Anadarko CEO Pay Came Down 17% in 2008

The chairman, president and chief executive of Anadarko Petroleum received compensation valued at $22.2 million in fiscal 2008, a 17 percent decrease from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing made Friday.

The Woodlands, Texas-based company paid James T. Hackett $1.5 million in base salary, up nearly 7 percent from the prior year, and a $3.4 million performance-based cash bonus, up 15 percent year over year.

Additionally, Anadarko awarded Hackett $571,276 in other compensation, which included 401(k) plan contributions, personal use of company aircraft, liability insurance and home security.

The drop in compensation was mostly due to a 23 percent decrease in stock-based compensation, to a total of $17 million.

Hackett, 55, received 572,200 options to buy shares at an exercise price of $35.18 each. The fair-market value for those options on the day they were granted in November was about $7.1 million. He also received grants for other stock awards valued by the company at $9.6 million when they were granted.

The Associated Press' calculations of total compensation include salary, bonus, performance-related incentives, perks, any above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. They may vary from totals listed in the summary compensation table in the company's proxy filed with the SEC.

According to Anadarko's proxy filing, the compensation committee benchmarks its executive pay practices against a peer group of companies that includes Chevron, Devon Energy and Noble Energy.

The committee also has established a guideline for Hackett to own shares having a value of five times his base salary in order to align his interests with those of shareholders.

Anadarko's net income fell 13 percent in 2008 to $3.3 billion, or $7.05 a share, from $3.8 billion, or $8.08 a share, a year earlier. Full-year revenue dropped slightly to $15.7 billion from $15.9 billion in 2007.

Meanwhile, the company's stock declined 41 percent during 2008 to end the year at $38.55. In afternoon trading Friday, the stock fell to near $36.