IADC CONNECTION • 2024 OFFICERS
IADC Board of Directors elects 2024 officers
BRAD JAMES, Chair
– Northern Ocean
Mr James has served as
founding President, CEO
and Board Member of
Enterprise Offshore Drill-
ing since 2016. He previ-
ously served as Senior
V P Marketing of Hercules Offshore from
2006 through 2016 . Prior to that he held
various leadership roles at Transocean ,
was founding President of Field Drilling
Company and VP of Southland Drilling. He
obtained a Bachelor of Business Adminis-
tration degree from Southwest Texas State
University in 1981.

M r McReaken was named
C EO of the Northern Drill-
ing and Northern Ocean
Groups in December 2018.

He has been a part of the
Seadrill group companies
since 2012, where he previously served
as C EO and Director of Sevan Drilling and
Chief Financial Officer of North Atlantic
Drilling .

Mr McReaken has held various leader-
ship roles in the United States, North Sea,
West Africa and South America. He began
his career at Arthur Andersen and is a
Certified Public Accountant and Certified
Internal Auditor. He holds a degree in busi-
ness administration from the University of
Texas at Austin .

KEVIN NEVEU, Vice Chair
– Precision Drilling
Mr Neveu is President,
C EO and a Director of Pre-
cision Drilling and has
held these positions since
2007. He has 43 years of
experience in the oilfield
services sector, holding various technical,
marketing and management positions over
his career. Mr Neveu holds a Bachelor of
Science degree in mechanical engineer-
ing and is a graduate of the University of
Alberta . He has also completed the Harvard
Advanced Management Program .

ANDY HENDRICKS, Past Chair
– Patterson-UTI
Mr Hendricks has served
as President and C EO of
Patterson-UTI since 2012
and as a Director of Pat-
terson-UTI since 2017.

He was previously Chief
Operating Officer of the company in 2012.

Prior to Patterson-UTI, he served as Presi-
dent of Schlumberger Drilling & Measure-
ments from 2010 to 2012 and had worked
for Schlumberger in various worldwide
locations and capacities since 1988 . Mr
Hendricks holds a Bachelor of Science in
petroleum engineering from Texas A&M
University. 42
SCOTT MCREAKEN, Secretary/Treasurer
– Enterprise Offshore Drilling
TIM McGARITY, Division VP Drilling
Services – NOV
Mr McGarity
serves as Director, Western
Hemisphere Offshore at
NOV Rig Technologies.

During his tenure with
NOV, he has worked both
land and offshore in operations and busi-
ness development.

Prior to coming to the oilfield, Mr McGar-
ity worked in international shipping for CP
Ships as the manager of the its government/
military team. He holds a Bachelor of Sci-
ence from Texas A&M Galveston and is a
veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

GENE STAHL, Division VP North America
Onshore – Precision Drilling
Mr Stahl was appointed as
President, North American
Drilling of Precision Drill-
ing in 2023 and previously
held the position of Chief
Marketing Officer . Since
joining Precision Drilling in 1993, he has
held positions with increasing responsibil-
ity, including in contracts, investor rela-
tions, engineering, manufacturing, rig con-
struction, procurement, field training and
development, and HSE . Mr Stahl holds a
Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from
the University of Calgary and is a graduate
of the Harvard Business School, Advanced
Management Program.

JON RICHARDS, Division VP Offshore
– Diamond Offshore Drilling
Mr Richards has served
as Senior V P of World-
wide Operations for Dia-
mond Offshore since
2020. He started his
career as an Operations
Development Trainee with Diamond Off-
shore in 1997. In his more than 26 years
in the offshore drilling industry since,
he has held various leadership roles and
responsibilities managing operations in
the United States, United Kingdom, West
Africa and Brazil.

Mr Richards holds a degree in business
management from Texas Tech University .

JAMES “JIM” NOWOTNY, Division VP Inter-
national Onshore – Helmerich & Payne
Mr Nowotny is the Vice
President International
and Offshore Business
Development at Helmerich
& Payne. He has extensive
domestic and internation-
al leadership experience in multiple areas
of the offshore and land drilling industry,
including marketing and business develop-
ment, commercial and technical contracts,
operations, manufacturing and engineer-
ing. He has worked in the energy industry
since 1995.

Prior to joining Helmerich & Payne, he
worked for an international oilfield equip-
ment manufacturer and in various roles
for Atwood Oceanics .

Mr Nowotny has a Bachelor of Science
degree in mechanical engineering from
Texas A&M University and has completed
several executive education courses at
Columbia Business School, Harvard Law
School and Kellogg School of Management
at Northwestern University.

JAN UARY/FEB RUARY 2024 • D R I LLI N G CO N T R ACTO R




NEWS CUTTINGS • DEPARTMENTS
Bernie Wolford receives IADC Contractor of the Year honors at Annual Meeting
Bernie Wolford, President and CEO of Diamond Offshore Drilling,
was named 2023 IADC Contractor of the Year in November. The
annual award was established in 1988 to recognize an individual
drilling contractor’s outstanding lifetime achievement in techni-
cal innovation, safety and economic efficiency within the drilling
industry. It is the only industry award reserved solely for drilling
contractors. A member of the IADC’s Executive Committee, Mr Wolford
was essentially born into the industry. Raised in Kilgore in East
Texas, his father made a career out of working in the land drill-
ing business. After graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University, Mr Wolford
went to work for TransWorld Drilling as an Engineer, eventu-
ally serving as Project Manager, Drilling Superintendent and
Operations Manager at the company.

After TransWorld was acquired by Noble in 1991, he went on to
take significant management positions within the company. In
2018, he was named CEO of Pacific Drilling, where he remained
until April 2021, shortly after Pacific and Noble announced their
merger. One month later, Diamond Offshore named him its new
President and CEO, the position he currently holds.

Bernie Wolford (right), President and CEO of Diamond Off-
shore Drilling, received the 2023 IADC Contractor of the Year
award from Joe Rovig, President, Rig Technologies and After-
market Group at NOV, at the IADC Annual General Meeting in
Austin, Texas, on 10 November.

IADC launches all-new ISP
database for streamlined
data reporting, tracking
IADC is introducing a newly revamped
system for its Incident Statistics Program
(ISP) in January after a year-long devel-
opment process. The new system gives
users direct access so they can upload
data into a web-based system, as well as
create on-demand, tailored reports con-
taining visual analytics.

Scan me to learn more
about the IADC Incident
Statistics Program.

IADC's inaugural 3-Gun Competition, held 20 October in Todd Mission, Texas,
featured 108 participants competing in morning and afternoon shooting fl ights.

The competition raised money for Camp Hope, a Houston-based interim hous-
ing facility for combat veterans and their families suffering from PTSD.

IADC supports DrillersPAC, charity benefitting US combat
veterans with inaugural 3-gun shooting competition
On 20 October, IADC held its inaugural
DrillersPAC helps
maximize the
bit.ly/3U0sQD6 IADC establishes new
Geothermal Committee
3-Gun Competition to generate aware-
impact of IADC’s advocacy efforts by
In December , the new Geothermal
ness for DrillersPAC, IADC’s political
raising money to support political can-
Committee began operation under the
action committee, and raise funds to
didates aligned with IADC members’
Drilling Services Division of IADC. The
support US combat veterans. The compe-
policy goals. The competition also raised
committee, which is chaired by Scott
tition was held at Renaissance Shooting
$11,000 for Camp Hope, an interim hous-
Farmer of Helmerich & Payne, is currently
Club in Todd Mission, Texas. It consisted
ing facility. It is operated by the PTSD
working on guidelines aimed at providing
of a morning shooting flight and an after-
Foundation of America, an organization
practical guidance for drilling contractors
noon shooting flight, with lunch and a
that helps combat veterans suffering
and service companies involved in geo-
raffle in between for all participants.

from post-traumatic stress disorder.

thermal well construction.

D R I LLI N G CO N T R ACTO R • JAN UARY/FEB RUARY 2024
43