WPX Energy’s (ticker: WPX) board of directors has unanimously elected Richard E. “Rick” Muncrief as it next chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Muncrief also is WPX’s president and chief executive officer, positions he has held since May 15, 2014.
Since joining WPX, Muncrief has led a comprehensive transformation of the company. The turnaround entailed more than $5 billion of A&D activity and WPX’s entry in the Permian’s Delaware Basin where it has an estimated 2.4 billion boe of net resource potential and more than 5,500 gross drillable locations across 102,000 net acres.
He succeeds William G. Lowrie, who will become the board’s lead independent director. Lowrie has been WPX’s chairman since its spinoff five years ago and played an instrumental role in strengthening the senior management team.
Ten of WPX’s eleven board members are independent. Muncrief is the sole inside director. The board believes that its new leadership structure demonstrates its continuing commitment to maintain independence and represent the interests of all shareholders.
“Already, Rick has navigated WPX through one of the biggest price pullbacks in industry history, personally invested heavily in the future of the company, established accountability up and down the organization, and emphasized technology and technical excellence in our operations,” Lowrie said.
“I believe he’s done absolutely everything that our board and investors expect of him. Today, WPX is on a clear and compelling course, with challenging yet achievable goals on the immediate horizon. As a board, we’re extremely confident that WPX is well equipped to execute on its value-creation endeavors,” Lowrie added.
Muncrief’s career spans more than 36 years covering leadership roles at Continental Resources, ConocoPhillips, Burlington Resources and their predecessor companies. In addition to WPX, he serves on the board of the American Petroleum Institute and the American Exploration & Production Council. He was also vocal in the fight to lift the crude oil export ban in 2015, providing testimony before the U.S. Senate.
Under Muncrief’s leadership, WPX’s strategy is to grow oil production and EBITDAX at a compound annual growth rate of 20-35 percent over the next four years.
“It’s my distinct pleasure to be a part of something really special that’s happening at WPX because we embraced the opportunities and difficulties of implementing sweeping change,” Muncrief said.
“This is WPX 2.0, and we recognize that our strategy is only as good as our execution. We’re going to keep working tirelessly on behalf of our shareholders.
“I appreciate our entire board for their support and the guidance they provide to me and our leadership team,” Muncrief added. “Mr. Lowrie has been a difference-maker here whose contributions are highly regarded.”
Mr. Lowrie will continue to work closely with Mr. Muncrief as set forth in a lead director charter the company has adopted. This document is publicly available on WPX’s website.
Board governance also requires WPX’s independent directors to assess the board’s performance and leadership structure annually and to conduct performance evaluations for its chairman and lead director. Mr. Muncrief’s performance review for his role as chairman will be in addition to the performance review for his role as CEO.
