Hi sharky and Brian;

It is interesting that you have both posted today concerning the stock options that Connacher management has been awarded by Connacher's Board of Directors at the present time and in the past. The following article which appeared on May 15th, in the Calgary Herald by Dan Healing is relevant to this discussion as it exposes the "culture" of excessive greed which exists within the oil industry, and other large industrial and media industries. The article reveals the excessive wealth which is awarded to the management of oil and gas companies, at the expense of the shareholders in terms of excessive salaries, excessive stock options, and excessive bonuses. The justification for this plunder is that when a company's oil or gas production grows, and when huge projects are successfully completed or expanded, that management is responsible for improving the company's value for the common shareholders, and therefore the shareholder's should pay a bounty to management beyond their huge salaries. It's not like they aren't already getting an excessive salary to begin with, which is most likely larger than what most of their common shareholders are rewarded with for just doing their jobs. What I find interesting is that the management of Connacher is no way getting anywhere near what the other energy company CEO's and Presidents mentioned in this article are getting.

The only consolation that I get from reading this article is that the various levels of government will tax the hell out of these captains of industry and separate them from a large part of this money. It is obvious to anyone reading this article that this "culture" of indifference to the common shareholder must change. This "culture" of opulence enjoyed in the oil industry comes from the era of "robber barons" from the past , when the railroads were being built in North America. The energy industry should reject stock options and bonuses as they don't belong in a modern, egalitarian society.

CNRL execs reap bonus benefits of mega oilsands project's completion

Energy sector continues to dominate top list; only five top execs from '08 stayed in top ten in '09

By Dan Healing, Calgary Herald May 15, 2010

CALGARY - The completion of a $10-billion oilsands project ignited a gusher of bonuses at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., vaulting three new executives into Calgary’s top 10 paid business leaders in 2009.

A Herald survey of executive compensation of the Calgary 55 large publicly traded companies shows only five of the top 10 of 2008 managed to hang on to their best-paid perches — and three of those people worked for cable giant Shaw Communications.

Energy companies dominated the list again this year, with No. 1 earner unchanged. Chief executive Edward Sampson of Niko Resources earned $12.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2009, a sum that includes the assigned value of his stock options, base salary of $650,000 and bonus of $269,100.

In 2008, Sampson earned $14 million, with a base salary of $608,000.

Using disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities regulators, the Herald survey examined executive compensation of the biggest publicly traded companies based in the city — as posted in the Calgary 55 stock listing index — for the fiscal year ending in 2009.

Slightly bigger salaries and smaller bonuses was a oft-repeated pattern in this year’s survey. Overall, the total compensation of the top 10 executives rose by $6 million to $107 million.

New to the list are three executives with Canadian Natural, the largest independent oil and gas producer.

Chairman Allan Markin earned total compensation of $10.6 million, while president Steve Laut took in $10 million and vice-chairman Murray Edwards received $9.5 million to place sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively, on the list.

(Edwards also earned $2.3 million as chairman of Ensign Energy Services, another Calgary 55 company.)

Canadian Natural said it met or exceeded most of its targets, and realized first oil production from its Horizon oilsands project, triggering bigger executive payouts.

“As a result...total cash and incentive bonuses were generally higher than levels paid in the prior year,” the company said in its disclosure document.

The three executives’ total earnings were more than double — 124 per cent higher — in 2009 than a year earlier. Laut earned a salary of $550,000 but Markin and Edwards were compensated entirely through stock options, incentives and bonuses.

Meanwhile, Nexen’s newly minted chief executive Marvin Romanow rocketed into fourth place with total compensation of $11 million.

He was promoted from chief financial officer in January 2009 and his salary rose from $601,250 to $1.1 million. Retired Nexen CEO Charlie Fischer received a total of $6.2 million in 2008.

Incentives, pension value and other compensation boosted Romanow’s overall compensation. Progress on another oilsands project — the Nexen-operated Long Lake partnership — was cited for part of his performance pay in the disclosure document.

Four Shaw executives made the top 10, with president Peter Bissonnette’s $11.7 million barely edging his boss, chief executive Jim Shaw’s $11.6 million. Jim Shaw’s $2.5 million salary, increased by 25 per cent last year, was once again the highest in the survey.

Senior vice-president of operations Bradley Shaw was new to the top 10, ranked fifth with earnings of $10.8 million. Founder and chairman JR Shaw was 10th at $9.1 million.

The top five executives at Shaw brought in a total of about $49 million, a figure defended by Jim Shaw after the company’s annual meeting in January.

“We go out and we have a survey that goes right across the board,” he told reporters, adding the comparisons include about 50 companies in communications and other industries.

“Then what we do is portray that back and say how much have we gained for shareholders? And so what level is the right level?”

“And would that change if there was a change and I wasn’t CEO? No, the board went through and we’re totally fine, we’re in the right quartile...

This is something that gets reviewed, have no doubt.”

Oilsands giant Suncor CEO Rick George — whose company absorbed Petro-Canada last year in a $20-billion merger — moved up two spots to No. 8 as his total compensation package of $10 million, a jump of 33 per cent.

Suncor spokeswoman Sneh Seetal said George actually took a pay cut when a $2.8-million increase for future pension costs is excluded.

But she added the company’s compensation committee rated George’s performance in 2009 as “exceptional.”

Sliding off the list in 2009 was Ron Brenneman, former CEO of Petro-Canada. He earned $7.5 million as an executive vice-chair of Suncor, 21 per cent less than in 2008 when he came in seventh place.

Also gone was Randy Eresman, chief executive of Encana Corp., who placed third last year. Following the spin off of the company’s oilsands assets into Cenovus Energy, Eresman earned just under $7 million, nearly one-third less than in 2008.

Mike Wilson, head of fertilizer giant Agrium, was fifth last year but his earnings fell 20 per cent to $7.3 million in 2009.

Similarly, John Manzoni of Talisman Energy lost his position at eighth, earning $8.7 million in 2009.

Hal Kvisle, who will retire from the helm of TransCanada Corp. next month, earned $7.7 million, down about 10 per cent from his ninth place position in 2008.

dhealing@theherald.canwest.com

Top 10 list

1. Edward Sampson, Niko Resources, $12,949,343.

2. Peter Bissonnette, Shaw Communications, $11,746,223

3. Jim Shaw, Shaw Communications, $11,557,119

4. Marvin Romanow, Nexen, $11,010,053

5. Bradley Shaw, Shaw Communications, $10,846,491

6. Allan Markin, Canadian Natural, $10,578,701

7. Steve Laut, Canadian Natural, $10,009,651

8. Rick George, Suncor Energy, $9,982,243

9. Murray Edwards, Canadian Natural, $9,467,000

10. JR Shaw, Shaw Communications, $9,113,676

FOOTNOTES:

All of the information related to compensation paid to Calgary 55 executives comes from documents posted by the companies and filed online with Canadian regulators.

Total compensation is composed of the executives’ base salary, cash bonuses, gifts, stock option grants, future pension liabilities and other cash and non-cash rewards.

The information is related to the companies’ calendar year 2009 with the exception of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, for Niko Resources, the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2009, for Shaw Communications and the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2010, for Forzani Group.

The share price and net income numbers are calculated on the same year as the executives’ compensation.

All funds are Canadian. Executives at Agrium were paid in U.S. funds and the numbers converted using the average annual ratio for the fiscal year as published by Bloomberg.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information presented here is accurate.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy-resources/CNRL+execs+reap+bonus+benefits+mega+oilsands+project+completion/3029248/story.html

Cheers; Scott