Richard Muncrief, a petroleum engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry, has been appointed president and chief executive officer of WPX Energy, an exploration and production company with operations in Western Colorado.

“I expect WPX to succeed, and I’m eager to become part of the company,” Muncrief said. “We have much to leverage from WPX’s assets and the contributions of those who helped forge the company into a leading independent producer.”

Muncrief brings to his position experience in a range of positions with a variety of companies, most recently as senior vice president of operations and resources at Continental Resources. During his nearly five-year tenure with Continental, Muncrief helped the company increase reserves, production and share price by more than four-fold.

“Rick has an accomplished record of sizing things up and driving plans that produce exceptional results, profitable growth and lower costs,” said William Lowrie, chairman of of WPX.

Headquartered in Oklahoma, WPX was formed in 2011 as a separate exploration and production unit of Williams.