Atwood Oceanics, an international offshore drilling contractor, has appointed Robert Saltiel as president and chief operating officer, effective December 15, 2009.

In addition to managing offshore drilling projects around the world, Atwood Oceanics and the subsidiaries that comprise the Atwood Group, are engaged in the completion of exploratory and developmental oil and gas wells, and provide related support, management and consulting services.

Before joining Atwood, Saltiel was at Transocean Ltd. While there, he served as executive vice president, performance, senior vice president, North and South America unit, and then as executive vice president and chief operating officer. To his new position, Salatiel also brings experience from field of energy, having worked for Exxon Mobil, Nabors Industries, and McKinsey & Company.

Saltiel earned his B.S.E. in chemical engineering in 1985 from the Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton. He went on to receive an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University