Petroleum executive and oil prospector Robert O. Anderson, who built a New Mexico refinery stake into one of the largest U.S. oil companies, has died.

Anderson, for whom the University of New Mexico named its business school, died at age 90 at his home in Roswell, N.M., The Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reported.

A Chicago transplant, he went to Artesia, in eastern New Mexico, in 1941 to get a start in the oil business and eventually built a business that became Atlantic Richfield Co., the nation's sixth-largest oil company, the newspaper said.

He was Arco's chief executive officer for 17 years and board chairman for 21 years before retiring in 1985. During his tenure Arco discovered the largest oil field in North America, at Prudhoe Bay, on Alaska's North Slope, in 1968, and oversaw the 1974-1977 Trans-Alaska Pipeline System project, the newspaper said.

Although oil and ranching were his loves, he also was an art collector and philanthropist.

He founded the International Institute for Environment and Development in London and served for more than 20 years on the board of Washington's Aspen Institute.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Anderson would be remembered "for his impeccable reputation in the oil industry and his dedication to civic and environmental issues."

Anderson is survived by his wife, Barbara, seven children, 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 05 December 2007   

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