Canadian gas firm Encana said today co-founder and chairman David O’Brien is to step down after 10 years.
O’Brien, who oversaw PanCanadian Energy’s merger with Alberta Energy to form Encana, had held leadership roles with the company and its predecessors for more than 20 years.
Clayton Woitas, who served as Encana’s interim chief executive before Doug Suttles was appointed last month, will replace him as board chairman.
The news came as the company reported profits up to $730million, compared to a $1.48billion loss a year previously. Operating income rose to $247million, up 25% on the previous year.
“Our results over the first half of the year have us well-positioned to deliver on our guidance targets for 2013,” said Suttles
“Our focus moving forward is to continue to exercise capital discipline while working to achieve ever greater efficiencies in how we run our business. We expect to see cost savings materialize throughout the rest of the year as a result of those efforts.”