Enterprise Products Partners CEO Michael Creel will step down at the end of the year from the top job at the Houston-based pipeline giant, the company said in a press release yesterday.
The company’s board has elected Chief Operating Officer A.J. ‘Jim’ Teague to succeed Creel.
Enterprise indicated that the decision to retire had come from Creel, but did not elaborate on his reasons. Creel, 61, has held the top job at Enterprise for almost five years.
Teague, 70, has served as COO since 2010. He started with Enterprise in 1999, when it purchased a Shell Oil Co. affiliate where Teague was working.
Enterprise Products Partners is structured as a tax-advantaged master limited partnership. MLPs distribute most of their cash flow to investors called unit holders — making the structure a good fit for midstream companies that typically operate under long-term contracts for transportation and storage services. The collapse in oil prices has hurt midstream operators, though production and oil field services companies have taken a bigger hit.
Units of Enterprise Products Partners have fallen by about 18% over the past six months. The units rose 51 cents to US$32.91 in New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday.
On a previous conference call discussing the company’s 4Q earnings, Teague said the environment had toughened across the industry. ”It’d be nice if prices were higher and the environment was such that money was falling from the sky,” he said. “Those days are gone now.”
Enterprise Products Partners LP, the second-largest US pipeline owner, said Chief Operating Officer Jim Teague will take over as CEO at year end.
Enterprise was founded by Dan L. Duncan, who was the third-richest Texan when he died in 2010 and whose legacy remains with the pipeline owner. The partnership is controlled by an entity owned by Dan Duncan LLC, a closely held Texas company. The founder’s daughter, Randa Duncan Williams, serves as non-executive chairman of Enterprise’s general partner. Both Teague and Creel previously worked for companies formed by Duncan.
Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner