The CEO and founder of one of the biggest oil companies in Alaska has stepped down.
Hilcorp’s Jeffery Hildebrand has handed the reins over to the company’s former executive vice president, Greg Lalicker. A spokesperson from the company’s Texas headquarters confirmed the transition, saying in an emailed statement it was announced internally last November.
“The organizational change comes as the company, a longtime producer in Alaska, Texas and Louisiana, continues to see substantial growth in other legacy assets across the United States,” Justin Furnace, Hilcorp’s corporate director of external affairs, said.
Hildebrand is known for being among the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $7.6 billion, according to Bloomberg.
However, Hildebrand isn’t leaving Hilcorp altogether — in a statement, the company said he’s staying on as executive chairman and will “continue to be heavily involved with the company.”
According to state data, in 2017, Hilcorp was Alaska’s third largest oil producer and second largest gas producer. The company operates several fields on the North Slope. One of Hilcorp’s new North Slope projects, the Moose Pad, is likely to start up this year, with a peak estimated production of 16,000 barrels of oil per day. Hilcorp is also pursuing development of the first offshore oil production in federal Arctic waters, called the Liberty Project.
Additionally, Hilcorp is heavily invested in Cook Inlet production, although last year the company faced criticism when one of its fuel lines was discovered to have been leaking gas into the Inlet for months.
Elizabeth Harball is a reporter with Alaska's Energy Desk, covering Alaska’s oil and gas industry and environmental policy. She is a contributor to the Energy Desk’s Midnight Oil podcast series. Before moving to Alaska in 2016, Harball worked at E&E News in Washington, D.C., where she covered federal and state climate change policy. Originally from Kalispell, Montana, Harball is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
