Business briefs

Bollinger announces promotion
LOCKPORT — Bollinger Shipyards President and CEO Ben Bordelon announced Tuesday another key internal promotion designed to enhance the strategic value of the company.
“I am pleased to announce the promotion of Chris Remont to vice president and general manager of our Lockport New Construction division. His leadership will add value to our Fast Response Cutter program and to our relationship with the United States Coast Guard.”
Bordelon added, “Chris joined Bollinger in May 2014 as director of program management overseeing all aspects of program management at BLN. Since that time, he has proven himself to be a key resource in solidifying relationships with our customers and in achieving our divisional objectives. Chris’ extensive background in government programs combined with his familiarity with our manufacturing processes makes him the obvious choice to lead our efforts at BLN.”
Bollinger Shipyards is a designer and builder of offshore oil field support vessels, ocean-going double hull barges, tug boats, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways push boats and barges, fast military patrol boats and other steel and aluminum products from its new construction shipyards. Bollinger has 10 shipyards and all are strategically located between New Orleans and Houston with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Oil giant BP to freeze most employees’ pay in 2015
HOUSTON — BP says it will freeze pay for most of its employees in 2015 as oil companies look for ways to cut costs amid falling oil prices.
Prices have fallen by nearly half in just six months, with major benchmarks trading below $50 a barrel.
The announcement was made Monday in an internal message.
BP spokesman Brett Clanton said in a statement Monday that it was a “prudent response” to a challenging market environment.
The newspaper reported that BP said in December it expected to take a $1 billion restructuring charge this year because of job cuts and pared back oil production.
According to its last annual report, BP employs 83,900 workers, including about 20,000 in the U.S.

Man accused of lying about blowout preventer tests
NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans says a 49-year-old Houston man is accused of lying about a blowout preventer test on an offshore oil and gas platform in 2012.
A bill of information charges Race Addington with two counts of making false statements to federal agencies about tests run Nov. 27, 2012, when he was well site supervisor.
The pressure chart recording the tests showed one required component wasn’t tested, and wasn’t signed or dated, according to the bill of information.
Addington allegedly had workers fake a test and showed that chart to federal inspectors on Nov. 29, 2012. He’s also accused of lying to investigators the following month.
If convicted on both counts, he could get up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
The bill of information does not identify the rig’s owner or say if it was Addington’s employer.
The rig is described as an offshore oil and gas platform at Ship Shoal Block 225, which is about 75 miles southwest of Port Fourchon.
A gas well in that block leaked in July 2013.
The owner, a subsidiary of Houston-based Talos Energy LLC, said then that it was among several inactive wells being permanently plugged after being bought as part of the company’s purchase in February 2012 of Energy Resources Technology GOM Inc., also of Houston.

Nicholls’ business dean resigns
for new job
THIBODAUX — The head of Nicholls State University’s business school, who oversaw growth in the department’s online degree and maritime management programs, is leaving the university.
Shawn Mauldin, who has spent more than two decades with Nicholls, most recently as dean of the College of Business Administration, has been named head of Mississippi State University’s Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy. His first day at Mississippi State is April 1.
Mauldin praised the executive master’s degree in business administration and maritime management programs he was involved in at Nicholls.
The business school has also prospered under Nicholls Online. In the fall, the university announced a partnership with Delgado Community College to offer a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a post-baccalaureate certificate in business administration.
From The Associated Press and staff reports.