(Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. named Dan Ammann as head of its upstream oil and gas business, putting its low carbon president in charge of its most profitable division.
Ammann will replace Liam Mallon, who on Feb. 1 retires after 34 years with Exxon, the Spring, Texas-based company said in a statement. Ammann joined Exxon in 2022, making him a relative newcomer to the executive team, which was historically dominated by lifelong employees with an engineering background.
The appointment is the latest example of Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods bringing outsiders into his inner circle as he pushes to modernize the oil giant’s culture. Woods, who has held the CEO role for eight years, established the low carbon division three years ago when Exxon was under attack from climate-minded activist investors and expanded it aggressively with subsidies from the Biden administration even as it grows oil and gas production at the same time.
“Some might think that moving from Low Carbon Solutions to Upstream is surprising, but it’s not,” Ammann said in a LinkedIn post. Meeting global energy demand “requires both an increase in supply of safe, reliable, affordable energy AND a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions — and I will continue to focus on both.”
A New Zealander who worked as an investment banker for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, Ammann was an executive at General Motors Co. and led its self-driving division, Cruise, before joining Exxon.
He led Exxon’s $5 billion acquisition of Denbury Inc. to make the oil giant the largest operator of carbon dioxide pipelines in the US, essential infrastructure if the technology is to be successful in reducing emissions. Ammann also helped Exxon become a first-mover among the oil majors in lithium mining in Arkansas.
In 2021, Woods appointed former Diageo Plc executive Kathy Mikells as Exxon’s first dedicated chief financial officer. Previously, the company’s finances were under a “principle financial officer” as part of its management committee.
Barry Engle, who joined Exxon in September after a long career in the automotive industry where he led GM’s North America division, will succeed Ammann as head of its Low Carbon Solutions division.
The changes will “bring fresh perspectives and approaches to each of our exceptionally talented organizations,” Woods said in the statement. “This has served us well over the last several years and is a useful, innovative way to strengthen our leadership teams, challenge conventions and broaden our people.”
(Updates with Ammann comment in the fourth paragraph.)
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