Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Robert J. Allison stepped down last week as the company’s president and CEO to make room for James T. Hackett, 49, who had been president and COO of Devon Energy Corp. Allison will continue as chairman until Jan. 1, then will serve as the non-executive chairman.

“I have had the privilege of leading Anadarko for most of my 30 years here, and I believe this is the right time for me to step down,” Allison said in a statement. “I have a great deal of confidence in Jim Hackett. I respect him and his abilities, and I firmly believe that he is the right person to lead this company. With the support and dedication of our employees, I know he will succeed in keeping Anadarko on track to deliver long-term shareholder value.”

Allison resumed the CEO chair this year after his hand-picked successor, John Seitz, resigned unexpectedly last March, apparently because of the company’s stock performance (see NGI, March 31). Since then, Anadarko has been rumored to be up for sale, something Allison had repeatedly denied (see NGI, Aug. 4).

Hackett said in a statement that he had “made it clear to Bob Allison and the board that I expect to be here for the long haul.”

His departure from Devon will not cause any problems because of the company’s “deep bench” of executives, said a spokesman. J. Larry Nichols, Devon’s chairman and CEO, again will assume the president’s role. It was unknown when another person might be named to the COO post.

Overall, financial analysts appeared to view the announcement as positive, and shares were up slightly at midday. Devon’s price, meanwhile, was slightly down.

UBS analyst William Featherstone said Wednesday that the news “effectively puts to rest the possibility of any near-term sale of the company.” He noted that while he was at Ocean, Hackett had “initiated sweeping changes that resulted in reduced costs, above-average production growth, and a strong exploration program. This resulted in doubling the stock price and broad support from the Street.”

Featherstone said that Hackett “should facilitate the changes that are needed.” Anadarko, he said, “needs to reduce its cost structure, improve returns and refocus its operations to improve longer-term. These are the exact type of changes Mr. Hackett successfully executed in turning around Ocean Energy.”

Merrill Lynch analyst John Herrlin said Hackett’s appointment “will act as a catalyst for change at the company, and remove the overhang regarding the future leadership” at Anadarko. He upgraded Anadarko to a “buy” from “neutral.”

The company also announced the retirement of CFO Michael Rose and Charles Manley, executive vice president of administration. Rose joined Anadarko in 1978 as Chief Accountant and became CFO in 1986. Manley began his career with Anadarko in 1974 and was named senior vice President, Administration, in 1993 and executive vice president in 2000. No replacements have been named for either position.

Before joining Oklahoma City-based Devon, Hackett had been chairman, president and CEO of Ocean Energy Inc., which merged with Devon earlier this year (see NGI, March 3). Hackett had taken over Ocean when it merged with Seagull Energy Corp. in 1999 (see NGI, Nov. 30, 1998). He had been chairman, president and CEO of that company as well. Hackett currently is chairman of the Domestic Petroleum Council, a board member of the American Petroleum Institute and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Allison, 64, joined Anadarko Production Co. in 1973 and was named CEO in 1979. In 1986, he was named chairman and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. During Allison’s tenure, the company has grown from about 300 employees and reserves of 100 MMboe to a company with 3,400 employees working in about a dozen countries and 2.2 Bboe of reserves.

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