Leadership Team

CRAIG T. CASTILLE

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Craig T. Castille is Managing Director of HWCG LLC. He has over 30 years of experience in offshore rig operations involving drilling, completions, well testing and abandonments on platform rigs, jack ups and floaters. Having gained both international and diverse experience since graduating in petroleum engineering from the University of Louisiana in 1985, Craig's experience includes; Oil & Gas Exploration, Exploitation and Development, Subsea Operations, Offshore Mining, Logistics & Construction at a Copper & Gold Mine and participation in industry advocacy groups such as the American Petroleum Institute (API), Offshore Operators Committee (OOC) and American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE). Craig concluded his over 7-year tenure at Stone Energy having successfully worked on the API Joint Industry Task Force (JITF) post Macondo, helped create Stone's SEMS Program, drilled and completed 6 deepwater wells, project managed re-engineering on the Completion, Workover & Riser System (CWOR) for the Pompano Phase II Wells, participated in two unannounced containment drills as the Source Control Section Chief (SCSC) and helped design, plan and implement two announced containment drills.



MITCH GUINN

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

As HWCG's Technical Director, Mitch Guinn coordinates all technical and operations initiatives, requests and solutions along with managing the execution of HWCG’s projects. He is the primary technical and operations interface with regulatory agencies for deep-water well containment. Prior to joining HWCG, Mitch spent most of his career as a consultant for deepwater drilling and completion teams with several major oil & gas operators, last serving over 5 years with ExxonMobil’s former Drilling Technical Group. He is the author of multiple patents for subsea related equipment and has been recognized internationally for his technical accomplishments in several areas of design and operations support. He was heavily involved in the initial response to the Deepwater Horizon Incident and in the subsequent design process for many of the current capping stack designs. Mitch also continues to serve on the Well Response and Source Control Subcommittee sponsored by the IOGP and as a member of the API RP 17W sub-committee.



STEVE SCANIO

MAINTENANCE MANAGER

Steve Scanio is HWCG’s Maintenance Manager and is responsible for ensuring that all response equipment owned by HWCG, and its response providers is ready to mobilize and function as intended. Steve has had a diverse 32-year career in the offshore oil and gas industry. His career began with the American Bureau of Shipping working in the offshore engineering department evaluating Stability and Safety aspects of MODUs. He continued his career at Technip working on various Spar and MODU projects focusing on hull and marine system regulatory compliance, design, installation and commissioning. He then joined Helix Energy Solutions to develop a regulatory compliance scheme for the Helix Producer 1 (HP1) FPU, which was the first of its kind in the GoM. Steve served on the HP1 project from design through first oil and continued his involvement as Marine Manager focusing on vessel operations. During the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010, Steve contributed to Helix Energy Solutions’ response efforts and was involved in the development of Helix’s spill response solution leading up to the formation of HWCG. He worked closely with HWCG for 13 years as Director of the Helix Deepwater Containment System, managing the interfaces between HWCG-owned equipment and the suite of response-related equipment offered by Helix. Steve also has his P.E. Certification.



ERIK BRISTOL

PROJECT MANAGER

Erik Bristol is a Project Manager at HWCG LLC. He has over 24 years’ experience primarily in the design, manufacturing, and installation of Subsea Production and Intervention Equipment. Erik’s experience began with TechnipFMC from 1997 to 2008, then he joined the Subsea Team at Cobalt International Energy from 2008 to 2017. At Cobalt International Energy, he led Subsea Installations and Intervention in the GOM and Angola, and then took on the role of Subsea Well Response Leader for Cobalt where he managed the development of the first 15K capping equipment and procedures as a secondee to HWCG and Trendsetter. This effort led Cobalt to be one of the first operators in the GOM to gain a permit to drill post Macondo. Erik went on to join TotalEnergies supporting the 20K North Platte project as D & C Interventions Lead where he led the selection of a 20K Intervention Workover Riser System and In-Riser Simplified landing string. Erik then moved to TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG Project where he was responsible for onshore and offshore execution of the Subsea Infrastructure including planning new well tie-ins, MEG injection to Production wells, and planned and unplanned interventions. He completed his TotalEnergies career at Headquarters in Paris France as Subsea Segment Leader in 2023, prior to joining HWCG in January 2023.



ANITA LEE

BUSINESS MANAGER

Anita Lee joined HWCG in 2016 after being employed by a major offshore drilling contractor located in the USA for six years. Anita gained valuable experience working for the procurement and human resource department with a focus on training. As HWCG’s Business Manager, she is responsible for managing office services, procurement activities, and HWCG’s management systems such as but not limited to the following: 1) HWCG’s Information Management Portal (IMP), a delivery system for company business to both members and Response Providers; 2) HWCG’s Safety Management System (a.k.a. HWCG SEMS) which includes training development, compliance, audits, and Management of Change (MOC); 3) accounting functions inclusive of invoicing members and processing invoices for payment; and 4) collaborates with risk management services to place HWCG’s insurance and ensure members and contractor insurance remains compliant. The HWCG Business Manager is the primary contact for routine business matters with HWCG’s Members, Committees, and Response Providers.



ELIZABETH JOHNSON

HSER PROFESSIONAL

With a solid foundation in Occupational Safety and Health, Elizabeth Johnson, earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia Southern University. Over the span of more than two decades, Elizabeth’s journey in the Health, Safety and Environmental, field has been marked by continuous growth and achievement. Elizabeth holds various esteemed professional certifications, including a Licensed Safety Professional earned from University of North Carolina, Wilmington, ISO 14001 & 45001; Tap Root Certified Investigator; Emergency Management Specialist, Radiation Safety Training and Monitoring; Explosive Safety Training; Process Safety Management (PSM); Certified International Air Transportation Association (IATA) Trainer; Certified International Marine Transportation of Dangerous Goods; Safe Gulf/PEC Trainer; Water Survival Trainer/BOSIET, H2S Safety Instructor; Smith System Driving Trainer; and DOT/HAZMAT/HAZWOPER Training Specialist, OSHA 501 & 503; Subsea Project Management; PAR Skills for Accelerated Leadership. These certificates underscore my commitment to staying at the forefront of industry standards and best practices. As a highly effective Health, Safety, Environmental Professional, Elizabeth, takes pride in creating positive impacts through meticulous attention to detail. Elizabeth’s leadership style revolves around aligning business strategies and objectives with established management goals, thereby mitigating risks, and fostering a culture of continuous improvements. In essence, Elizabeth, is dedicated to ensuring a safe and compliant working environment while contributing to the overall success and sustainability of HWCG’s source control response planning and preparations for its members operating in the US Gulf of Mexico.







EXECUTIVE BOARD

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

PROVIDED BY BEACON OFFSHORE ENERGY, LLC



MEMBERS AT LARGE

  • BOE Exploration & Production
  • LLOG Exploration
  • Murphy Oil Corporation
  • Talos Energy
  • Kosmos Energy: Gulf of Mexico Operations






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