Business NEWS

John s. Watson to Replace David O’Reilly as CEO at Chevron Corp.

By Irina Waqar for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:September 30, 2009

Major oil company Chevron Corp. (CVX) said that its board elected John Watson to serve as chairman and chief executive officer effective Dec. 31, succeeding David O’Reilly, who is retiring.

George L. Kirkland, 59, will replace Watson as vice chairman. Kirkland currently serves as executive vice president of global upstream and gas.

Watson, has worked at Chevron, second-largest U.S. oil company behind Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), since 1980 and headed the company’s mergers and acquisitions operations when it took over Texaco for $100 billion in 2001.

He has also headed its exploration and production operations outside North America.

He will take the helm of the San Ramon, California-based company at a time when oil majors are facing increasing competition from state-run oil companies for access to the world’s largest untapped reserves, Reuters reported.

O’Reilly, 62, has served as chairman and CEO since 2000. He led Chevron through acquisitions of Texaco Inc. and Unocal Corp., creating a company with market value of $142 billion and output equivalent to more than 2.6 million barrels of oil a day.

John S. Watson
CEO, Chevron Corporation

John S. Watson was vice chairman of the board of directors for Chevron Corporation – a position he assumed on April 1, 2009.

As vice chairman, Watson oversees a broad portfolio of responsibilities, which includes strategic planning; business development; policy, government and public affairs; major capital projects support; procurement; and corporate compliance.

A native of California, Watson earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of California at Davis in 1978 and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1980.

Watson joined Chevron in 1980 as a financial analyst. He held financial, analytical and supervisory positions before being elected president of Chevron Canada Ltd. in 1996. In 1998, he was elected a vice president of the corporation, with responsibility for strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, he led the company’s integration effort following the Chevron-Texaco merger and then became the corporation’s chief financial officer.

In 2005, he was elected president of Chevron International Exploration and Production, with responsibility for the company’s exploration and production activities outside North America. In 2008, he was elected executive vice president for strategy and development.

Watson is a director of the American Petroleum Institute.

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