Retiring

Canada’s 13 largest natural gas and oil pipeline companies have banded together to create an environmental pension plan to cover the costs of retiring facilities as age and evolving markets end their useful lives.

Canada’s 13 biggest pipelines have banded together to create an environmental pension plan to cover the costs of retiring facilities as age and evolving markets end their useful lives.

Al Walker, president and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., has been elected chairman of the board effective May 14. He is succeeding Jim Hackett, who is retiring as executive chairman in June. Hackett, who was named executive chairman in May, had been CEO since 2003 and chairman since January 2006. Hackett also served as president from December 2003 to February 2010. Walker joined Anadarko in 2005 as senior vice president and CFO, and he also was formerly COO. In connection with Walker’s election, and “consistent with industry best practices,” the board has enhanced the duties of the lead director to ensure that Anadarko “maintains a corporate governance structure with appropriate independence.”

Baker Hughes Inc. Chairman Chad Deaton said he is retiring effective April 25. President and CEO Martin Craighead is to assume the chairman’s role in addition to his current responsibilities, the board announced. Deaton joined the oilfield services company in 2004 and served as chair and CEO until January 2012, when he became executive chairman (see Daily GPI, Jan. 25, 2012). Craighead, who began working at Baker in 1986, was appointed COO in 2009 and president in 2010. “I am confident that with Martin, Baker Hughes has the optimal leadership for the future,” Deaton said. The Houston-based company works in 80 countries and has more than 58,000 employees worldwide.

J. Larry Nichols is retiring as an employee of Devon Energy Corp. effective Dec. 31. He plans to continue to serve as executive chairman and as a director. Nichols’ retirement follows a succession plan announced in June 2010, when Devon President John Richels was promoted to CEO, a post that Nichols had held since 1980. Nichols and his father, John Nichols, co-founded Devon in 1971; the company went public in 1988. Among the company milestones under J. Larry Nichols’ leadership, Devon in 2002 acquired Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., giving it the top position in what was then the emerging Barnett Shale, as well as access to the drilling technology pioneered by George Mitchell, which successfully combined horizontal drilling techniques with hydraulic fracturing well stimulation (see Daily GPI, Jan. 25, 2002; Aug. 15, 2001).

In what may be his swan song from Congress, retiring Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Wednesday said he plans to introduce climate change legislation when Congress returns after the elections.

The head of Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is retiring, and Gov. Matt Mead said on Monday that he is starting a search for a replacement. DEQ Director John Corra, who has headed the department for two different governors since 2003, will stay on the job until October. Mead lauded Corra for setting “a standard for effective and balanced regulation with fiscal prudence.” Mead has asked for interested candidates to submit a letter of interest and resume to his office (2090 W. 24th St. Cheyenne, WY, 82002).

Michael C. Linn, who founded Linn Energy LLC in 2003, is retiring from the company and is stepping down as executive chairman at the end of the year. Linn is to continue to serve as a director. Linn President and CEO Mark E. Ellis is to add the role of chairman to his responsibilities. Under Linn’s leadership, the Houston-based producer became the first publicly traded exploration and production (E&P) limited liability company in 2006 (see Daily GPI, March 9, 2007). The company now has an enterprise value of close to $10 billion with focus areas in the Midcontinent and Permian and Williston basins, as well as Michigan and California — “far more successful than I ever envisioned,” said Linn. Linn Energy grew from a “small company in Pittsburgh, with a few natural gas wells and three employees, to a company that ranks among the largest independent E&P companies in the U.S. and has 800 employees across the nation. Throughout that growth, we have increased our quarterly cash distribution to unitholders by more than 70%,” Linn said.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. CEO Ray Irani, 75, plans to step down at the 2011 annual meeting and become executive chairman before retiring in 2014. COO Stephen Chazen, who also is president of the Los Angeles-based producer, was tapped to assume the role of CEO. Occidental’s board also said it would “substantially reduce” overall compensation levels to be “more in line with its peers.” Irani made $97 million in total compensation in 2009. By comparison, ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson earned $27.2 million in total compensation last year.