Oil Moves

Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which operates more than 5,000 convenience stores in the United States, named a senior executive from its Southeast Asia operations as the new head of Shell's oil and gas exploration unit in the United States.

Raoul Restucci succeeds Walter van de Vijver as president and chief executive of Shell Exploration & Production Co., a unit of Shell Oil Co., Royal Dutch/Shell's main U.S. subsidiary.

Restucci was previously regional business director for Royal Dutch/Shell in Southeast Asia, including China and Australia. He joined Shell in 1980.

Shell Exploration & Production Co. made waves earlier this year with a hostile takeover bid led by Van de Vijver for Denver-based natural gas producer Barrett Resources Corp. Shell's offer of $60 per share was eventually topped by Tulsa-based energy company Williams Cos., which agreed to buy Barrett for $73 per share in a deal worth $2.5 billion.

Van de Vijver defended his decision not to enter a bidding war with Williams for Barrett. "We have no intention of abandoning our economic discipline and pursuing an acquisition at price levels that cease to add value for our shareholders just for the sake of making a deal," he said earlier this year.

Shell Exploration & Production Co. explores for, develops and produces oil and natural gas -- referred to as the "upstream" segment of the energy industry as opposed to the "downstream" refining and processing segment.

In another move industry move Houston-based Equilon Enterprises LLC named Russell Caplan as vice president of sales and marketing with overall responsibility for approximately 9,000 Shell and Texaco service stations in 32 Western and Midwestern states. Caplan moves to Equilon from Shell International Oil Products, where he served as executive vice president, marketing.

San Antonio-based Tesoro Petroleum Corp., an independent refiner based in San Antonio, named James Taylor senior vice president of manufacturing for Tesoro Petroleum Cos. Inc., a new position.

Taylor will report to Bill Van Kleef, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and will be based at Tesoro's San Antonio headquarters. In his new role, Taylor will be responsible for all manufacturing operations at Tesoro's refineries.
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