Whiting Petroleum Corporation Names Bradley J. Holly President and Chief Executive Officer
James J. Volker, 34-Year Veteran of Whiting, to Retire as Chief
Executive Officer
Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL) today announced that Bradley
J. Holly has been named President and Chief Executive Officer and a
member of the Company’s Board of Directors, effective November 1, 2017.
Mr. Holly previously served as Executive Vice President, U.S. Onshore
Exploration and Production for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.
Mr. Holly has been appointed in connection with the planned retirement
of James J. Volker, age 70, who has served as Whiting’s President and
Chief Executive Officer since 2002. Mr. Volker will assume the role of
Executive Chairman of the Whiting Board and will serve in that capacity
until December 31, 2017. Mr. Volker will then serve as non-executive
Chairman of the Whiting Board until the 2018 annual meeting of
stockholders, at which time Mr. Holly will be appointed Chairman of the
Whiting Board.
William N. Hahne, Lead Independent Director of the Whiting Board of
Directors, commented, “On behalf of the Board of Directors and everyone
at Whiting, I thank Jim for his many outstanding contributions to the
Company throughout his more than three decades of distinguished service.
Jim joined Whiting in 1983 as Vice President of Corporate Development,
and he has been an instrumental contributor to the Company’s success.
Under Jim’s leadership, Whiting has established itself as a premier
Bakken and Niobrara operator with a world-class asset base and acreage
positions, innovative technology leadership and significant production
capabilities. The Company produced more than 112,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day in the second quarter of 2017. In recent years, Jim
has taken decisive actions to strengthen the balance sheet, enhance the
Company’s financial flexibility and improve its cost structure, all of
which have driven value and established a strong foundation for growth.
We wish Jim all the best in his well-deserved retirement and look
forward to continuing to benefit from his expertise through his ongoing
service as Chairman of the Board.”
Mr. Hahne continued, “We are pleased to name an extremely qualified and
experienced leader as the Company’s new President and CEO. As part of
our leadership succession planning, we conducted an extensive search and
carefully evaluated Brad and many other candidates. We are confident
that Brad’s integrity, passion and extensive industry experience in both
the Rocky Mountains and the onshore U.S. make him the ideal choice to
lead Whiting in its next phase of value growth. We believe that Brad and
the existing executive team will provide outstanding leadership that
will continue to drive value for our stakeholders.”
Mr. Volker said, “It has been a privilege to lead Whiting as President
and CEO for more than a decade and serve the Company in other capacities
for more than thirty years, and I am proud of everything the team has
accomplished. We have grown Whiting into one of the leading Bakken /
Three Forks producers through outstanding execution and technological
innovation. Today, Whiting is a strong company, strategically positioned
to realize the full value of our world-class asset base. Brad has
demonstrated a track record of outstanding performance operating U.S.
onshore assets, and I look forward to working with him to ensure a
seamless transition.”
Mr. Holly commented, “I am honored to succeed Jim as President and CEO
of Whiting Petroleum. It is a privilege to join an industry leader with
an impressive asset base, highly efficient capital plan and proven
record of strong performance. Jim has created a culture of continuous
improvement based on the core values of integrity, teamwork and
innovation, and I am excited to work closely with the talented Whiting
team to advance the Company’s strategic initiatives. I look forward to
capitalizing on the Company’s operational capabilities, technical
expertise and superior acreage to support Whiting’s growth objectives
and enhance stockholder value.”
About Bradley J. Holly
Bradley J. Holly, 46, brings more than 20 years of experience in the oil
and natural gas industry. Mr. Holly previously served as Executive Vice
President, U.S. Onshore Exploration and Production for Anadarko
Petroleum Corporation, an independent exploration and production
company. Prior to his promotion to Executive Vice President in May 2017,
he served as Senior Vice President, U.S. Onshore Exploration and
Production at Anadarko from September 2016. He was previously Senior
Vice President, Operations for Anadarko's Rocky Mountain Region from May
2013 to September 2016, and Vice President, Operations for the Southern
and Appalachia Region from July 2012 to May 2013. Mr. Holly also
previously served as General Manager of Anadarko's Greater Natural
Buttes area in eastern Utah and the Maverick Basin, which included the
Eagleford Shale development in southern Texas, and Reserves and Planning
Manager for the Southern and Appalachia Region. He joined Anadarko in
1997 as a reservoir engineer and development supervisor on
Anadarko's Marco Polo and K2 developments in the deepwater Gulf of
Mexico. Mr. Holly began his career in 1994 with Amoco. Mr. Holly holds a
Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University,
and he is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management
Program.
Mr. Holly returns to Denver where he served as the past Chairman of the
Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) in 2016 and is a member of the
inaugural class of the Colorado Governor’s Fellows Program. Mr. Holly
served on Governor Hickenlooper’s task force on oil and gas in 2014-2015
and was the chairman of Protect Colorado in 2016. He has served as a
trustee of the Mile High United Way for the past three years.
About Whiting Petroleum Corporation
Whiting Petroleum Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is an independent
oil and gas company that develops, produces, acquires and explores for
crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids primarily in the Rocky
Mountains region of the United States. The Company’s largest projects
are in the Bakken and Three Forks plays in North Dakota and Montana and
the Niobrara play in northeast Colorado. The Company trades publicly
under the symbol WLL on the New York Stock Exchange. For further
information, please visit http://www.whiting.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements that we believe to be
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. All statements other than historical facts, including, without
limitation, statements regarding our future financial position, business
strategy, projected revenues, earnings, costs, capital expenditures and
debt levels, and plans and objectives of management for future
operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this news
release, words such as we "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate,"
"anticipate," "believe" or "should" or the negative thereof or
variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to
identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such
statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to: declines in or extended periods of low oil, NGL or natural gas
prices; our level of success in exploration, development and production
activities; risks related to our level of indebtedness, ability to
comply with debt covenants and periodic redeterminations of the
borrowing base under our credit agreement; impacts to financial
statements as a result of impairment write-downs; our ability to
successfully complete asset dispositions and the risks related thereto;
revisions to reserve estimates as a result of changes in commodity
prices, regulation and other factors; adverse weather conditions that
may negatively impact development or production activities; the timing
of our exploration and development expenditures; inaccuracies of our
reserve estimates or our assumptions underlying them; risks relating to
any unforeseen liabilities of ours; our ability to generate sufficient
cash flows from operations to meet the internally funded portion of our
capital expenditures budget; our ability to obtain external capital to
finance exploration and development operations; federal and state
initiatives relating to the regulation of hydraulic fracturing and air
emissions; unforeseen underperformance of or liabilities associated with
acquired properties; the impacts of hedging on our results of
operations; failure of our properties to yield oil or gas in
commercially viable quantities; availability of, and risks associated
with, transport of oil and gas; our ability to drill producing wells on
undeveloped acreage prior to its lease expiration; shortages of or
delays in obtaining qualified personnel or equipment, including drilling
rigs and completion services; uninsured or underinsured losses resulting
from our oil and gas operations; our inability to access oil and gas
markets due to market conditions or operational impediments; the impact
and costs of compliance with laws and regulations governing our oil and
gas operations; our ability to replace our oil and natural gas reserves;
any loss of our senior management or technical personnel; competition in
the oil and gas industry; the potential impact of changes in laws,
including tax reform, that could have a negative effect on the oil and
gas industry; cyber security attacks or failures of our
telecommunication systems; and other risks described under the caption
“Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended
December 31, 2016. We assume no obligation, and disclaim any duty, to
update the forward-looking statements in this news release.
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