Troubled shale driller gives CEO $2.4 million to stick around

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- EP Energy Corp. will give its CEO a retention award that’s equal to more than 11% of the troubled oil explorer’s market value.

The board of the Houston-based company, which has lost more than $5 billion in market value since the worst crude crash in a generation began five years ago, approved a retention program that includes awards for five executives, with Russell Parker snagging $2.4 million. The payments are in lieu of any bonuses or long-term incentive awards and would be forfeited if any of the executives don’t stay around for about 13 months, according to a federal filing.

EP Energy, which named Parker as its CEO in November 2017, was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last month after trading below $1 since January. It now trades over the counter under a new ticker symbol. The company, which drills for crude in Utah, as well as the Eagle Ford and Permian plays in Texas, cut its first-quarter oil output by 13% from a year earlier.