The massive gulp with which Phillips Petroleum Co. has swallowed ARCO's Alaskan businesses has yielded some organizational changes at the Bartlesville, Okla., company.
And some of the new faces at Phillips are familiar ones in Alaska. Phillips completed its $7 billion acquisition of ARCO's Alaskan businesses Apr. 26.
One of the conditions set by the Federal Trade Commission for the merger of BP Amoco and ARCO was the divestiture of those businesses. Previously, ExxonMobil had sued to block the sale, claiming it had right of first refusal, but a new agreement pacified ExxonMobil and paved the way for the sale (OGJ, Apr. 24, 2000, p. 26). The transaction received FTC approval and is effective retroactive to Jan. 1.
The Phillips board last week approved five key management changes in both the upstream and downstream segments of the company's operations. All five will report to Jim Mulva, chairman and CEO.
Upstream changes
Phillips has separated its worldwide production and operations businesses into 1) Alaska, and 2) worldwide, excluding Alaska.
Kevin Meyers, president and CEO of ARCO Alaska Inc., was elected senior vice-president of Phillips and president and CEO of Phillips Alaska Inc. Meyers, 46, was named president and CEO of ARCO Alaska in 1998, following service as senior vice-president of the Prudhoe Bay business unit in 1996 and vice-president of engineering and technology for ARCO International Oil & Gas Co. Since joining ARCO in 1980, he has held a number of positions in the company's exploration and production operations in both Texas and Alaska.
B.Z. Parker, executive vice-president of downstream, will become executive vice-president responsible for worldwide production and operations, with the exception of Alaska. Parker, 53, was named executive vice-president of downstream in 1998. Prior to that, he was senior vice-president of refining, marketing, and transportation in 1997, president and managing director of Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway in 1996 and vice-president of worldwide drilling and production in 1995. Parker joined Phillips in 1970 as a trainee engineer and has held a variety of positions in company operations around the world.
Dodd DeCamp, vice-president of exploration for ARCO, has been elected vice-president of worldwide exploration. DeCamp, named to his current position in 1997, served previously as ARCO's vice-president of corporate planning in 1996 and manager of exploration research and technical services in 1995. He began his career in 1981 as a geologist with Shell Oil Co. In his 14 years with Shell, he held a number of exploration and production positions.
Kirby Hedrick, executive vice-president of upstream, has resigned to pursue other interests. Mike Coffelt, vice-president of worldwide exploration, has been assigned other duties in the exploration department. These changes are effective May 1.
Downstream changes
Steven Percy, formerly chairman and CEO of BP America, has been elected senior vice-president of refining, marketing and transportation. Percy, 53, held several executive positions during his tenure with BP, including president and CEO of BP Oil Co., BP's US refining, marketing, and transportation operations, and chief executive of the BP group treasury and international finance function. Percy joined Standard Oil Co. of Ohio in 1976 and held a number of refining and marketing positions with the company before it merged with BP in 1987.
John Mihm, senior vice-president of downstream technology and project development, will become senior vice-president of technology and project development. The company is combining the downstream and upstream technology and project development positions as a result of the retirement of Bob Ceconi, 57, senior vice-president of upstream technology and project development. Mihm, 57, was named senior vice-president of downstream technology and project development in 1999. He assumed the position of senior vice-president of corporate technology in 1994 after serving as vice-president of research and development for 2 years and vice-president of corporate engineering for 4 years. Mihm joined Phillips in 1964 as an engineer and has held a number of positions in the company's E&P operations.
Percy will begin his new position June 1. As a result, Parker will retain responsibility for the company's refining, marketing, and transportation segment through the end of May. Mihm will add his new responsibilities effective May 1.