El Paso CEO Gets Compensation Valued At $6.2M

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company<s board placed on the executive<s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive<s compensation in the previous fiscal year

Amid sharply lower commodity prices in the second half of 2008, El Paso posted a full-year loss of $823 million, or $1.24 per share, after net income of $1.11 billion, or $1.53 per share, in 2007. Revenue climbed 15 percent to $5.36 billion.

Excluding nonrecurring items, El Paso said its adjusted earnings amounted to $1.31 a share in 2008, up from $1 a share a year earlier.

Foshee has been president, CEO and a director of the Houston-based company since September 2003.

According to El Paso's proxy filing, the compensation committee benchmarks its executive pay against a peer group of 22 companies that includes Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Noble Energy Inc. The company decided in February to freeze base salaries at 2008 levels for all employees.