Moving on

Devon Energy Chairman John Richels has announced plans to retire in June.

John Richels will retire as chairman of Devon Energy Corp. following the company's June 2019 annual meeting, the Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas company said Wednesday. “The opportunity to work with the incredible team of people at Devon for the last 20 years and to succeed Larry Nichols as president, CEO and chairman has clearly been the highlight of my career,” Richels said in a statement Wednesday. “We’ve done a lot of great work together, and we’ve built a great company. We’ve done it the right way, true to our values and with the highest integrity. I have complete confidence in our management team at Devon as they lead the company in the years to come.” Richels, 67, joined Devon through its 1998 purchase of Canada-based Northstar Energy Corp., where he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. After the merger, he became president and CEO of Devon's Canadian subsidiary. Richels moved to Oklahoma City in 2004 to become the company's president. In 2010, he was promoted to CEO, a position he held until retiring in July 2015. Richels remained a director and became chairman in June 2016, when co-founder and former CEO Larry Nichols retired and was named chairman emeritus. Dave Hager will remain Devon's CEO, a position he has held since taking over from Richels in July 2015. Devon directors on Wednesday elected Duane C. Radtke as the board's vice chairman. “John Richels is well versed in the art of transition,” Hager said in Wednesday's statement. “He took the reins from Devon’s co-founder, Larry Nichols, guided the company through a key period of its history

and then handed the reins to me. John has served as an important mentor to many people, including Duane Radtke and me, and we look forward with confidence to the coming transition.”

Radtke has been a Devon director since 2010. He leads the board’s compensation committee and serves on the reserves committee. He has more than 45 years of experience in the energy industry and has served since 2008 as president and CEO of Valiant Exploration LLC, a private, familyowned investment company. Radtke previously was president and CEO of Dominion Exploration and Production, a subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc., and served as executive vice president of Dominion subsidiary Consolidated Natural Gas Co.