The EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) Board of Directors announced that William R. (Bill) Thomas has been promoted to President and Gary L. Thomas has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. The Board also confirmed that Bill Thomas and Gary Thomas will continue to report to Mark G. Papa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until June 2013, when Papa will retire and be succeeded by Bill Thomas.
“ Although I will continue in my role as day-to-day hands-on Chairman and CEO through 2012, I plan to gradually turn over my responsibilities to Bill Thomas six months before I retire,” Papa said. “I am very comfortable transitioning my leadership role to Bill and our very experienced, long-tenured and exceptionally talented team .”
Formerly Senior Executive Vice President, Exploration, Bill Thomas has 32 years of service, including the management of EOG’s Corpus Christi, Midland and Fort Worth areas of operations. He joined the headquarters executive management team in February 2011. Bill was the primary driving force behind EOG’s and the industry’s first large-scale successful horizontal shale gas activities in the Johnson County Barnett Shale Play in 2004 and a leading proponent of EOG’s successful move into horizontal crude oil plays in unconventional rock. Bill has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Texas A&M University at College Station.
Gary Thomas, formerly Senior Executive Vice President, Operations, has been an EOG employee for 33 years. Since 1998, he has held responsibility for managing EOG’s overall drilling, production and engineering activities and is widely recognized as a leading contributor to EOG’s reputation for operational excellence. Gary holds a Petroleum Engineering degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from The University of Tulsa.
“ I consider a key responsibility of an effective chairman is managing a seamless executive transition. I certainly intend to accomplish that goal ,” Papa said. “ Bill and Gary both exhibit what I characterize as ‘EOG DNA.’ Reflecting EOG’s corporate culture, they are innovative, share a great sense of urgency and are dedicated to working together to make EOG an even more successful company in the future. ”
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Source: EOG, September 7, 2011;