Oil and natural gas company Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) has hired Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s (APC) executive Robert Douglas Lawler as chief executive, to succeed Aubrey McClendon, who left the company on April 1, the Wall Street Journal said Monday citing people familiar with the matter.
Lawler, who was senior vice president of international and deep-water operations at Anadarko Petroleum since July 2012, will join Chesapeake and its board of directors on June 17, the Journal reported.
Prior to his current position in Anadarko, he served as Vice President, operations for the Southern and Appalachia regions in the U.S. onshore, and the International region.
Lawler began his career in 1988 with Kerr-McGee Corp., which was acquired by Anadarko in 2006. During his career in Anadarko, he has held various positions, with responsibilities within operations, business planning and analysis departments.
In January end, Chesapeake had announced that its Co-founder, chief executive officer and president Aubrey McClendon will retire from the company on April 1, ending a 24-year tenure at the company's helm.
McClendon, has served as Chesapeake's CEO since the inception of the company in 1989 and as chairman of the board from its founding until 2012.
Chesapeake, the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S, has been under scrutiny from federal regulators and investors after McClendon was found to have taken loans of more than $1 billion from private equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners LLC, using his stake in the company's drilling wells that were obtained under a controversial program.
Chesapeake had also been facing pressure from its key shareholders Southeastern Asset Management Inc. and activist investor Carl Icahn for a board rejig in order to improve governance at the company, which had seen a sharp erosion in share value.
In June 2012, the company appointed five new independent directors to its reconstituted nine-member board and named Archie Dunham as its new independent non-executive chairman in place of McClendon. Chesapeake's board had retained Heidrick & Struggles to assist in its search for a new CEO.
In March end, Chesapeake said its board of directors has established a three-person Office of the Chairman while continuing its previously announced CEO search process with the assistance of Heidrick & Struggles.
CHK closed Friday's regular trading at $20.27 on the NYSE.
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