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FALLS CHURCH, VA, October 19, 2011 - The Board of Directors of Pipeline Research Council International, Inc., (PRCI), elected Eric J. Amundsen, Vice President, Chief Asset Integrity Officer, with Panhandle Energy, as Chair for 2011-2013 at its Annual Meeting on September 20, 2011. He replaces Paul F. MacGregor, Vice President, Operations and Project Services for TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., who will continue on the Executive Committee as Past Chair. In addition, the Board elected Christophe Renier, Gas Facilities Director with France-based GDF Suez, as Vice Chair.
 | | Eric Amundsen, Chair |
Mr. Amundsen has been a PRCI Board member since 2005, serving most recently as Vice Chair, a member of the Executive Committee, and Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee, and preceded that as a member of the Compressor and Pump Technical Committee where he has served approximately eight years. Mr. Amundsen has 29 years of operations and engineering experience in the natural gas transmission pipeline industry. Since graduating from Iowa State University in 1982 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Amundsen has held numerous leadership positions with Panhandle Energy. Panhandle Energy owns and operates 15,000 miles of interstate and offshore Gulf of Mexico transmission pipelines and one of the nation's largest LNG import terminals.
In his current position as VP and Chief Asset Integrity Officer, he is responsible for all technical and integrity aspects of Panhandle Energy's asset operations including pipeline integrity management, corrosion control, metallurgical services, compressor maintenance and reliability, control/automation systems, gas measurement, environmental services, quality management, geographic information systems and enterprise asset management systems
In his 29 years of professional experience, Mr. Amundsen has held direct leadership positions in the areas of pipeline construction management and quality assurance, pipeline materials qualification, pipeline integrity management, compression asset reliability and field technical operations for a variety of interstate natural gas transmission companies under the Panhandle umbrella of companies.
About his new role in PRCI, Mr. Amundsen noted, "This is an exciting time to become the Chairman of PRCI. Knowledge base, technologically superior tools and sound process are keys to success for any company engaged in the transportation of energy via pipelines. PRCI has always been focused on advancing the underlying technology that impacts all three of these components. As a result of recent high profile incidents, the energy pipeline industry has been catalyzed to systematically step improve its safety performance and they are looking to PRCI to provide timely research and technology to enable that change. PRCI is committed to meeting this challenge in the pipeline integrity arena while at the same time continuing to deliver technology advancement in the areas of design, materials and construction, compressor and pump, measurement and underground storage for all of our members around the world."
In addition to Messrs Amundsen, Renier, and MacGregor, the Board also seated one new member on the Executive Committee, Harold Kraft, Vice President, Engineering & Construction with Alliance Pipeline Limited. Consequently, the following Board directors comprise PRCI's leadership team:
- Eric J. Amundsen, Chair
- Christophe Renier, Vice Chair
- Paul F. MacGregor, Past Chair
- Kevin Bodenhamer, Enterprise Products
- Phillip H. DePriest, Marathon Pipe Line LLC
- Harold Kraft, Alliance Pipeline Limited
- John R. Pustulka, National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation
- T. Evan Smith, ExxonMobil Pipeline Company
- Jesus Soto, Jr., El Paso Corporation
In considering the Board's new executive committee, PRCI President Cliff Johnson noted that "This is a dynamic group of individuals and they are true leaders in the pipeline R&D field. We are at a defining moment in the pipeline industry and the Executive Committee and the Board are in a great position to direct PRCI to ensure that the safety and integrity needs of our global pipeline infrastructure are addressed."
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PRCI is a non-profit research organization that is comprised of energy pipeline operating companies located in the United States, Europe, Canada, South America, and the Middle East. Augmenting the pipeline membership are associate members drawn from companies in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Mexico, Japan, and Australia that serve the industry as pipe and equipment manufacturers, service providers, and vendors. To learn more about PRCI, visit www.prci.org. |
