Archie W. Dunham, chairman and CEO of Conoco Inc., is thehighest paid executive of all the energy companies eitherheadquartered in Houston, TX, or with a significant local presencethere, according an annual ranking by the Houston Chronicle thatwas released yesterday.

Dunham earns $4.6 million in annual salary and cash bonus, butafter adding in perks, option grants, long-term incentives andother payments, his total compensation comes to about $24.9million. The majority of the amount is in stock options, while someis in the form of additional contributions to retirement savingsplans and perks such as company cars.

Although his is a salary that most of us just dream of, Dunhamwasn’t the top paid executive in Houston. Rather, he came in fourthin a ranking of the 100 highest paid executives in all industriesin the city. Dunham was immediately followed by Chuck Watson,chairman and CEO of Dynegy Inc., whose annual salary (plus bonus)was reported to be $5.3 million But his total compensationcatapulted to $23.2 million after all the add-ons are attached,according to the Houston Chronicle ranking.

Next in line was Kenneth Lay, chairman and CEO of Enron Corp.,who grosses $5.2 million each year in salary and cash bonus.However, once the stock options, perks, other payments andlong-term incentives are included, his annual compensation shootsup to around $21.2 million.

William Wise, president and CEO of El Paso Energy, was rated theeighth highest paid executive in the city. His annual salary andcash bonus add up to about $4 million. But when the extra add-onsare tallied — including restricted stock awards — his totalcompensation is $20.2 million. Wise is one of the few energyexecutives to receive this added perk.

Jeffrey Skilling, president and COO of Enron, finished 12th inthe Houston Chronicle ranking, earning $3.85 million in annualsalary and bonus. But after factoring in stock options, perks andother payments, his compensation amounted to a tidy $$16.7 million.Listed 15th was Stephen Bergstrom, president and COO of Dynegy,raking in $14.6 million in compensation.

Of the 100 executives rated, the lowest paid energy executivewas Bobby S. Shackouls, chairman and CEO of Burlington Resources,according to the Chronicle. But even though he was ranked near thebottom (at 97th), that doesn’t exactly qualify him for food stamps.His annual compensation was estimated at $2.65 million after theperks, restricted stock awards, option grants and other paymentswere accounted for.

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