Steve Mueller Retiring, Will Serve as Non-Executive Chairman through May 2016 Annual Meeting
Southwestern Energy Company (SWN) announced today that Bill Way, previously President and Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer by the Board of Directors succeeding Steve Mueller. Mr. Way also has been elected to the Board of Directors. Mr. Mueller will continue to serve as a director and as non-executive Chairman of the Board until he retires at the May 2016 annual meeting of stockholders.
“Southwestern Energy has some of the highest quality assets in the industry along with a highly talented staff, and I am excited about the additional value that will be created by this team under Bill’s leadership,” said Mr. Mueller. “Bill has played a key role in developing the assets and organization since he joined the company in 2011, and while I will miss working day-to-day with this talented group, I am confident this is the right time and Bill is the right person to meet the challenges we face. I look forward to continuing working with him and the entire Board through the transition period over the next five months.”
“Bill is the right person to lead the company forward now and in the years to come,” said Cathy Kehr, Presiding Director. “The entire Board is excited to have Bill take the reins as CEO, and we are confident his extensive industry experience and development as an executive at Southwestern Energy have prepared him well. The Board also sincerely wishes to thank Steve for his vision and wisdom in the years he has served as CEO, a period of tremendous growth for the company.”
“I would like to personally thank Steve for his guidance and support over the past several years,” said Mr. Way. “I am deeply honored and committed to lead this company forward in the spirit of Southwestern Energy, which is rooted in our Formula, and delivering greater value to our shareholders in the future. I recognize these are difficult times for our industry and for SWN. We are committed to investing within our cash flow, stabilizing our debt, reducing our cost structure, and addressing our balance sheet as we move forward.
“SWN’s robust competitive positioning in the lowest cost portion of the North American natural gas supply curve will provide the company with an attractive growth profile once commodity prices recover. In the meantime, we are redesigning SWN to win in a more competitive North American natural gas marketplace using our disciplined 1.3 PVI hurdle as our metric. Our operating excellence, our commitment to win, our enduring values, our exceptional people and, above all, our culture provide us a unique advantage as we take on this challenge.”
Mr. Way joined Southwestern Energy in October 2011 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. As part of the company’s succession planning, he was promoted to President in December 2014. Prior to joining the company, he was Senior Vice President, Americas of BG Group plc with responsibility for E&P, Midstream and LNG operations in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Bolivia, Canada and Argentina. Previously, Mr. Way held various senior leadership and technical positions at ConocoPhillips. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Industrial Engineering and has an MBA from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently serves on the International Advisory Board and the Advisory Board of the Mays Business School MBA Program at Texas A&M and the Cameron School of Business MBA Program at the University of St. Thomas in Houston and on the board of directors of Boys and Girls Country.
Southwestern Energy Company is an independent energy company whose wholly owned subsidiaries are engaged in natural gas and oil exploration, development and production, natural gas gathering and marketing. Additional information on the company can be found on the Internet at http://www.swn.com.
