Arco Shuffles Duties of Top Candidates for Chief
Atlantic Richfield Co. has juggled the jobs of three top executives to broaden each officer’s experience, a move designed to ensure an orderly transition when one of them eventually succeeds Chairman Lodwrick M. Cook.
Cook, 62, who has held the top job at the Los Angeles-based oil company for five years, is expected to step down when he reaches age 65, Arco’s retirement age for top officers.
The job shuffle affected Cook’s likeliest successors: executive vice presidents Ronald J. Arnault, 47; James A. Middleton, 54, and James S. Morrison, 60.
“Our primary goal in shifting responsibilities of a number of our senior managers is to provide broader experiences in order to appropriately prepare for the company’s management succession needs,” Cook said in a statement.
Arnault, formerly chief financial officer, assumes responsibility for Arco’s international oil and gas company, the unit in charge of exploration and production of oil and gas in the lower 48 states, and Arco’s coal operation.
Analysts believe that Arnault, the youngest of the three top executives, stands the best chance to take the chairmanship upon Cook’s retirement.
Described as a quick-witted and visionary man of few words, Arnault was one of the executives who saw Arco through a successful financial restructuring in the mid-1980s.
But he has limited experience in the company’s operational side--considered crucial if he is to succeed Cook.
Middleton, formerly president of Arco Oil & Gas Co., the lower-48 unit, takes over Arco’s three West Coast divisions: Arco Alaska Inc., which handles production from Arco’s vast Alaskan fields; Arco Transportation Co., which moves that oil south, and Arco Products Co., which includes all Western refinery and marketing operations.
Morrison, who oversaw Arco’s West Coast operations, becomes chief financial officer. He assumes control of the company’s treasury, planning and control functions, government and public affairs and human resources departments.
Morrison made a mark in the company in part by overseeing Arco’s rise to the No. 1 retail position in the West Coast and its development of innovative products such as Arco’s EC-1 lower emissions gasoline. Morrison’s age--he turns 61 in the fall--makes him less likely to succeed Cook, analysts said.
“The credentials of all three are outstanding,” said Eugene L. Nowak, senior energy analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds in New York.
Arnault and Middleton will report to Robert E. Wycoff, Arco’s president and chief operating officer. Morrison will report to Cook.
