Anadarko’s Hackett to step down in May

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett plans to step down in May, the company said, and will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Al Walker.

Hackett assumed the top spot at the Texas independent in 2003 after stints at Devon Energy Corp. and Ocean Energy. Walker joined Anadarko six years ago after three decades in the oil industry and said he plans to continue the strategy set by Hackett.

Hackett will move into a new “executive chairman” position before retiring in June 2013.

Although Anadarko entered Alaska before Hackett joined the company, he was at the helm when the independent launched its pioneering natural gas exploration program in the foothills of the Brooks Range. The company drilled four wells across state, federal and Native land in 2008 and 2009, and plans to return to the region this winter to test one of those wells. Anadarko is also a minority owner of the Colville River unit alongside operator ConocoPhillips. The companies also hold leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska that they hope to bring online in the coming decade.

—Eric Lidji