Robert “Bob” Allison Jr.
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.
All American Wildcatter? Check. Texas Business Hall of Fame recipient? Check. Texas Alliance of Energy Producers’ Legend in the Oil and Gas Industry? Yes. Chief Roughneck Award from the Independent Petroleum Association of America? Yup.
Now, Robert “Bob” Allison Jr. can add Hart Energy Hall of Famer to his lengthy list of awards and recognitions. Under Allison’s leadership as CEO of Anadarko Petroleum from 1986 to 2001 and from 2003 until his retirement as CEO in 2004, the company grew its employee headcount from about 300 to about 3,400. During that same time, the company’s reserves swelled to 2.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, up from 100 million boe, to become one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas E&P companies.
Anadarko, which made several multibillion-dollar acquisitions of oil and gas companies, ultimately merged in 2019 with Occidental Petroleum in a transaction valued at $55 billion.
Before Anadarko Petroleum ceased operations, becoming part of oil and gas history, the company was known on Wall Street for its success during the Allison era. Allison’s leadership was noted when he returned to the CEO post after the abrupt resignation of John Seitz in 2003.
“Bob Allison is very widely known by the institutions. He really guided the company and was responsible for its biggest growth phase,” Wayne Andrews of Raymond James & Associates said in a 2003 Hart Energy article. “And I think it would be viewed positively by the Street to see him back at the helm, even though we would believe also that his time is limited there.”
Delivering positive results from offshore exploration and development campaigns in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the Allison era included strengthening the company’s portfolio with shallow-water and deepwater assets. Among the biggest wins under Allison’s leadership were large discoveries of crude oil reserves in Algeria’s Sahara Desert plus finds on Alaska’s North Slope.
In addition to growth by the drillbit, the company also made substantial additions to its reserves through acquisitions. These included Union Pacific Resources Group Inc., Berkeley Petroleum Corp., Western Gas Resources and Kerr-McGee.
A native of Evanston, Ill., Allison received a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Kansas. He joined Anadarko Production Co. in 1973 as vice president of operations, following 14 years at Amoco Production Co. About three years later, Allison stepped into the role of president for Anadarko and went on to become the chairman and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in 1986.
Throughout his career, Allison served as a member of several energy-related organizations. These included the Society of Petroleum Engineers, National Petroleum Council, the U.S. Oil & Gas Association and the American Petroleum Institute. He has also served as a director for Freeport-McMoran Oil & Gas.
However, life was not all about oil and gas for Allison.
The lifetime member of the Boy Scouts of America’s Sam Houston Area Council also served on the board of visitors of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston Methodist Debakey Heart & Vascular Center National Council, and the Houston Methodist President’s Leadership Council.
—Velda Addison, Senior Editor, Energy Transition