David Farmer ~ President
David Farmer was appointed President and CEO of Bektuq Holdings and President of Nordic-Calista LLC (“Nordic”) in May 2021. An industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in finance, technology development, operations and executive management leadership, David’s focus is to ensure we address the needs of our clients, community, employees, and shareholders.
Before Nordic, David held executive positions at Schlumberger having served as Vice President Industry Affairs and Global Account Director at The Hauge corporate headquarters. He also served in various international management roles including Vice President Qatar, General Manager Brazil, Vice President of Marketing and technology for Schlumberger’s Drilling and Measurements division where he managed the directional and logging while drilling technology portfolios. After Schlumberger, David was the Chief Commercial Officer and Senior Vice President at Parker Drilling Company where he managed corporate development, mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures along with global drilling operations. David has also served on several boards based in Washington D.C. including the American Petroleum Institute (API) upstream committee and the United States – Kazakhstan business association. David has remained active in the Oil and Gas industry consulting with industry-recognized transformation and restructuring firms and more recently as Operating Partner at Fountainhead Investments.
Throughout his career, David has pursued continual professional development including studies at Oxford University Saïd Business School, IMD Business School and, Columbia University School of Business where he received certifications in scenario planning, strategic finance, and strategic marketing management. He also received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical & aerospace engineering with a concentration on materials science from Arizona State University. David is a husband of 32 years and has one daughter, a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover, and a student at the University of Michigan. He enjoys hiking the local mountains, house restorations, and blue water offshore sailing.
Udo Cassee ~ General Manager
Udo Cassee was appointed Nordic-Calista’s General Manager upon Calista’s January purchase of the majority joint venture owner; previously Udo had served in several management roles since he started with Nordic in 2003. Most recently, Udo served as Nordic’s Operations Manager. Before Nordic, Udo spent 11 years of his oilfield career with Schlumberger where he worked through different field, engineering, and management positions in the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and Alaska. He has extensive experience in the rig and service industry, offshore, onshore and Arctic operations.
Udo holds a BS in oil and gas technology from the University “Noorder Haaks” in Den Helder, the Netherlands.
Garrett Potter ~ HSET Manager
Garrett Potter began his position with Nordic-Calista as the Health, Safety and Environmental Manager in 2022. Garrett started his career working rigs before transitioning into various oil field safety positions. Garrett worked for a prominent operator as Field HSE Advisor and most recently as Regional HSE Manager with notable projects that include a seawall renovation at the Cape Lisburne Air Force Base and the Battle Creek diversion at Bradley Lake. He has extensive health, safety and environmental experience in both onshore and offshore oil and gas operations, as well as various large-scale construction projects.
Garrett received a Master’s in Engineering with an emphasis in Safety Engineering from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Dave Hiler ~ Operations Superintendent
Dave Hiler started with Nordic-Calista in April of 2000 beginning his career on Rig #3 in Kuparuk. During his time working in the field Dave has worked on all of the Nordic rigs, gaining experience with drilling, sidetrack, workover, ESP completion, and under balanced drilling with coiled tubing. Since 2017 Dave has been a part of the new rig build delivery and operation of Rig #4, as well as mobilizing Coil Tubing Unit #1.
Charles “Chuck” Van Ray ~ Rig Superintendent
Chuck originally started with Nordic-Calista in February of 1993, working from the Floor hand position through Field Superintendent. Chuck worked in grass roots drilling, sidetracks, workovers and coil tubing drilling on various Nordic-Calista rigs. In 2013 Chuck left to work for a major oil company as a senior company man, gaining drilling and management experience in the Alaska, Middle East and Louisiana Regions before returning to Alaska and Nordic-Calista in 2022. Chuck enjoys spending his free time, fishing, and spending time with his friends and family if the fish aren’t running.