Shake-up at petroleum group

The departure of four senior executives from the American Petroleum Institute is part of a broader restructuring as the trade group tries to adjust to new challenges on Capitol Hill, its president and CEO Jack Gerard told The Hill.

API, which represents the large “majors” and other parts of the oil industry, has announced that Jim Craig, vice president of communications; Doug Morris, vice president of upstream group; and Brenda Hargett, vice president of finance, are leaving by the end of the year.

Jim Ford, the group’s vice president for government relations, is also leaving. API announced this month that Martin Durbin, a lobbyist with the American Chemistry Council and former Democratic congressional staff aide, would replace Ford. The other positions are being filled internally, at least temporarily. Outside people may eventually be brought in, Gerard said.
Gerard came to API with a reputation as a cost-cutter. He reorganized the staffs of the National Mining Association and ACC, the trade groups that he ran previously.

The review is expected to be completed around the first of the year. API has tried hard to update its image on Capitol Hill, as Democrats push climate change legislation intended to reduce fossil fuel use and propose repealing billions of dollars in new taxes. It has brought women, Hispanics and African-Americans who work in the industry to Washington to lobby members and sponsored "Energy Citizens" rallies last August in opposition to climate legislation.

The reorganization is designed to improve API’s advocacy, both at the grassroots level and in Washington.

“I think we can be more effective than we are in public policy development,” Gerard said. “This industry has been punching under its weight.”

API employs around 250 people, most of who are involved in efforts other than lobbying.