Apco Oil and Gas International Inc. (NASDAQ:APAGF) has announced that its president and chief operating officer, Thomas Bueno, intends to retire effective June 30, 2013. Bueno, 61, will resign his position as chief operating officer effective Jan. 1, 2013, and remain as president of Apco until he retires. His career spans 40 years. He has worked with the company in various capacities of increasing responsibilities since the mid-1980s. He assumed the role of president and chief operating officer in 2002. Following his retirement, Bueno plans to be available to act in an advisory role by providing consulting services to the company. During the past five years, Bueno also established a succession plan at Apco. “We can’t thank Tom enough for his years of service to the company and our shareholders,” said Ralph Hill, Apco’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Apco has thrived under his leadership and exemplary record. The company’s growth over the years is a credit to Tom and the Apco team.” In connection with Bueno’s decision, Apco’s board appointed Michael Kyle, 53, to serve as the company’s chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1, 2013. Bueno recruited Kyle as Apco’s vice president of business development in December 2007. He has been instrumental in establishing Apco’s presence in Colombia, where the company initiated hydrocarbon production earlier this year. Prior to Apco, Kyle was president and general manager of Occidental Petroleum’s Argentine business unit located in Buenos Aires. Kyle also held several international management positions with Vintage Petroleum from 1996-2005 and has lived and worked in Argentina and other South American countries during much of the last 20 years. “Apco remains in very capable, talented hands with Mike, who has helped broaden and diversify the company’s interests,” Hill said. “This is a smooth, orderly transition that we have developed over the past few years.