ADM Hires Oil Exec as CEO Amid Ethanol Push

Archer Daniels Midland Co. named Patricia Woertz, a long-time senior executive for Chevron Corp., as chief executive at a time when the agricultural processing company is investing heavily in alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Woertz’s appointment makes ADM the largest publicly traded company, based on revenue, to have a female CEO.

Woertz, 53, said she supported ADM’s efforts to boost ethanol production capacity by 50% to 1.5 billion gallons during the next two years.