Marathon Oil’s Cazalot to step down

Marathon Oil CEO Clarence Cazalot. ( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle )

Lee M. Tillman has been named to succeed Clarence P. Cazalot Jr. as president and CEO of Marathon Oil Corp.

Tillman will take over Aug. 1; Cazalot will remain as chairman until his retirement Dec. 31, after almost 14 years at the helm of Marathon.

Cazalot presided over Marathon’s transformation from an integrated oil company into a smaller company focused exclusively on exploration and production after Marathon spun off its refining operations into an independent Ohio-based company called Marathon Petroleum Corp. in 2011. The company now operates in North America, Europe and Africa.

Leadership changes: Marathon Oil chief information officer retires, new exec named

The company said Thursday that the board intends to nominate Dennis H. Reilley, currently Marathon Oil lead director, as non-executive chairman upon Cazalot’s retirement.

Tillman, 51, most recently served as vice president of engineering for ExxonMobil Development Company.

“Speaking for the entire Marathon Oil board of directors, we are very pleased to welcome Lee to the company,” Cazalot said in a written statement. “His strong leadership skills and extensive experience in global operations, project execution and leading edge technology will be invaluable in confronting the challenges facing our company and industry.”

Read more FuelFix coverage of Marathon Oil:

Marathon Oil ends talks to sell Canadian oil sands stake (May 23)
Annell R. Bay: Technology leads to abundant energy (May 8)
Marathon Oil’s big Eagle Ford plans (Feb. 21)
Marathon Oil reports 41 percent drop in 4Q profit (Feb. 6)
Marathon Oil creates new position to oversee upstream activities (Jan. 29)

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