Murphy Oil boss on medical leave after COVID diagnosis

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) 335 views 

Murphy Oil Corp. President and CEO Rogers Jenkins has taken a temporary medical leave because of a “presumptive diagnosis of COVID-19,” the El Dorado oil and gas exploration company has announced.

Chief Financial Officer David Looney will work as president and CEO during Jenkins’ leave.

The company also recently announced it would reduce its exploration spending in this fiscal year by $500 million to $950 million, roughly a 35% decrease. The move comes as Russia, Saudi Arabia and other oil producing nations have decided to keep production levels at a higher-than-expected pace. Those decisions have dropped crude oil prices to multi-year lows.