By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 16 -- ExxonMobil Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lee Raymond has announced his intention to retire at yearend after more than 42 years of service, including 21 years as a director.
It is expected the company's board will elect Rex W. Tillerson, currently president, as Raymond's successor.
Prior to the merger of Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. on Nov. 30, 1999, Raymond was chairman and CEO of Exxon.
Raymond joined Exxon in 1963 as a production research engineer in Tulsa. Over the next 16 years he held positions of increasing responsibility with Exxon Co. USA; Creole Petroleum Corp., which was Exxon's operating affiliate in Venezuela before those facilities were nationalized; the former Exxon International Co., which was responsible for Exxon's international supply and transportation of petroleum products and crude; and Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd., the Exxon affiliate in Aruba.
Raymond became president of Exxon Nuclear Co. Inc. in 1979, when he was named executive vice-president of Exxon Enterprises. In 1983, Raymond was named president and director of Esso Inter-America Inc., with responsibilities for Exxon's operations in the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Raymond was named a senior vice-president and was elected to the board in 1984. He became president in 1987. In 1993, Raymond was named chairman and chief executive officer.
Tillerson joined Exxon Co. USA (EUSA) in 1975 as a production engineer. He held several engineering, technical, and supervisory assignments in the EUSA production department throughout Texas, and in 1987 he was named business development manager in the EUSA natural gas department, where his responsibilities included developing long-range plans for the commercialization of Alaska and Canadian Beaufort Sea gas.
In 1989, he became general manager of EUSA's central production division, responsible for oil and gas production operations throughout a large portion of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas.
In 1995 Tillerson was named president of Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration & Production Khorat Inc., and in January 1998, he was named vice-president of Exxon Ventures (CIS) Inc. and president of Exxon Neftegas Ltd.
In December 1999, he became executive vice-president of ExxonMobil Development Co. in Houston. Tillerson was named senior vice-president of ExxonMobil in August 2001, and was elected president of the company on Mar. 1, 2004.
