Bill Barrett CEO steps down

DENVER (AP) -- Bill Barrett Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Fred Barrett is stepping down effective immediately, and Chief Operating Officer R. Scot Woodall has been named the interim CEO.

The Denver-based oil and natural gas exploration company said Monday that Jim W. Mogg of the board of directors has been elected as non-executive chairman of the board, effectively immediately.

Barrett, who is in his early 50s, became the CEO and chairman of Bill Barrett Corp. in March 2006 but had been a director since the company's inception in 2002. He said in a statement released by the company that this is the right time to focus his energy and expertise on other activities and on his family.