Commodities moves: Van Bergh joins Wells Fargo

Van Bergh joins Wells Fargo, Tim Polvado promotes at Natixis, and more

Scott Van Bergh has joined Wells Fargo Securities as vice-chairman of the energy and power investment banking group. He was previously vice-chairman of energy investment banking at Deutsche Bank, and worked for 14 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, including as head of global energy investment banking. At Wells Fargo Securities, he will report to the co-heads of investment banking coverage, John Hudson and Kristin Lesher. He will be based in New York and will focus in particular on advising upstream oil and gas clients.

Natixis promotes US energy head

Natixis has named Tim Polvado as head of energy and natural resources for the Americas, a newly-created post. He was previously head of US energy. In the new role he will report to Benjamin Sirgue, the head of strategic sectors and distribution for the Americas, and to Dominique Fraisse, the global head of energy and natural resources. Also joining the bank is Nathaniel Raggette, who will report to Polvado as managing director and senior oil and gas banker. Raggette was previously a managing director of investment banking with RBC Capital Markets in Houston. Both men will be based in Natixis’s Houston office.

Bowden named as Jefferies’ sole energy head

Peter Bowden, previously co-head of energy banking at Jefferies in New York, will become global head of energy after the departure of his co-head Ajay Khurana to join Quantum Energy Partners. Bowden was also previously leader of Jefferies’ midstream franchise, and, though he will remain involved in the business, the new co-heads of midstream banking will be Brian Conner and Brian Bravo. Taking over Khurana’s responsibilities as head of upstream banking for the Americas will be Guy Oliphint and Greg Chitty.

Swift jumps ship to Viking

Timothy Swift has moved to Viking Energy Group in Houston as chief operating officer. The company said Swift started work “earlier this year” after leaving Cantor Fitzgerald. At Cantor he was a founding partner and managing director on the debt capital markets desk from January 2015, and led the debt capital markets origination team, responsible for structuring, execution and distribution strategies and for energy sector coverage. Before joining Cantor Fitzgerald he was a vice-president on Cowen’s debt capital market team. At Viking he will oversee overall business operations, working with the mid-continent and onshore Gulf coast operating teams and reporting to chief executive James Doris.

McMillian replaces Reeves at Anadarko

Anadarko Petroleum has named Amanda McMillian as executive vice-president and general counsel. She takes over the general counsel responsibility from Robert Reeves, previously executive vice-president for law and chief administrative officer; Reeves will retain his other responsibilities until he retires at the end of the year. McMillian was previously senior vice-president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer at Anadarko, and has also worked as general counsel and corporate secretary of Anadarko subsidiary Western Gas Holdings. Reeves was chief administrative officer and general counsel for Anadarko since May 2013, joining the firm in 2004 as senior vice-president for corporate affairs and law.

EQT names new CEO

Pittsburgh-based natural gas producer EQT named Robert McNally as the next chief executive. He will succeed David Porges, who has been interim chief executive since March. The move will come into effect once EQT completes the spinoff of its midstream business, which will become a new corporation, Equitrans Midstream. Porges is set to take over as chairman of Equitrans, and will leave the EQT board, to be succeeded as chairman by independent director James Rohr. McNally is currently EQT’s chief financial officer, a post he has filled since March 2016, along with the posts of CFO at EQT subsidiaries EQT Midstream Services and EQT GP Services. He joined EQT from Precision Drilling in Calgary, where he was also chief financial officer.