Richard

Duke CEO Richard Priory said in order to deal with the downward pressure and volatility in the energy industry the company has taken and will continue to take some “very strong and decisive steps” to position the company for the uncertain future.

Duke CEO Richard Priory said in order to deal with the downward pressure and volatility in the energy industry the company has taken and will continue to take some “very strong and decisive steps” to position the company for the uncertain future.

Signifying a changing of the guard of sorts, BP plc’s board said Thursday that Tony Hayward, 45, will succeed Richard Olver , 56, as CEO of BP’s vast Exploration and Production unit. Hayward most recently held the position of COO for Exploration and Production. Olver will replace Rodney Chase, 59, in his duties as deputy chief executive. BP said Chase will retire from the company on April 23, 2003, but will relinquish his role as deputy chief executive “with immediate effect.” Chase will remain on the board as senior advisor to BP CEO John Browne. In his new position, Olver will hold accountability for health, safety and the environment, human resources management, marketing, technology and digital business. BP said he will have regional responsibility for Europe (including Russia), the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. The board also announced that it intends to appoint Hayward, John Manzoni, 43, chief executive of Refining and Marketing, and David Allen , 48, group chief of staff, to the board as managing directors of BP, effective Feb. 1. The company said Allen will be accountable for economics and planning, corporate communications and senior management education.

Signifying a changing of the guard of sorts, BP plc’s board said Thursday that Tony Hayward, 45, will succeed Richard Olver, 56, as CEO of BP’s vast Exploration and Production unit. Hayward most recently held the position of COO for Exploration and Production. Olver will replace Rodney Chase, 59, in his duties as deputy chief executive. BP said Chase will retire from the company on April 23, 2003, but will relinquish his role as deputy chief executive “with immediate effect.” Chase will remain on the board as senior advisor to BP CEO John Browne. In his new position, Olver will hold accountability for health, safety and the environment, human resources management, marketing, technology and digital business. BP said he will have regional responsibility for Europe (including Russia), the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. The board also announced that it intends to appoint Hayward, John Manzoni, 43, chief executive of Refining and Marketing, and David Allen, 48, group chief of staff, to the board as managing directors of BP, effective Feb. 1. The company said Allen will be accountable for economics and planning, corporate communications and senior management education.

Kinder Morgan Inc. CEO Richard Kinder said last week that the company is “gearing up” to complete two pipeline expansions and is on track to begin an expansion of several of its liquids terminals facilities. The CEO said the NGPL pipeline expansion in St. Louis, as well as a North Texas intrastate line running to Dallas to serve power plants, are “both proceeding on schedule and on budget.” The St. Louis expansion will be completed this summer, and the NGPL pipe will be ready in early 2003, and other “opportunities” related to the constrained U.S. energy infrastructure, continue to surface, he said.

Despite lagging U.S. natural gas production activity, Anadarko Corp. President Richard J. Sharples said last week he doesn’t anticipate a major “train wreck” between supply and demand this year. Nor does he see prolonged incidents of price volatility ahead in the gas market, as some have speculated.

Duke Energy Chairman Richard B. Priory said it’s about time that corporate America acknowledge the crisis in investor confidence and work to repair trust with the public. He pointed to a recent Gallop poll in which 75% of the respondents said they believe that questionable financial practices occur at many large corporations.

Peoples Energy Chairman and CEO Richard E. Terry announced plans to retire Aug. 1, consistent with the company’s policy requiring officers to retire upon attaining the age of 65. Thomas M. Patrick, currently president and COO, is expected to assume the positions of chairman and CEO in August. Following a pattern among regulated utilities, both men moved up through the company’s legal department. Terry’s retirement will cap a 30-year career with Peoples, including more than 11 years as chairman and CEO. Patrick has been with Peoples for 26 years. He began his career in 1976 as a member of the company’s legal department and was elected president and COO in 1998. He has been a director of the company since 1998. Peoples gas utility division serves about 1 million retail customers in Chicago and northeastern Illinois.

Richard Riordan, a leading Republican candidate for governor and former mayor of Los Angeles, last week lashed out at Calfironia’s Gov. Gray Davis for allegedly mishandling the state’s ongoing energy crisis and injecting the state into too strong a role within the electricity industry.