Noble Energy CEO Earns $11.6 Million In 2008

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the past 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.

Davidson, Noble Energy's president and CEO since October 2000, was the company's highest-paid official among the five company executives listed in the report.

The company said Davidson's compensation was linked to company performance, namely Noble Energy's 2008 net income, cash flow, production replacement, exploration success, stockholder return and achievement of other projects and milestones.

For the full year, Noble earned $1.35 billion, or $7.58 per share, up from $944 million, or $5.45 per share, in 2007. Revenue rose to $3.9 billion from $3.27 billion a year earlier.