5/9/02

ENERGEN EXEC NAMED 2002 DISTINGUISHED AU BUSINESS ALUMNUS

AUBURN - William Michael Warren Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Birmingham-based Energen Corporation, has been named the 2002 Distinguished Alumnus of the Auburn University College of Business.

The award, presented annually, recognizes an alumnus who has made significant contributions to business and industry as well as to AU. It is the highest honor granted by the college.

Warren, who holds a bachelor's degree from AU and a J.D. from Duke University, was recognized earlier at the College of Business' Annual Honors Banquet.

Energen Corporation is a diversified energy holding company engaged in oil and gas acquisitions and exploitation and in natural gas distribution. Its primary subsidiaries include Energen Resources Corporation and Alabama Gas Corporation. In the past five years, Energen has more than doubled in size and earnings have increased by 250 percent.

Since joining the company in 1983, Warren has held a number of increasingly important positions including senior vice president and general counsel and president of Alagasco; chief operating officer of Energen Corporation; and president and CEO of Alagasco and Energen Resources.

He became CEO of Energen in February 1997, and has been chairman, president and CEO of Energen Corporation since January 1998.

Warren is chairman of the American Gas Association and is a member of the board of directors of the Gas Technology Institute and the National Petroleum Council. He is on the Board of Trustees of Birmingham-Southern College and is former chairman of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's President's Council. In addition, Warren is serving a one-year term as chair of the Business Council of Alabama.

Wayne Alderman, Torchmark Professor and former dean of the AU College of Business, was the college's 2001 Distinguished Alumnus.

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CONTACT: John Jahera, interim dean, AU College of Business, 334/844-4030; or Susan Delenne, Energen Corporation, 205/326-1612.