UL Grad heads up Chevron in North America

[NewsCopy]

Gary Luquette said he started off in the oil business for two reasons. "They paid better than anybody else, and they offered me a job in Lafayette. I was in love with a girl in Lafayette, and I didn't want to leave," Luquette said, laughing. But he did leave. In the 28 years since he started at Chevron's Lafayette office, Luquette has worked everywhere from San Francisco to Indonesia to, most recently, Scotland. In April, the Abbeville native made a major move closer to home - to Houston to take the job as president of Chevron North America Exploration and Production. High prices at the gas pump have made headlines recently, but Luquette said high prices per barrel for oil have given the industry a chance to reinvest in areas like North America to meet the growing demand. He said this means the company can plan for new projects in places such as the deep-water Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Canada. "Today, our objectives are to try to grow volume, to try to grow oil and gas production... to support the nation's energy needs," Luquette said.' On Friday, Chevron reported profits of $4 billion, with the largest share, $3.46 billion, coming from its exploration and production business. The rest of the story Kayla Gagnet kgagnet@theadvertiser.com

[CDeb]

Cajunsmike, what happened Ray Wilcox, whose brainchild was "Project Compete?"

[Cajunsmike]

Cajunsmike, what happened Ray Wilcox, whose brainchild was "Project Compete?"

Wilcox retired as of April 1, 2006. He was replaced by Luquette. Project Compete was based upon the assumption oil prices would go down following the fall of Baghad. Obviously that did not occur.

Gerald Hebert knows Luquette and plans to see if he can use that connection to help Cajun athletics.