Apache Corp. Chairman Raymond Plank said Thursday that G. Steven Farris has been elected to the position of CEO, adding to his current duties as president and COO. Plank, Apache’s founder, announced the change at Apache’s annual meeting and said he will continue to participate in the management of the company. He said the move would become effective May 29, as he turns 80. Always known to speak his mind, Plank used part of the annual meeting to blame Enron Corp. and Dynegy Inc. for manipulating natural gas prices. Last week, Plank blasted the “unholy alliance between the brethren” of marketers, that operate as middlemen between producers and consumers to create volatility. The marketers claim, “volatility is what we make money on,” but actually, they are “merely manipulating prices to their advantage,” he said (see Daily GPI, April 25 ). Farris, who is 54, has been Apache’s president and COO since 1994. He joined Apache in June 1988 as vice president of domestic exploration and production and was promoted to senior vice president in 1991. In December 1954, Plank, along with Truman Anderson and Charles Arnao, established Apache Oil Corp. in Minneapolis, MN. The public company began with 41 investors, six employees and $250,000 of seed capital.
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Franklin H. Yoho has been named to the position of Senior Vice President — Marketing and Supply Services, Piedmont Natural Gas, effective March 18. Yoho will direct the Company’s retail and wholesale gas sales and marketing activities, gas supply planning and procurement, retail gas transportation and throughput management and supply-related project development. Most recently, Yoho has been Vice President, Business Development for CT Communications, a diversified telecommunications company headquartered near Charlotte. Prior to joining CT Communications, he was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Gas Supply for the former Public Service Company of North Carolina (PSNC), now a division of SCANA Corporation. At PSNC, he held the positions of President, Sonat Public Service Company LLC, Vice President, PSNC Production Company, and Vice President/Manager, Gas Supply and Transmission. Earlier, Yoho held marketing and gas supply positions with the Columbia Gas System, and Cabot Corporation.
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Buffalo, NY-based National Fuel Gas Co. said Friday that it has elected Philip C. Ackerman to the position of chairman of the board, effective January 3. Ackerman, who became CEO of National Fuel in October 2001, succeeds Bernard J. Kennedy in both capacities. Ackerman, 57, joined the company in 1968 and has been president of National Fuel since July 1999. In other company action, the board of directors approved payment of a regular quarterly dividend of $0.2525 per share on the company’s common stock. In June 2001, the regular annual dividend was increased by 5.2% to an annual rate of $1.01, which included a special increase of 2 cents in addition to a 3-cent regular increase. These figures reflect the implementation of the company’s two-for-one common stock split on Sept. 7, 2001. The dividend is payable Jan. 15, 2002 to shareholders of record on Dec. 31, 2001. National Fuel is an integrated energy company with $3.4 billion in assets comprised of the following six operating segments: utility, pipeline and storage, exploration and production, international, energy marketing and timber.
ICE Continues to Solidify OTC Position
After going live one year ago, online commodity marketplace IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) reported that more than 250,000 trades have been transacted on its system with a total notional value of over $400 billion. The Atlanta, GA-based company said the first full year of trading for its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products is marked with “impressive levels of liquidity, price transparency and rapidly growing volumes.”
ICE Continues to Solidify OTC Position
After going live exactly one year ago, online commodity marketplace, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) reported that more than 250,000 trades have been transacted on its system with a total notional value of over $400 billion. The Atlanta, GA-based company said the first full year of trading for its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products is marked with “impressive levels of liquidity, price transparency and rapidly growing volumes.”
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Amerada Hess Corp. reported that John J. O’Connor has been appointed to the position of president, Worldwide Exploration and Production. The company said O’Connor also will be an executive vice president of Amerada Hess and a member of the board of directors. Prior to joining Amerada Hess, O’Connor was president, Worldwide Exploration and Production of Texaco Inc. Prior to joining Texaco in 1998, O’Connor was CEO and Director of BHP Petroleum in Melbourne, Australia, the oil and gas exploration division of the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd., from 1994 to 1997. He also previously served in a wide variety of international management positions with Mobil Oil Corp. Amerada Hess’ $3.2 billion acquisition of Triton Energy Ltd. in August has “substantially expanded” its exploration and production business.
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General Counsel Kevin P. Madden is leaving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take the position of executive vice president of legal, regulatory and governmental strategy at AGL Resources Inc., the company announced Tuesday. Madden has held a number of executive positions during his lengthy service with FERC, including deputy director of the Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates, director of the Office of Pipeline Regulation, and director, Office of Hydropower Licensing. His experience includes primary responsibility for crafting and implementing such landmark federal regulatory decisions as Order Nos. 636, 637, 888 and 2000, which resulted in the restructuring of the natural gas and electric utility industries.”We are thrilled to have Kevin Madden, who has been a dominant force in the energy industry, join the AGL team,” said Paula G. Rosput, president and CEO of AGL Resources.
Abraham Blasts Critics of Energy Plan for Unfair Tactics
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham took the not-so-original position of blaming pollsters and the media last Wednesday for unfairly criticizing the administration’s energy plan. He said they’re simply using the wrong measuring stick by singling out issues that are obviously disliked the most, such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), while many of the other important issues are never even mentioned, let alone subjected to public opinion polls.
Abraham Blasts Critics of Energy Plan for Unfair Tactics
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham took the not-so-original position of blaming pollsters and the media Wednesday for unfairly criticizing the administration’s energy plan. He said they’re simply using the wrong measuring stick by singling out issues that are obviously disliked the most, such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while many of the other important issues are never even mentioned, let alone subjected to public opinion polls.
PG&E Eyes Backbone, Storage Expansions as Part of Gas Accord II
Overlooking for the time being its current financial position, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is eyeing in-state gas transportation and storage expansions in California to help alleviate the current strain on the system and prevent likely future curtailments during peak summer demand periods, a utility official said last week.
