Robert J. Allison Jr., who joined Anadarko Petroleum Corp. 32 years ago and stepped into the chairman’s role 13 years later, will step down from his post Jan. 1, the company announced Thursday. As expected, CEO Jim Hackett will take over the additional role of chairman.

Allison originally joined Anadarko as vice president of operations in 1973. He was named president in 1976, CEO in 1979 and assumed the chairmanship following its spinoff from Panhandle Eastern Corp. in 1986. He will remain an active director and will be given the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus.

“I have been very fortunate in my career to have been given the opportunity to lead this company from a small start up with about 150 million bbl of reserves and 280 employees to a multi-national [exploration and production] company with over $20 billion in assets, more than 2 billion bbl of reserves and 3,400 dedicated and talented employees,” Allison, 66, said. “Jim Hackett has demonstrated vision and leadership as our CEO, and I have full confidence in his ability going forward to lead Anadarko and its board.”

Hackett, 51, formerly president and COO of Devon Energy Corp., said he had come to Anadarko “because of my respect for Bob Allison and the company he successfully built over several decades. It has been a great experience working as a partner of Bob’s over the last two years, and I thank him for bringing me to Anadarko. I look forward to many additional years of joint service on the board as we continue working to grow the company.” Since Hackett joined the company, Anadarko’s share price has increased by more than 70%.

Also on Thursday, the company said it had authorized the repurchase of up to $1 billion in stock over the next two years.

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