Resolute Energy Corp. CEO Nicholas J. Sutton is retiring at the end of the year and is being succeeded by COO Richard F. Betz, the Denver-based exploration company said. Sutton is to continue “indefinitely” as executive chairman and remain “involved with material business and strategic matters.” Sutton has been chairman and CEO since Resolute was formed in 2004, creating one of the top Permian Basin players. He co-founded and ran HS Resources from 1987 until it was acquired in late 2001 by Kerr-McGee Corp. Betz, executive vice president and COO since March 2012, has been at Resolute since its inception. He also spent 17 years with Chase Securities Inc., an affiliate of the Chase Manhattan Bank, and its successor companies, where he was involved primarily in oil and gas corporate finance. Betz received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Villanova University and has a master’s degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.