrian!

Michael McCulloch

Keeping it local!

Michael is our second person to join our 100 club in 2022 for scoring 100% in his Principles and Prococedures paper, congratulations! Currently working as a Drilling Supervisor, Michael started his career as a Drilling Engineer with TotalEnergies (at the time Maersk Oil) in 2011. Since starting he has had a varied career of both office based Drilling Engineering and site based Drilling Supervisor positions in Norway, Denmark, UK, Qatar and Italy.

Michael enjoys skiing and cycling in his spare time.

His choosen charity to donate the £200 cash fund is to a local one – Aberdeen Foyers. Aberdeen Foyers helps engage with people through education and learning opportunities, and helps get people back into work through education. Michael has chosen this charity as he says he has been fortunate in his career to have been given a good education (including Aberdeen Drilling School), so would like to donate to a charity that helps people with education and developing their skills.

We think they are a great choice, congratulations again Michael!

Jonathan Mayers

Top marks for Jonathan!

Jonathan is our first member of the 100 club for 2022! He is currently working as a senior drilling supervisor on HPHT wells in North Sea. He has been a drilling supervisor for the last 12 years and prior to that he had been a senior drilling engineer for various operators in Aberdeen.

Jonathan has nominated Aberdeen Cyrenians to receive a charitable donation in his name – a charity which provides care and support for vulnerable people in the North East of Scotland.

Congratulations, Jonathan!

Ivan Lunev

Joins the 100 club!

For the past 10 years Ivan has been working for Sakhalin Energy Investment Company. He started as a Production Technology in a multidisciplinary well delivery team before becoming a CWI Engineer/Supervisor where he was involved in multiple Intervention and Completions jobs at the execution stage. Ivan is now an offshore Lead Drilling Supervisor where he is responsible for well delivery from spud to completion/handover stages.

Ivan is married with two son who are 5 and 10 years old. He enjoys snowboarding in the winter and swimming in the summer time.

Congratulations, Ivan!

Pete French

7-Time P&P Champion Breaks the ADS 100 Club Record!

Huge congratulations to Pete French who recently achieved 100% in his P&P paper for the 7th time!! An incredible achievement and a new record for the ADS 100 Club!

Pete is currently working as a Well Operations Manager for Shell Upstream Albania, based in Tirana. He followed a traditional rig-based career path on numerous rig types and well designs around the world. He is now based in Devon with his wife and three children, who are all at university. He spends most of his spare time on his small fishing boat, but also enjoys watching rugby and travelling.

Pete has picked Devon Air Amblance as his chosen charity as they provide an essential service to everyone throughout the remote areas of Devon which is his home county. An excellent charity to choose!

Congrats again, Pete, and best of luck to you for the future!

Kevin Meehan

P&P Perfection for the second time!

We’re delighted to announce that Kevin Meehan passed his P&P paper with a perfect score of 100% for the second time!

Kevin is currently a Senior Drilling Supervisor with DNO in Kurdistan. He started his career as a Roustabout for Kenting Drilling in 1984, began consulting in 1995 and worked in Russia, Middle East and North Africa as a Drilling Supervisor and Drilling Superintendent.

He is married with two boys, who have both left university and have started their working careers. Kevin’s hobbies include being a landlord for his property portfolio, DIY and gardening.

Congratulations, Kevin!

Ken Hayward

One of our own joins the ADS 100 club!

Ken is our latest member of the ADS 100 club, congratulations! Ken is a Well Control instructor for us at Aberdeen Drilling School in our Aberdeen training centre. Being an IWCF and IADC accredited Well Control instructor, Ken has spent many years in the oil industry from the North Sea to the Middle East. He has also spent time in the UK Fire and Rescue Service.

Celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary this year with his wife, Moira, Ken has 4 grown up children who have either flown the nest or will be soon. He has 2 dogs to still look after but says they are a lot less trouble and ask for less!

His hobbies are spending time at home with his wife, walking his dogs, and enjoying peace and quiet in the garden when possible.

Congratulations, Ken!

Agus Riyadi

A perfect score across the board for Pak Agus!

We’re delighted and extremely proud to announce that Aberdeen Drilling International instructor, Agus, recently scored 100% across the board for the THIRD time in a row! That’s 100% in all IWCF Well Control assessments with not a single point dropped. PERFECTION!

Agus joined Aberdeen Drilling International in 2014 as a Senior Well Control Instructor in Asia Pacific, to launch and lead the training in our Malaysian and Indonesian well control training centres. He has vast international experience in developing, instructing and assessing both IWCF and IADC accredited well control and well intervention courses globally, most recently with Weatherford in Abu Dhabi.

He is married to wife Widhiyati and they have two children, Danastri and Astutya. Agus really enjoys spending time at home in Indonesia during his time off with his family and with his cats!

Agus kindly dedicates his 100% score to his friends and colleagues in Kuala Lumpur and hopes to celebrate his achievement with them.

Congratulations, Pak Agus! We’re lucky to have a gentleman like you in our team.

Nigel Sharman

Rides into the ADS 100 Club!

Congratulations to Nigel Sharman who passed his P&P paper with a perfect score of 100% and has joined our ADS 100 club!

Nigel has been drilling offshore for the past 35 years, currently working as a Senior Toolpusher with Odfjell drilling. He is married with four grown up children. In his spare time, Nigel enjoys riding his Harley Davidson.

Well done, Nigel!

Alaa Jasim Falyyih

Meets the P&P Challenge!

We’re delighted to welcome Alaa Jasim Falyyih to the prestigious ADS 100 Club! He scored an impressive 100% in his P&P paper at our Malaysian Well Control centre in November 2019.

Alaa has worked in the industry for many years, with his current role being a Drilling Superintendent for Schlumberger, Iraq. Alaa is married and has 2 boys and 1 girl. In his spare time, he enjoys playing football, relaxing with a good book or watching a good TV show, and taking trips with his family.

Congratulations, Alaa!

Douglas Brown

Eyes on the Prize!

We’re delighted to announce that Douglas Brown has achieved 100% in his P&P paper and joined the ADS 100 Club! He set his sights on the prize as soon as the course began and his efforts have paid off!

He’s worked in the oil industry since 1991, and currently works with CNR as a Drilling Supervisor. Douglas is married with three children, two of which are currently studying at University, one in Edinburgh and one in London. In his spare time, Douglas enjoys hitting the tennis court and golf course, along with taking on some home improvements and farming duties.

Congratulations, Douglas!

Bas van der Woude

Achieves 100% for the 4th time in a row!

Special congratulations to Bas, who has achieved 100% in his Principles and Procedures paper for a fourth time!

Since the last time Bas attended the IWCF course in 2017, he has relocated to the Hague with his wife and 3 children, and is currently working as a Drilling Superintendent for Wintershall Noordzee’s jack-up operations in the southern North Sea.

Bas joined Wintershall in 2004 after obtaining his MSc Petroleum Engineering degree from Heriot-Watt. He went through the 2-year graduate training programme, working for various OPCOs in The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Libya. He then went on to work on rotation as a field drilling engineer in the Libyan desert for a 2-year period, before moving to Wintershall Noordzee in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. After working there for nearly 5 years as a drilling engineer involved in planning and operations for jack-up wells in the Southern North Sea, he moved to Norway at the end of 2012. Bas is currently working as a Senior Drilling Engineer in Stavanger for Wintershall Norway, where he is responsible for planning and operations for the exploration wells on-board the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible.

Bas and his wife Nathalie have been together since 2001. Their first son, Thomas, was born in The Netherlands in 2008 (pictured here, fishing with his Dad). In the spring of 2009 twins (son Jesse and daughter Louise) were born. As a family of five they have been enjoying what life has to offer. Bas tells us, “It has been a hectic ride at times with the three youngsters, but above all really great fun and it has been amazing to watch them grow these past years. They have adapted well to their new life in Stavanger. We are enjoying the outdoors and Norwegian scenery to the fullest!”

A few years ago, Bas picked up cycling on the road bike and in 2014 he rode the infamous cobblestones when he participated in the Paris-Roubaix challenge (170km)!

Don Walker

Takes P&P exam in his stride!

Don Walker has worked offshore for 10 years, starting off as a Roustabout, and has worked his way up to his current position as a Driller. He has been with Noble for almost 5 years and works in the Danish sector of the North Sea. He is engaged to Racheal and they have a 2-year old daughter together, currently living in a small town in North-East Scotland. In his spare time, Don enjoys trips away in his VW campervan (when the weather is nice). He also is a die-hard football fan and supports his local team, Aberdeen FC. COYR!

Well done, Don!

Jack Cronin

The art of performing perfectly and donating to performing arts too!

Jack has worked for Shell for almost 15 years now, starting offshore as a hands-on trainee and then working his way through the standard progression route to Drilling Supervisor.  He’s worked on a number of Shell’s key projects, covering abandonment work, subsea well interventions and most recently, HPHT development drilling. He has also spent some time working in the Aberdeen office as a Well Engineer, and has recently been successful in applying for a new role as a Well Engineering Trainer & Well Control Instructor in Oman, seconded from Shell to PDO. The 100% mark in P&P surpasses the required 90% for instructor qualifications, so it must be a good omen for the new role!

Jack is married to Claire, and they have one daughter, Connie. The three of them live on the Isle of Wight, which is where he and his wife both grew up (thought they didn’t know each other back then)! They both left the island to study and pursue careers and met each other years later. Jack pursued a career as a Well Engineer, and his wife is a Musical Theatre actress. They have since returned to the Isle of Wight and now live in a small village on the South Coast – about as far from the North Sea as possible! Their daughter is now five years old and shows a keen interest in both engineering and performing arts at the moment!

Jack and his family spend a lot of time outdoors on the Isle of Wight, walking their dog Rosie, and working in the garden. He enjoys making things, fixing things, and breaking things, and also likes to go fishing with his dad on their shared fishing boat when time and weather allows.

Christopher Ness

The sun shines on his P&P success!

Christopher is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Senior Drilling Engineer currently working at Cairn Energy.  He graduated from University in 2003 with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from RGU and joined ADTI’s 5-year graduate programme. On completion of the training programme he worked at ADTI for several years before moving to AGR Well Management. From there he moved on to EnQuest and most recently Cairn Energy.  Throughout his career he has enjoyed working in various regions of the world including the North Sea (UK Sector), Middle East, Falkland Islands and the Mediterranean.

Christopher has been married for 5 years and has 2 young children (a 2-year old and a 6-week old). In his spare time, he loves to play football and spend time with the kids.

Congratulations, Christopher! We hope you enjoy your time in the sun this summer.

Mustafa Ahmadov

Raising the bar for instructor candidates!

We’re extremely pleased to announce that Aberdeen Drilling School instructor, Mustafa, recently scored 100% in all three IWCF Well Control papers recently as part of his biennial renewal. This is the 2nd time he’s achieved a perfect score, raising the bar for instructor candidates worldwide! Mustafa has trained O&G delegates in English, Russian, and Azeri in various countries and he consistently receives praise for his calm and supportive teaching style which complements his wealth of industry knowledge. He spends his free time relaxing at home in Baku or travelling and visiting his now grown-up children. Congratulations, Mustafa! We’re very lucky to have you on the ADS team.

Nicholas Riley

Something to celebrate!

Nicholas is a Drilling Superintendent who currently works at Enquest. He graduated in 1999 from Edinburgh University with a BEng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering before completing an MSc in Process Analytics at the University of Newcastle. He joined the oil industry in 2001 with Halliburton.

Congratulations from all of us at ADS!

Dave Cormack

Dave is "somebody who cares"

Congratulations to an old friend of Aberdeen Drilling School, Dave Cormack, who recently scored 100% for a THIRD time on the Principles & Procedures paper of the IWCF Well Control exam.

Each time Dave has scored 100% he has generously offered to match the ADS award and has donated the total amount to one of Aberdeen’s local charities, Somebody Cares. The charity which started in 2002 and is entirely funded by donations, provides food, furniture and clothing to people who are in desperate and urgent help. More information can be found on Somebody Cares by visiting www.somebodycaresuk.org.

Marius Jaugelis

Top marks for a Top guy

Marius has 14 years’ experience in the offshore oil and gas industry, starting out as a ‘roustie’ in the Forties field and progressing to UDW Driller on Pacific drill ship. He has worked in UK, Brazil, Argentina, West Africa, and also found the time to complete a Petroleum Engineering course through a distance learning programme at Herriot-Watt University.

Marius has been happily married for over 20 years to his lovely wife, Helen. They have two wonderful kids: daughter, Eva and son, Roland. They live in Lithuania and a year ago moved to countryside where Marius always has a project on the go, from chopping wood, to gardening, to construction projects with welding works in the garage. The family occasionally gets also involved, when possible, and safe to do so!

Outside of work, Marius loves to spend time with the family. In summer, they enjoy camping, fishing, and hiking in various places across Europe with the help of their motorhome to get them about. In winter, they’re often found skiing.

Congratulations and we’ll see you again next time, Marius!

Geoff Coker

Soaring to Sunny Skies of Success

Geoff works as a Senior Drilling Supervisor and was most recently working for Ophir Energy in Thailand. He has over 24 years of experience in the oil industry, starting out as a reservoir engineer, moving into drilling engineering and later into drilling supervision. He has worked in 8 different countries, from Australia to Norway, and has seen just about every type of drilling rig there is.

Key interests include popular science, anything mechanical, sports, motorcycles, vintage guitars, watch-making and collecting. Geoff lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with his girlfriend, and has two teenage daughters.

Congratulations again, Geoff!

David C. Portwine

Top marks for David!

David recently achieved a perfect score of 100% in the IWCF Principles & Procedure paper at Aberdeen Drilling School. He currently works as an OIM for Vantage Drilling Offshore Malaysia but travelled to Scotland for his training. He is married with two teenage children.

Congratulations again, David and we hope to see you again in 2 years’ time!

Stuart Waltho

A Triumphant Return!

After narrowly missing the 100% score in 2015 (by one question!), Stuart Waltho returns 2 years later to nab the cash prize and earn his spot in the ADS 100 Club!

Stuart graduated from University of Strathclyde with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and joined ADTI in 2009 through their graduate scheme. He worked offshore as rig crew and Wellsite Drilling Engineer on a variety of exploration and appraisal wells in the North Sea. He then worked as Well Operations Engineer onshore Thailand and North Sea on a variety of Development and Workover projects. He’s currently working as Offshore Well Engineer with Exceed Well Management on a major North Sea subsea decommissioning project.

In his spare time, Stuart enjoys outdoor activities such as Golf, Road Cycling, Mountain Biking, Running, Sailing, Skiing, Surfing, but during the winter months, he sticks to indoor sports of Badminton and Swimming. He also has a keen interest in cars, with his current Audi S4 avant carrying the necessary sports equipment wherever he needs to go in all varieties of Scottish weather.

Patrick McGrath

P&P Perfection for Patrick!

Patrick is currently employed as Staff Wells Engineer / Well Ops Supervisor with Shell UK.  He started in the oil & gas business twelve years ago as a Mud Logging Geologist and tells us that it was an exciting adventure for someone born and raised in the Midlands where there is very little exposure to the offshore energy industry!  In 2006, he moved to Aberdeen and started a new job, working for Schlumberger Drilling & Measurements as an M/LWD Engineer before then becoming a Directional Driller working on call across the North Sea.  Four years later, he took an assignment on rotation to Saudi Arabia, where he worked for Schlumberger Middle East as a Directional Driller on the land rigs in Manifah and in Shaybah (in the Empty Quarter!).  Then, hungry for new challenges, he moved back to Aberdeen 5 years ago to work for Shell as a Night Drilling Supervisor on platform and semi-submersible drilling rigs. Over that time, Patrick has been involved in some very exciting projects, both as a Wells Supervisor offshore and as a Well Engineer onshore.  Currently, he’s planning the first ever campaign of subsea wellhead recoveries for Shell UK, which will help to define Shell’s strategy for this type of work in the future.

When he’s not doing DIY jobs at home, Patrick likes to go hiking and trail cycling.  He also loves to travel and, as a certified technical tri-mix diver, he’s always eager to plan his next dive holiday! Exploring the World War 1 wrecks of Scapa Flow was a highlight for him in 2016.

Congratulation again on your achievement!

Michael Ari Dhanto

Revved up and ready to take on the P&P Challenge!

Michael is currently working as a Well Engineer at Schlumberger. He started at Schlumberger IPM working as a trainee rig crew member in Australia with CBM drilling. He then moved to Indonesia as a well engineer for the Wayang Windu Geothermal drilling project, and is now in Iraq as a night supervisor/well engineer for the ENI Zubair drilling project. He’s been in the industry for 4 years in total.

Michael likes to travel and, as a proud owner of a Kawasaki Ninja ZX636, he is a big fan of motorcycles!

Congratulations, Michael!

Edem Edemidiong

100% in Principles & Procedures AND in Equipment!

Edem recently scored 100% in BOTH of his IWCF written assessments for Drilling Well Control – an impressive achievement! He is currently working as a Senior Well Engineer with Shell Petroleum Development Company. He has worked there since 2000 and undertaken a variety of roles during his career including Concept Well Engineer; Asset Well Engineer; Drilling Supervisor on land, swamp, and jack-up rigs; and Wells Learning Adviser.

He married his lovely wife, Ofon, in 2003 and they have three children, Gerald (b. 2004), Bryan (b. 2008) and Stanley (b.2009). In his spare time, Edem enjoys golf, scrabble, DIY, and mentoring young drilling professionals!

Congratulations, Edem! It’s been a pleasure having you with us in Aberdeen.

John White

Aces the P&P Paper!

John recently scored 100% in IWCF’s Principles & Procedures paper at our centre in Aberdeen! He is currently working as Team Lead / HPHT Design, and has been working at Shell for 11 years in both offshore and onshore roles. He is married with 3 sons and lives in Alyth, Perthshire. In his free time, John enjoys sports such as football, tennis, and squash.

Congratulations on the perfect P&P score! We hope to see you again soon.

Suei Ru Wong

A Shining Example!

Suei is the second female to join the ADS 100 Club and is the very first woman to achieve the perfect 100% score in IWCF’s P&P paper at Aberdeen Drilling International (Malaysia)! She is a Drilling Engineer at Repsol Oil & Gas Malaysia Limited and has been with Repsol (previously Talisman) for about 3 years now. Prior to this role, she was a cementing engineer with Halliburton for about 9 years, having worked at various locations including India, China, Brunei and Malaysia.

Suei has a passion for travelling and exploring the history of various countries. During her free time, she likes to draw, swim or simply relax and watch TV.

Martin Geddes

From the Altitude of the Alps to the Dizzy Heights of a perfect P&P Performance!

Martin graduated in 1995 from local university, Robert Gordon’s, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He then joined Baker Oil Tools and performed various engineering, operations and project management roles, mainly in wellbore intervention, later specialising in coiled tubing drilling when he joined Shell in 2005 to work as a Well Engineer on the Gannet CTD project. Since then, Martin has worked in various onshore and offshore positions in the UK and joined the Shearwater Noble Hans Deul team as Senior Well Engineer (Operations) in 2012 before progressing to his current role as Well Operations Team Lead (HPHT) with Shell UK 2015.

Martin and his lovely wife, Andrea, are both pictured above at Lac Montriond near Morzine in the French Alps. They live in Torphins, Aberdeenshire with their three sons, Rory (17), Callum (15) and Ben (12).

Martin confesses to have little time for hobbies with three busy children, but he does love football. He enjoys watching Aberdeen and he’s still playing the sport at the age of 43! He has recently bought a new mountain bike and is exploring the paths and trails of Deeside. He also loves music is learning to play acoustic guitar.

Congratulations from all of us Aberdeen Drilling School!!

Ben Martell

Ben has a "Flare" for P&P!

Wells Operations Manager

Ben started his career in the oil industry 22 years ago, working initially as a Survey Engineer and then as a Directional Drilling Operations Engineer.  He joined Shell in 2001 working both offshore and onshore in Aberdeen, before transferring internationally in 2005 and working as a Drilling Supervisor in South Korea, Sakhalin and Egypt. In 2012 he moved to the single string ventures team working as a Senior Operations Engineer drilling deepwater exploration wells in French Guiana and the Gulf of Mexico.  Ben is currently working in Nova Scotia, Canada, on a deepwater exploration campaign as Operations Manager.

While currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his wife, Anna, Ben enjoys sailing, scuba diving and skiing in his spare time!

Congratulations, Ben! We hope to see you again in 2 years.

Stan Stuart

It's a new record for Stan! 100% scored in 2014, 2016, 2020 & 2022!

Stan (pictured here in his ‘working togs’) started in the offshore industry in 1989 with MSR on the semi-submersible rig called the Aladdin. The rig was bought over by Lauritzen where he continued to work until 1992. From there he moved to Santa Fe which then became Global Santa Fe and then merged again to become Transocean. It was during this time that he progressed through the ranks to finally secure a position of Senior Toolpusher aboard the GSF Monarch in 2005. This is where he stayed until an opportunity to join ADTI as a Drilling Supervisor in 2011, a position he held until the company decided to cease trading in 2015. From there Stan has been contracted to Apache, Fairfield, and Repsol, and since 2019 has spent most of his time conducting operations for Petrofac, supervising their “well managed and well operated” operations onboard Stena Spey and Stena Don, as well as the Island Innovator.

Previously, Stan has donated to “Friends of Archie” with the reward from ADS, but this time around he wants to donate to Alzheimer Scotland as he lost his mother to this terrible disease much too young. If the money can assist this charity in helping the huge amount of sufferers in Scotland then it is money well spent.

This is in fact the fourth time that Stan has achieved 100% in his P&P at ADS! 

‘Here’s to another crack at it in couple of years!’ – Stan

Michael Kassell

The P&P paper proves to be plain sailing for Mike!

Mike is a consulting Drilling Superintendent and he achieved an impressive 100% in his IWCF P&P paper in December, 2016. He’s been working in the industry since 1973 and has travelled the globe with his work. Since 2003, he has been mainly based in the Far East region, mostly in Vietnam with a focus on granite base drilling.

He is a proud dad to 2 lovely daughters and a proud grandfather to his 3-year-old grandson. When time permits, he enjoys spending time outdoors, often on the water when he gets the chance to go sailing but he also enjoys the golf course.

Congratulations Mike! We hope to see you again in the future.

David Lim

David leads the way!

In 2014 David Lim was the first person to achieve 100% on the IWCF Principles & Procedures paper at our new training centre in Kuala Lumpur (which opened in August, 2014). We’re now extremely pleased to announce that he has done for a 2nd time running in late-2016!! A remarkable achievement.

David is presently working as a Drilling Supervisor back home in Malaysia (offshore Sabah) on board a semi-assist tender rig on the Malikai development project. This is Malaysia’s very first Tension Leg Platform (TLP). It is also his very first experience working on a TLP and he’s proud to say that the team very recently achieved first oil in December 2016. What a great way to end the year in what has been a challenging 2016.

He is working with Shell and has a total of 14 years of experience, having worked in various parts of the world in Asia, Middle East and North Africa. David’s work has taken him to many faraway places, working with people from all walks of life in all manner of environments:
“It has been a great experience and I wouldn’t swap it for anything else. Looking forward for more of the same in the coming years.”

David recently got married and as both he and his new wife are very much into travelling, they are currently planning a trip to the USA. He also enjoys running and hopes to take the leap and complete a half-marathon in 2017.

“No prizes for guessing where the prize money will be going – to the vacation fund!”

Best of luck, David, and safe travels!

Roger Anderson

A perfect score of 100% for the 2nd time!

Roger joined Shell in 2008 as a Well Site Drilling Engineer working offshore on a variety of rigs and platforms. He then moved into the office for 3 years doing Brent P&A design work followed by design and operations for a drilling campaign on Nelson. He moved back offshore in 2013 to work as a Night Drilling Supervisor on the Ocean Guardian which he did for 18 months. Another move back into the office in 2015 as Operations Engineer lead to his most recent move a year later, back offshore as Drilling Supervisor on the Ocean Patriot!

Roger has been married for 2 years, with no kids but they have a dog that keeps them more than busy! He enjoys travelling and hopes to spend more time away now that he is back offshore. He also enjoys running and hopes to sign up to a few events in 2017.

Good luck with the house hunt, Roger, and congratulations again!

Muhammad Yazdaan

Celebrates a P&P win!

Muhammad is a Senior Drilling Supervisor working for PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) and based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He has 6 years of experience in supervising drilling operation offshore on various type of drilling rigs (semi-submersible, tender assisted barge, jack-up, drillship and workover barge) and is involved in various types of drilling operations (surface & subsea development and exploration, workover, MPD & PMCD, HPHT & deepwater wells).

He has been married for 7 years and is a proud father to his 5-year-old son. Muhammad really enjoys spending time at home in Kuala Lumpur during time off and always looks forward to a vacation with his lovely family.

Congratulations, Muhammad! We hope to see you again in two years’ time.

Lindsay Allen

It's smooth sailing!

Lindsay is currently working as a senior toolpusher and recently scored a perfect score of 100% on his Principles and Procedures paper at Aberdeen Drilling School. He began his career offshore in 1989 working for Penrod in the North Sea. When Ensco took over Penrod he continued to work in the North Sea for a total of 23 years. He later decided to broaden his horizons and “go international” so he joined Transocean and has spent the past 4 years in West Africa. He had always planned to semi-retire at the age of 50, and so he has now left Transocean and started up his own company. He hopes to day-rate his services and enjoy more time at home.

Lindsay has been married for 25 years to his wonderful wife Donna. They have twins, Truly and Damian, who are now 15.

His wife spends a lot of time riding her horse and looking after the family needs, while Lindsay has a boat on the Norfolk Broads, which he plans to spend more time on with family and friends now that he is enjoying more free time. He hopes to take the boat up the Thames and pass the houses of parliament in the next couple of years. He’s a keen DIY enthusiast and does everything except plastering ceilings!

Ryan Hart

Hearty congratulations to Ryan Hart!

Ryan is a well engineer currently working for BG Group and in May 2016, scored 100% on his Principles and Procedures paper!

He graduated with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Durham University in 2013 and joined BG Group’s International Graduate Development Programme (IDGP) straight after uni. In the past 3 years he’s worked in Aberdeen, Tunisia, Brisbane, Reading and is about to start a new assignment in The Netherlands. He has worked on multiple assignments in the office, on land rigs, a jack-up and on a platform performing slickline workovers.

Ryan has been lucky enough to make the most of his travelling with the IDGP. His most memorable experience being the week he spent getting his PADI scuba diving certificates in the Great Barrier Reef!

He is a competitive cyclist and swimmer and enjoys spending most of his free time training or racing. Ryan likes taking his Yamaha R6 motorbike on trackdays, rock climbing, and generally being active outdoors. He’s also a vegan, which apparently is often met with confusion and interesting debates – especially on the rigs!

We have loved having you with us, Ryan! Congratulations again and best of luck on trackday!

Nick Hughesdon

Huge scores for Nick Hughesdon!

Nick scored a very impressive 100% in his P&P exam paper in April, 2016. He is currently working as a Senior Toolpusher but he started working offshore in 1987 as a roustabout for D.Y.V.I. offshore. He later moved to Bolden Drilling and then Rowan Drilling. In 1995 he was hired by Santa Fe Drilling where he stayed, moving up the ranks as the company merged with Global Marine and then Transocean.

Nick has been married for 19 years to his wife, Susan, and they have 2 children. He has a keen interest in science and technology and enjoys playing the guitar. He is also currently restoring a 1974 Ford Capri!

Congratulations on your achievement, Nick! We hope to see you again.

Richard McLellan

Richard ranks with the best of them!

Richard started working offshore in 1987 on jack ups and platforms, and was recently working as a senior toolpusher for Northern Offshore.

Married with grown up children who have flown the nest and started their own careers, Richard likes to play golf whenever the sun is out and enjoys going to motor sport events.

Congratulations, Richard!

Hammad Zafar

Hammad sets a perfect example!

Hammad is currently working as a senior night drilling supervisor for MOL Pakistan. He first embarked on his career in Oil & Gas in 2008 with “Pakistan Petroleum Limited” as an assistant drilling engineer. He then joined Schlumberger IPM in 2013 and worked in Oman and Saudi Arabia for 2 years as a well site drilling engineer until he began working for MOL Pakistan.

In his free time, Hammad enjoys watching movies, swimming, and attending family gatherings. Hammad tells us that he is happily married to Adan Malik and he has a young son called Muhammad Rayyan. Muhammad was born in the autumn of 2015 and is very, very loved!

Congratulations, Hammad. We wish you and your wonderful family all the best for the future!

Stephen Sutherland

Stephen has it sussed!

Stephen has worked offshore since 1995, working as part of a drill crew for 7 years, completing his HNC in electronic engineering in between. He spent 6 years as a VSAT engineer and returned to drilling in 2010.

Stephen spends most of my time doing DIY and keeping fit. He’s married with a son aged 18 and daughter aged 9.

Congratulations, Stephen!

Callum Macandrew

Callum nailed it - getting 100% in P&P

Callum joined Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI) in 2007 after obtaining his MEng Mechanical Engineering degree. He completed the ADTI graduate development programme and progressed to Senior Drilling Engineer.

Away from work he is a big Aberdeen Football Club supporter, following the team home and away.

Fraser Smith

Fraser blows P&P paper out of the water with a pefect score!

Fraser is currently a Well Engineer working with both the Subsea Design Team and Drilling Efficiency and Optimisation Team. He started his career with Shell just under 3 years ago as a Wellsite Drilling Engineer when, apparently, he was “thrown onto a rig in the Central North Sea without much idea what was going on”.  Before moving to an onshore position, Fraser gained experience working offshore on the Nelson and Brent Delta platforms which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Unmarried and without children, Fraser claims to be “footloose and free to travel and see the world” with his girlfriend, Giulia. He enjoys playing football, mountain biking and windsurfing, although the latter is reserved for warm weather conditions far away from the cold North Sea.

Welcome to the ADS 100 Club, Fraser, and thank you for the selfie!

Robert Chadwick

Riding waves of success!

Robert is a Consultant Drilling Supervisor currently working with Dea UK in the Southern North Sea. He joined the industry in 1980 and progressed from Roustabout to Senior Tool Pusher with Noble Drilling, joined The Red Baron as a fishing tool supervisor and spent time in Oman as country manager before moving to Dubai as senior regional manager looking after the Middle East, India and Pakistan. Robert later “broke free” and went back to his roots as a DSV working in Ukraine, Pakistan and most recently the UK.

He has been happily married to Catriona for over 32 years and his children have all grown up, flown the nest and, most importantly, are standing on their own feet now.

Robert loves kite surfing but admits that he loves it more when the water is warm and he can sport a rash top and board shorts. He also loves to play golf and ride his motor cycle.

Thomas McIntyre

Thomas takes the P&P paper in his stride!

Thomas is currently a Night Drilling Supervisor for Nexen after starting out as a Graduate Drilling Engineer in 2011. All of his work has been in the UK North Sea so far. He is originally from Australia but has lived in Scotland for 7 years and now shares a flat in Edinburgh with 3 mates and a dog.

Thomas enjoys cycling, hiking and travelling. Well done from all of us ADS!

Hogni Hansen

Hogni rises to the challenge & builds for the future!

Hogni is a Freelance Drilling Superintendent and Drilling Engineer.  He started with Maersk Oil in 1993, drilling and completing long horizontal wells before he moved over to freelance work in 1996. Hogni has been working offshore as a Drilling Supervisor, then onshore as a Drilling Engineer, Drilling Superintendent and Drilling Manager.  He has worked in the North Sea, Asia and the Middle East, mainly with jackups and in deepwater concentrating on technically challenging projects.

Hogni is married with five children and is currently farming sheep and building a new house.

We wish you the best of luck in your new home, Hogni!

Raj Tripathi

Instructor Raj becomes top student for a week

Raj is an Oil & Gas Instructor with 25 years of field experience and 7 years of teaching and facilitating experience. In a week of role reversal, he became an ADS student and gained top marks in his IWCF Principles & Procedure examination.

He has been married for 27 years “to the same lovely woman” and has two children. His 25-year old son is following in his father’s footsteps in Oil & Gas and is working as a Drilling Engineer while his 22-year old daughter is a journalist for a TV news channel in India. In his free time, Raj enjoys golf and collects old coins.

Mike Thorogood

A thoroughly good achievement!

Congratulations to Mike Thorogood of BP! He has now twice received £250 from ADS for a perfect 100% score on his IWCF Well Control “Principles & Procedures” paper. What makes Mike’s achievement even more notable is the fact that his extraordinary 2005 examination mark was achieved on his first ever attempt at the IWCF Well Control course and exam!

Mike is a Drilling Engineer with BP at Wytch Farm in Dorset, UK. His first experience of the oil industry was a holiday job working as a Roustabout. This proved decisive in motivating him to embark on a career in the industry. He joined BP after finishing his studies and has been working there as a Drilling engineer, both offshore and – currently – in the office.

Rovshan Ibrahimov

A credit to his profession!

Rovshan graciously thanked all ADS staff for their support throughout his time at ADS and we would like to return the thanks. Thank you for your outstanding efforts in the field of well control training and congratulations on your excellent performance.

Rovshan is currently a well-respected Well Control Instructor for KCA Deutag (Azerbaijan). He graduated from Azerbaijan State Oil Academy and began his career as a roustabout with Transocean in 2003, moving up to a position as Driller, and eventually joining KCA Deutag in 2012 as Well Control Instructor.

Rovshan has been married for 14 years and is a happy father of 3 children: 2 daughters and 1 son.  He spends his spare time gardening at his summer house where he keeps different kinds of hens and turkeys. He also owns lots of big aquariums, which he claims are fantastic for keeping day-to-day stress at bay!

Hans Rehbock

Hans show his support for the 'Friends of ANCHOR"!

Drilling Manager, Hans, achieved a perfect score in his P&P paper in May, 2014.

Hans began his career after achieving a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the University RWTH Aachen, Germany, in 1991. He spent 13 years in various roles worldwide in drilling and completions and in the service industry until he moved to Wintershall Holding GmbH as a Snr. Drilling Engineer. After 10 years with Wintershall in positions as Snr. Drilling Engineer and Drilling Superintendent, he was promoted to Drilling Manager in Qatar where he works now.

He has been married for 22 years and has 3 children, but always finds time to enjoy playing squash and getting out on his motorbike.

Congratulations, Hans – and on behalf of the Friends of ANCHOR, thank you for your support!

Wallace Smith

Wallace scores a hat trick! 2002, 2004, 2014!

Wallace “Hat Trick” Smith is a Drilling Superintendent and in 2014 scored 100% in his P&P paper for the third time! He worked as a Drilling Supervisor for BP for most of his career, in various locations including Syria, Norway, Colombia and Angola. Wallace then joined Husky in China and worked as part of Exceed’s Deepwater Project Management team as a Drilling Supervisor in Turkey and Indonesia, and as a Superintendent in Israel and Canada.

Wallace lives in Glasgow and has been married to Lorna for 15 years. They have 3 children, Rhona who is 9 and twins, Fraser and Lyndsey, who are 7.

With a keen passion for sport, Wallace particularly enjoys football and rugby, following Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Warriors. He and his wife Lorna are also keen sailors. They used to own their own sailboat and spent a lot of time sailing in the Mediterranean, “until the kids came along and scuppered that!” They are hoping to get back into it now that the kids are old enough.

Congratulations again on your outstanding achievement, Wallace.

Dustin Pottmeyer

"Marathon" trip through Europe is fitting reward for Dustin!

Dustin is a drilling supervisor for Marathon Oil working in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.  Previously, he worked as a drilling engineer on projects in the United States, in Colorado, Wyoming, & North Dakota after graduating with a Petroleum Engineering degree from Marietta College in 2010.  Most of his career experience is in horizontal drilling in shale plays.

Dustin enjoys skiing in the winter, hunting, boating, & riding ATVs.  He also enjoys playing the guitar.

Happy travels, Dustin!

Naveed Hasan

Family is the secret of success for Naveed!

Naveed Hasan is D&C Well Engineering Team Leader with United Energy Pakistan (UEP). He started his career in the Oil Industry in 2005 and worked as a Drilling Engineer with Pakistan Petroleum Limited till Oct 2009 when he joined BP, and worked for them as a Senior Drilling Engineer until Sept 2011. In Naveed’s current work with UEP he is responsible for the rig operations and well engineering activities of 6 drilling rigs.

The work-place is rarely far from Naveed’s thoughts:  he is keen on continuous development of his technical and managerial skills, spending much of his free time reading books and journals relating to drilling and completions as well as business strategies and management.

Naveed is happily married (to Jawaria) and they have one daughter (Alishba).  As for the £250 prize, he would like to have a celebration party with “the reason behind my success” (i.e. his wife & daughter!) and also with his parents who continue to be his “life inspirations”.

William Palfree

William escapes the estate to conquer the P&P paper!

William is a Senior Drilling Supervisor. He started out as a mud logger and moved on to Well Testing. After moving back to mud logging briefly, he joined Santa Fe as a trainee engineer and he has been there ever since, (although after 2 takeovers the company is now known as ADTI Ltd).

William lives in Derbyshire on his miniature country estate complete with water mill, 11 acres, woodland and a trout river. He is married to Victoria and they have 3 children, 7 dogs, 5 ponies and 2 cats. “If I thought life offshore was mayhem, arriving home soon puts that into context! Most of my time is spent trying to control 3 children, 7 dogs, 5 ponies and the wife of course.” – Your words, William, not ours!

John Fraser

John Fraser unfazed by P&P challenge!

John is presently working as a consultant Decommissioning Engineer for ConocoPhillips based in Aberdeen, which he joined in January this year.

After graduating in 1984, John spent 3 years in Louisiana before returning to the UK to focus on subsea well operations. He specialised in this field for Occidental, Elf and Total until 2000, before spells with Talisman, (UK & Norway) and Hess.

John is married with 3 grown up children and his hobbies include swimming, cars and field sports.

Congratulations on your achievement, John!

Mark Thomas

100% fit for the job!

Mark is a Driller for Ensco, and has been for an impressive for 19 years so far in UK waters. He lives in Lowestoft, Suffolk and is married with two children.

Douglas Nunn

Douglas shows 'em how it's done!

Doug is managing director of Acona UK Ltd, a well engineering company with offices in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth. .

A mechanical engineering graduate, Doug has 32 years’ experience in the offshore drilling industry having worked for Marathon Oil, Shell, Conoco and Santa Fe Drilling. Doug’s experience includes wellsite supervision, well engineering and operational management in the North Sea, Far East and Canada. In 2004 Doug started Fraser Offshore, now an Acona subsidiary.

Doug says, “Our company puts a lot of effort into training the next generation of drilling supervisors and well engineers – so it’s great to score the 100% and let these young hotshots know that age and cunning can still beat youth and enthusiasm.” Doug is married to Jill and lives near Great Yarmouth – their children Angus (23) and Lucy (21) work in London and Edinburgh respectively.

Congratulations, Doug, and welcome to the ADS 100 Club!

Rafal Rak

Rafal racks up the points on his P&P paper!

Rafal’s drilling adventure began at the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy. After completing a master degree in drilling and geological engineering he started his professional career as a roughneck for Petrobaltic S.A. on a Jack-up based in the Baltic Sea. Rafal then worked his way up to mud engineer.

In 2011 he joined ENI Group on a 6th generation ultra drill ship, Saipem 12000, operating in Angola’s deepwater as a derrickman where is now working hard and gathering experience for further professional challenges.

Rafal is in a relationship with wonderful girl, Martha, and they are expecting their first child, a baby boy, to arrive on 1st of September 2014!

When he is not working, Rafal is passionate about radio control R/C planes. He builds and flies fighters of World War II and his favourite model is the spitfire mkIX of 303 Polish Fighter Squadron. He also enjoys travelling and outdoor pursuits such as diving in summer and skiing in winter.

We are extremely pleased to hear your exciting news, Rafal, and we wish you and Martha all the best of luck as new parents!

John Shields

A performance of Olympian strength in P&P

Congratulations to John for getting 100% in his Principles & Procedures paper in 2006 and AGAIN in 2014. John is currently Senior Drilling Project Engineer for the Drilling Systems in Stena Drilling’s Mid Water Semi-Submersible Project. He has been working in the drilling industry since 1982, starting as a roustabout with Atlantic Drilling, and he joined Stena in 1999. He has worked in Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, Argentina and West Africa.

John has been married to Debbie for nearly 29 years and they have 3 daughters, Becky, Emma, and Shona. He spends much of the winter skiing, which is relatively easy to do as daughter Debbie runs a hotel in a ski resort. This season, instead of going skiing himself, John went to the Winter Olympics to support a friend’s son in the Ski Halfpipe. Cycling is his summer pastime and this year John will be cycling 300 miles from London to Paris over 3 days!

Catherine De Martino

A perfect score for a second time!

Catherine joins the 100 club for a second time after achieving 100% in her P&P paper, congratulations! Catherine is a Senior Wells Supervisor, currently with Shell in Namibia. Her career has taken her all over the world, from the Alaskan Arctic, to Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Egypt and Mexico, to name a few!

In her time off, Catherine enjoys relaxing at home, working out and travelling to catch up with family and friends.

Catherine has chosen to donate the £200 cash to Willows Animal Sanctuary. She has a passion for animals, and currently shares her home with Max, her rescue cat from her assignment in Miri, Malaysia.

Congratulations again, Catherine!

Adam Koncz

Adam Koncz ploughs through his P&P paper to achieve 100%

Adam graduated in Electrical Engineering in 2010 and as an Oil Engineer (MSc) in 2012. He began his career as a roughneck for Rotary Drilling Ltd in Hungary, working in parallel with his university studies. Adam soon became a Safety Engineer and then a Rig manager, responsible for a workover land rig. 2 years later he had the opportunity to undertake further studies at the University of Miskolc and he is now nearing the completion of his PhD! He plans to venture into the offshore drilling industry next.

We wish you all the best of luck, Adam!

Dominic Hayes

Dominic Hayes nae bother with his Principles & Procedures

Dominic is a Senior Well Engineer who achieved 100% in his P&P paper in September 2014. He joined the industry just under 20 years ago, working initially with various service companies in Drilling & Evaluation in Western Europe and Africa. He then moved to a major Operator and has undertaken assignments both for the Operator and as a secondee to Joint Venture companies in Western Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and most recently, Eastern Europe.

In his own words, Dominic is married to “a wonderful and supportive wife, Sarah” and he has two step-daughters, Emily and Fiona, who are just starting out with their own careers. They have three dogs, a cat and several horses in the family!

He has a keen interest in cars and in his old Land Rover 110 especially. Dominic enjoys getting out in countryside with the dogs and when the weather’s dreich he loves to stay home and play the guitar. When he has the time, he also maintains and restores old guitar amplifiers. In addition, he is a volunteer with the Gordon Group (Grampian North) Riding for the Disabled Association which is a local charity that uses horses and ponies to provide therapy, achievement and enjoyment for people with disabilities.

Stuart Greaney

Stuart crosses the finish line in style!

Stuart is currently a Senior Drilling Engineer at Tullow Oil and he recently scored 100% in his Principles & Procedures paper. He graduated from Birmingham University with a masters in Mechanical Engineering in 2001, and after a brief venture into the world of Management Consultancy, he joined the Shell Well Engineering Graduate Scheme in 2005. He worked as an Offshore Drilling Engineer, Lifecycle Well Engineer, and a Night Company Man prior to leaving in 2012 to join Maersk Denmark as a Drilling Supervisor. He then joined Tullow in London in 2013 as a Senior Drilling Engineer, and he is presently working on one of Tullow’s South American projects.

Stuart has been married for 4 years, and is the proud father of 2 young children and 2 Labradors! He claims to be a keen participant and follower of any sport, but he has a particular passion for Harlequins Rugby and is a lifelong West Ham fan. He is presently training for the New York marathon in November and he has completed several running, and cycling events over the last couple of years.

He recently discovered a new role as swimming coach to his kids and hopes one day to take on the role of skiing coach too. Stuart and his wife are keen walkers, though he explains that “the arrival of kids has somewhat limited the pace we travel at these days” – which doesn’t sound like a bad thing to us!

Good luck, Stuart!

Andrew Parkinson

A perfect performance from Parkinson!

Andrew is currently working with Shell on the Brent field as Well Operations Manager. He started in the industry over 25 years ago and has worked on land rigs in The Netherlands, Oman, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and the UAE. Over the years he’s noticed a few changes to his lifestyle, from “pushing pipe to pushing a desk” and moving from bachelor status to being married with two boys. Having never worked in the UK before, he arrived in Aberdeen two years ago and is still trying to adjust to both the climate and the culture!

Andrew is said to have spent a career advocating the importance of attention to detail when it comes to operational and safety performances – and it’s clear to us that he practices what he preaches with this fantastic P&P result. Congratulations, Andrew!

Radi El-Sayed

Radical results for Radi!

Radi is currently working with GDF SUEZ E & P UK Limited as a Senior Drilling Engineer for the Cygnus field development looking after the design and planning for the Cygnus Bravo Platform wells.

He has been married since 2007 and is the proud father of three beautiful girls. He and his family used to live in Cairo and are now living in Aberdeen.  Radi tells us that “it has been a hectic ride at times with the three youngsters, but above all really great fun, and it has been amazing to watch them grow these past years”. They have adapted well to their new life in Aberdeen and we are enjoying the outdoors and Scottish scenery to the fullest.

Congratulations, Radi!

Philippe Millot

Philippe the Victorious!

Philippe is currently working as a Senior Drilling Supervisor. He achieved 100% in his Principles and Procedures exam in December, 2014.

He started out in the oil & gas industry in 1978 with Elf/Total, and has been consulting since 2001. Philippe is married with and two children (a boy of 13 and a girl of 16). In his spare time, he enjoys sailing, skiing, and takes a keen interest in cars.

Congratulations, Philippe!We hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Lewis Steven

Lewis reaches the peak of Well Control perfection - for a second time!

Congratulations go to Lewis Steven who wins £250 from ADS for scoring 100% on the Principles & Procedures paper in 2010 and AGAIN in 2013.

Lewis has been working in the oil industry since 1994 after graduating in Mechanical Engineering from Aberdeen University. His operational career started with Santa Fe Drilling and he has been with Shell for over a decade.

He has mainly worked in Europe (UK and Norway) with a spell in the Middle East. Lewis is currently working as Drilling Supervisor on the West Navigator Drillship in Norway, assigned to the Ormen Lange project, drilling and completing gas production wells which currently provide 20% of the UK’s gas requirements via subsea pipeline from Norway.

When not working, Lewis enjoys travelling and outdoor pursuits such as climbing and snowboarding.

Malcolm Hill

Rising to the P&P challenge!

Malcolm Hill has been employed by BHP Billiton Petroleum for the past four years. He is currently involved in deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico adding to a variety of work locations including Vietnam, the Falkland Isles, Trinidad, Pakistan and Australia.

When he isn’t enjoying the challenges of a modern day oil industry Malcolm spends his time with his wife, four children and his first grandchild. He has a passion for modern day motorcycles, occasionally taking to the race track with his Ducati, and he isn’t afraid to brave the elements to trek the countryside with his dogs. Malcolm plans to spend his prize money on a family evening out to celebrate the result.  He will use this time to reflect on his earlier well control training days at ADS, where one of our instructors, Gene Wilson, inspired him to grasp the fundamentals of well control and make learning enjoyable for the first time.

Rolandas Vadeikis

Sharp shooter Rolandas proves his accuracy

Rolandas began working offshore 13 years ago as a painter on the jack-up drilling rig “Noble Ronald Hoope”. He has worked his way up the ranks to his current position as assistant driller. He is married, has a 17 year old son, and he loves to spend his free time outdoors enjoying canoeing, fishing, hunting, and target shooting.

He deserves special congratulations for being our first assistant driller to gain 100% in the principles & procedures paper! So, well done Rolandas from all of us at ADS, you are a credit to your company.

Jan Tamminga

Celebrating a tall achievement with a tall glass of bubbly!

Jan Tamminga is a Field Manager for Shell Upstream Turkey and has been with Shell for 26 years. His last three job roles have seen him in Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Jan has three children with his wife, who he has been married to for 26 years – “not bad in the oilfield industry” he tells us.

Jan likes to spend his free time either on a motorbike, keeping fit or working around the farmhouse. As for the prize money, we are assured that it will be spent wisely.

Sebastian Degroote

Congratulations Sebastian

Drilling Engineer, Sebastian joined Total in March 2011 and is currently working on HPHT projects on the Elgin/Franklin field. Prior to Total, Sebastian worked for BP where he started his career in 2006 after graduating from the IFP-School in Paris. His work experience has included planning deepwater Angolan wells and ERD wells. Sebastian spends his free time with his two children and his wife and will spend his prize money on an iPad.

Jason Tarr

Congratulations Jason!

After Jason left school in 1984 he started working for Shell. With 16 years’ drilling experience Jason is now a Senior Drilling Supervisor in Norway. His work has included deepwater and HPHT projects. Besides spending time with his wife and two young children, Jason restores old cars and participates in motorsports. He also enjoys photography, gardening and DIY. He is likely to spend his prize money on a weekend away.

Seamus Collins

Congratulations Seamus!

Seamus Collins has been in the offshore oil industry for 15 years. During this time he has worked for Atlantic Drilling, Diamond Offshore and is currently based in Aberdeen as a Well Control trainer for Transocean. In his spare time Seamus travels, swims and takes part in cycle touring. Seamus has an 18 year old son (who apparently knows everything) and has been married to his wife Fiona for 30 years, who will spend the prize money wisely.

Philippe Maheo

Globe Trotter Philippe's most recent travel destination. The ADS 100 Club!

Philippe is currently OIM for Transocean on a semi-submersible in India. He started out in 1980 on a land rig in France as a Roughneck. In 1985 he progressed to Asst Driller and was transferred to West Africa offshore drilling operations for Cosifor-Techfor. He later went to Sedco-Forex and then Transocean where he spent 20 years between, Angola, Congo, Gabon, Cameron and Nigeria on Tenders, Semi-Subs and DP rigs – working his way up to an OIM position!

Philippe then transferred to Asia and Australia for a few years on different types of floating Rigs. Married with 4 Kids, his youngest daughter is only 6 years old and is “keeping him young”.

Alexandre Bouvet

Congratulations Alexandre!

Alexandre Bouvet is currently working as a drilling engineer for TOTAL E&P Russia, in Moscow. Although he is based in Moscow, operations are an oil field located 25 miles north of the arctic circle where, according to Alexandre, you can see the northern lights if you’re lucky, and freeze when the temperature reaches -58deg F if you’re not!

He started his career in 2005, working for TOTAL E&P UK, in Aberdeen. He subsequently moved to Yemen, working as a drilling supervisor, followed by Congo (also as drilling supervisor) and came back to the UK (Aberdeen) for two additional years as a drilling engineer. Alexandre has been in Moscow since 2010, but regards it as “always a pleasure to go back to Aberdeen” as he did when he attended the IWCF Well Control course at ADS.

Alexandre is French, 30 years old and “not married yet”. Away from the drilling scene, he enjoys sports (ran a marathon in Milan, and practices kite-surfing), going to concerts & operas (“which is quite easy in Moscow”), discovering new places, and dancing the tango.

Mark Batten

Congratulations Mark!

Mark’s career started with BP in 2008, on the Challenge programme, working at Wytch Farm as a wellsite drilling engineer. He moved to the Angola team, working as a development drilling engineer for PSVM and Greater Plutonio projects and is now working with the Angola exploration team from Sunbury. When Mark isn’t working, he spends time outdoors taking part in activities such as camping and canoeing. Mark has a five year old son, Leo with his wife Hannah.

Warren Power

A powerful P&P performance!

Warren is Senior Toolpusher with Maersk Drilling in Norway on the Mearsk Reacher.  He is happily married to Catriona with two boys, Ryan and Sean (pictured- at Goodwood Races).

Most of Warren’s spare time in winter is spent transporting his sons to rugby training and rugby matches, which the Powers really enjoy as a family.  Out of rugby season the family spend a lot of time at the beach, in Bognor Regis, Warren’s home town, where their beach hut is the perfect place to chill out!

Congratulations on the P&P result, Warren, and thank you for sharing the wonderful family photograph.

Oliver Tomlins

Oliver races ahead!

Oliver Tomlins started his career as a trainee Driller with Shell in November 1973. He was based in the Netherlands and in Brunei after completing an HND in Mechanical Engineering and an apprenticeship with Dowty Group in Cheltenham. He then moved to BP, progressing to Company Man in 1984. Based out of Aberdeen, this role also allowed Oliver to work in Europe and Asia. Oliver has been associated with the Azerbaijan area of operations over the last 10 years. This has included the build and start-up of Shah Deniz Alpha and West Chirag platforms.

Oliver lives in Aberdeenshire with his long term partner. He has two adult sons and four grandchildren. He enjoys motor rallying and the fresh air of the countryside in Scotland.

His £250 reward was kindly donated to Aberdeen Cyrenians, a charity which aims to meet all the varying needs of people affected by homelessness in Aberdeen and the surrounding area.

Gerardus Burger

Nothing is impossible when you aim for perfection!

G.H.M. (Gerardus) Burger is the latest addition to the ADS 100 CLUB. Father to three children – Nathalie (18), Meryl (18) and Richard (16) – Gerardus started in the oilfield in 1982 as a roughneck for Neddrill and joined Shell in 1997 as a DSV. He is currently working in Qatar drilling development wells for the Shell Pearl GTL project. He has mainly worked offshore on drillships, semi’s and jackups but also has desert experience (in Egypt and Oman). Highlights of a varied career in drilling include some special projects: he worked on the first UBD well for Shell Egypt, and the current wells in Qatar where they have the rig on a high airgap and perform SIMOPS on temporary work-platforms, cutting the well times in half. Gerardus’s attitude in work is to continuously look for improvement, both in performance and safety. “I start to enjoy a new idea if others say it is not possible. Whenever I leave the industry I would like to say that I have contributed to some new ideas and improvements.”

Away from work, Gerardus enjoys hiking and plays acoustic guitar. At least once a week he and his family take a 20km hike through the Dutch forests. He takes weekly guitar lessons and plays all kinds of popular music (at the moment he’s working on pieces by the Dutch guitarist Harry Sacksioni).

Gerardus has been a regular visitor to ADS for courses and exams since 1985.

Johan Kr Mikkelsen

Great Memories of an "All Time High Score"

We recently had the pleasure of meeting Johan Mikkelsen at a Drilling Conference in Stavanger. Johan earned his drilling well control certificate the winter of 1983/84 and received a handwritten letter from ADS congratulating him on his performance, described as an “all time high”.

At the time, Johan had been running refinery operations and was converting to the offshore life being seconded to Mobil North Sea in Aberdeen from Norsk Hydro. He loved his time spent with the drilling school. Back in Norway in 1985, he became the Operations Manager for the huge Oseberg field. From 1992 to 2000 he was heading up the Norsk Hydro drilling department. Later on he became the asset owner of Oseberg and Troll fields , Country manager to Canada and the Statoil Project Director and Production Director for the Peregrino field in Brasil. After 40 years with the company he recently retired and is now the Chief Technical Officer with the Norwegian holding company Perestroika. Johan tells us he is amazed at what drilling has achieved during his years in the industry and there seems to be an endless list of new opportunities.

Johan and his wife Birte have been married for 38 years and have three children but lost their only son to cancer in 2001. The couple and their two daughters all live in the Bergen area in Norway. Johan enjoys running  a lot, but skiing , gardening and fishing are also high on the leisure time priority list.