API elects Devon’s Larry Nichols as chairman; Jack Gerard named president and CEO

Bill Bush | 202.682.8069 | bushw@api.org

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, October 20, 2008 – The API Board of Directors on Monday elected J. Larry Nichols, chairman and chief executive officer of Devon Energy Corporation, as chairman of API’s board, effective Jan. 1, 2009. The board also approved Jack N. Gerard as the new president and chief executive officer of API, effective Nov. 1.

Clarence P. Cazalot Jr., president and chief executive officer of Marathon Oil Corporation, was elected API’s treasurer, effective Jan. 1.

The announcements were made at API’s annual meeting.

As chairman of API’s Board of Directors, Nichols also will chair the trade association’s 25-member Policy Committee and 10-member Executive Committee.

Nichols is the first CEO of an independent oil and natural gas company to become chairman of API. He is a co-founder of Devon and a director since 1971. He was named chairman of the board of directors in 2000. Nichols served as president of Devon from 1976 until 2003 and has served as chief executive officer since 1980. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Michigan.

Prior to joining API, Gerard was president of the American Chemistry Council. Earlier he had headed the National Mining Association and was co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of McClure, Gerard and Neuenschwander, Inc., a government relations consulting firm. Gerard also spent close to a decade working in the U.S. Senate and House. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University. Gerard succeeds Red Cavaney, who is retiring from API.

Cazalot joined Marathon in March 2000. Earlier, he had served as vice president of Texaco Inc. and president of Texaco’s worldwide production operations. Cazalot joined Texaco in 1972 as a geophysicist. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in geology and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the same institution.

API, the Washington-based national trade association representing all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry, has nearly 400 corporate members.