Mark G. Papa
Editor's note: This profile is part of Hart Energy's 50th anniversary Hall of Fame series honoring industry pioneers of the past 50 years and the Agents of Change (ACEs) who are leading the energy sector into the future.
Mark G. Papa is an innovator, a trendsetter and an exceptional leader who was a driving force behind shale development in the United States for decades.
Papa led the formation of EOG Resources in 1999. A year later, the company had not only been added to the S&P 500 index but was ranked as its third-best performer. By 2004, EOG had nearly 400,000 acres under lease in the Barnett Shale and in 2006, was one of the first companies to enter the Bakken Shale, where it acquired assets that were expanded over time to include more than 1 million acres producing 500,000 b/d of oil.
Along the way, EOG pioneered horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, developed new drilling fluids and proppants, applied data analytics to improve operations and was among the first to use artificial intelligence to enhance productivity through automation.
And while Papa was breaking new ground on multiple levels at EOG, he was delivering in spades for investors.
In 2010, he was named one of the 100 best-performing CEOs in the world by Harvard Business Review (HBR) in a ranking in which executives were evaluated on leadership, execution, innovation and social responsibility over the course of their tenure. HBR credited Papa with a market cap change of $17 billion at EOG over the course of his time there and a country-adjusted total shareholder return of 1,128%. In the 14 years Papa headed up EOG, the company’s market cap grew from $2 billion to $54 billion, and the stock value increased 2,200%.
More recently, Papa was the recipient of a different sort of recognition—this one conferred by his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1968. In March 2023, Papa was named a Distinguished Alumnus in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering by the university’s Swanson School of Engineering.
Steven Little, chemical engineering department chair at Pitt, said many qualities set Papa apart, but in business leadership, the most noteworthy is his strong independence of mind.
“Mark has the remarkable ability and willingness to go against the grain of popular wisdom and consensus, and make informed judgements that run counter to prevailing thought,” Little said.
The ability to be clear minded in identifying growth opportunities set Papa apart as an executive, but it is his selflessness and generosity that characterize his involvement at the university.
“Mark’s passion is preparing students for future careers,” Little said, noting that an ongoing initiative in curriculum development is a particular focus at present.
Papa is helping to create a program to educate leaders in the fields of natural gas, oil and renewable energy. Like Pitt’s Petroleum Engineering degree—established as the first in the country in 1915—this new discipline will be first of its kind in the world, “giving students a comprehensive view of the energy industry that will cover existing energy sources that are affordable and future energy sources that are renewable,” Little said. “Mark’s continuing work at the University of Pittsburgh will help other aspiring engineers to forge paths of their own that will change the future of energy development.”
—Judy Murray, Contributing Editor