EOG Resources CEO Gets $13.9M Pay Package In 2008

DEBORAH JIAN LEE

HOUSTON (AP) — Mark Papa, chairman and chief executive of oil and gas exploration company EOG Resources Inc., saw his total compensation climb 10 percent to $13.9 million in 2008, driven mainly by stock options, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing made Wednesday.

The bump in Papa's total compensation came primarily from stock and options awards valued at $499,920, $6.6 million and $4.4 million on their grant dates of March 3, 2008, April 9, 2008 and Sept. 3, 2008, respectively. As the company's share price is much lower now, the current value of these awards has diminished.

Papa, 62, earned a salary of $940,000, flat with his 2007 salary, but saw his performance-based bonus shrink 33 percent to $1 million, from the $1.5 million earned last year.

The remainder of his 2008 pay package was $395,842 of perks, which includes $321,000 in matching contributions to Papa's savings plan and a cash perk of $28,200.

Papa, EOG's chief executive since 1998, was the company's highest paid official among the five company executives listed in the report.