Venture Global Appoints COO

US LNG project developer Venture Global LNG (VG LNG) has appointed Brian Cothran as COO, it said September 11. It described him as an "accomplished business leader with over two decades of operational and strategic experience in the oil and gas and power generation industries."

Most of those years were spent at General Electric and Baker Hughes, after its merger with GE Oil & Gas. During that time, he held a number of executive and general management roles, including leading GE's Energy Services business in eastern Europe and Russia; vice president global sales for Baker Hughes; and president of GE Oil & Gas North America.

VG LNG Co-CEOs Mike Sabel and Bob Pender said they had known and worked with Cothran for many years and he was a "proven leader with strong operating skills, business vision and the ability to bring teams together."

Cothran said VG LNG's strategy, next-generation design and highly experienced team were "re-shaping the LNG industry." VG LNG is building modular liquefaction trains, breaking with the tradition of doing all the construction on site.