26th Apr 2006 13:55
BHP Billiton PLC26 April 2006 NEWS RELEASERelease Time IMMEDIATEDate 26 April 2006Number 11/06 PHILIP AIKEN TO RETIRE FROM BHP BILLITON J MICHAEL YEAGER APPOINTED AS NEW GROUP PRESIDENT ENERGY Mr Phil Aiken (currently Group President Energy) has announced that he willretire from BHP Billiton on 31 December 2006. Following a search that started inlate 2005, BHP Billiton today announced the appointment of Mr J. Michael (Mike)Yeager to the position of Group President Energy, commencing 26 April 2006. Prior to joining BHP Billiton Mike held the position of Vice President,ExxonMobil Development Company, with responsibility for major joint ventureprojects. This included 22 projects worldwide, each with capital expenditure ofUS$500 million or more. Before this, Mike was Senior Vice President forExxonMobil affiliate Imperial Oil Ltd where he was responsible for all aspectsof their upstream oil and gas business. Mike also served separately as VicePresident-Africa and Vice President-Europe for ExxonMobil Production Companywhere he was responsible for all producing operations in those regions. Priorto the Exxon and Mobil merger, Mike held the position of President of USExploration and Production for Mobil Corporation. BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chip Goodyear, said the appointment wasa welcome addition to BHP Billiton's existing Petroleum expertise. "We are very pleased to have someone with Mike's strong international petroleumbackground and deep development and operating capability leading our Petroleumbusiness. "We have a significant Petroleum project pipeline to develop and operate andMike has the right combination of skills to lead this part of our business intothe next stage of development. Along with our track record of explorationsuccess and our developing gas business, Mike and his team have the opportunityto create real long-term sustainable growth for our company. "I would like to thank Phil Aiken for his substantial contribution to BHPBilliton. Phil has led our Energy team through major changes over the last nineyears; under his leadership we have moved from being a predominantly Australianbased producer to an international energy company with operations in Algeria,Pakistan, Trinidad, the United Kingdom and the Gulf of Mexico. Phil has alsorepresented the company with our partners and customers around the globe. Hewill continue to serve us in this important capacity until his retirement andprovide senior representation for BHP Billiton's activities in London. Mike will become a member of BHP Billiton's Office of the Chief Executive (OCE),and will be based in Houston, Texas, USA. Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site:www.bhpbilliton.com Contacts:Australia United KingdomJane Belcher, Investor Relations Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media RelationsTel: +61 3 9609 3952 Mobile: +61 417 031 653 Tel: +44 20 7802 4156 Mobile: +44 7769 934 942email: [email protected] email: [email protected] Samantha Evans, Media Relations Illtud Harri, Media RelationsTel: +61 3 9609 2898 Mobile: +61 400 693 915 Tel: +44 20 7802 4195 Mobile: +44 7920 237 246email: [email protected] email: [email protected] United States South AfricaTracey Whitehead, Investor & Media Relations Alison Gilbert, Investor RelationsTel: US +1 713 599 6100 or UK +44 20 7802 4031 Tel: SA +27 11 376 2121 or UK +44 20 7802 4183Mobile: +44 7917 648 093 email: [email protected]: [email protected] J. Michael Yeager Biographical Details EXPERIENCE 2005 - 2006 Vice President, ExxonMobil Development Company Houston, Texas Responsible for a worldwide portfolio of major capital development projectsincluding ExxonMobil's interest in multi billion dollar developments in theCaspian Region. Other areas of project responsibility include the Gulf ofMexico, West Africa and offshore east coast of Canada. 2004 - 2005 Senior Vice President, Imperial Oil Ltd. Chief Executive Officer, Imperial Oil Resources Calgary, Alberta, Canada Responsible for all upstream oil and gas activities in the ExxonMobil majorityowned Canadian company. Led key strategy development for the Mackenzie GasPipeline. 2003 - 2004 Vice President-Africa, ExxonMobil Production Company Houston, Texas Responsible for operations in Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea andAngola. Responsible for the new start-up operations of the Chad pipelineproject as well as major new developments in deepwater Angola. 2000 - 2002 Vice President-Europe, ExxonMobil Production Company London, England Responsible for ExxonMobil's large operating units in the United Kingdom,Norway, The Netherlands, Germany and France. Led major restructuring ofoperations with Shell in Germany. 1996 - 1999 President, Mobil Exploration and Production, United States Dallas, Texas Responsible for major heavy oil developments in California, significant gasoperations in the mid continent and Rocky Mountains, CO2 recovery in West Texasand all Gulf of Mexico offshore operations. Negotiated and implemented thesuccessful Aera Energy joint venture in California with Shell. Also responsiblefor the Mobil exploration effort that, in joint ownership with BP, made thelarge Thunder House field discovery in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. EDUCATION 1976 BS U.S. Naval Academy1981 MS University of Southern California This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
BHP Group