Joe B. Foster

In addition to his tenures at Newfield and Tenneco, Joe Foster's corporate directorships include Baker Hughes, Inc., McDermott International, Inc., New Jersey Resources Corporation, Valero Energy, Dual Drilling, and Targa Resources, Inc. From February through August 2000, Foster served as interim chairman, president and chief executive officer of Baker Hughes Incorporated, while the company searched for a new chief executive. In 2001–2002, Foster served as the Independent Trustee for a large portion of Texaco's refining and marketing assets which were required to be divested in the course of the Chevron-Texaco merger.

Joe B. Foster is the founder of Newfield Exploration Company, a Houston-based oil and gas exploration company. He served as chief executive officer until his retirement from active management in January 2000, and remained as chairman of its board until May 2005. Foster founded Newfield in 1989 as a private start-up with $9 million of equity capital provided by himself, other employees, a group of Houston investors, and University of Texas Endowment funds. It became a public company in 1993, and its recent market value was about $5 billion.

Foster was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" in Houston's Energy Sector in 1994 and an "All American Wildcatter" in 1995. In 2004, he was named a Gulf of Mexico "Industry Pioneer" by the Offshore Energy Center in Galveston, Texas, and has been named the Houston World Affairs Council's 2006 Jones International Citizen of the Year.

Foster was born in Arp, Texas and attended Texas A&M University. He graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in general business. In May 1997, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Texas A&M University. Foster served as Chairman of the National Petroleum Council, an industry advisory body to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, and in 1995–1996 served as Chairman of the Offshore Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. He was a Director of Memorial Hermann Hospital System and has served as Chairman of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Greater Houston YMCA, and the Texas A&M Development Foundation. He also served on the Boards of Baker Hughes Incorporated and New Jersey Resources Corporation. Foster was chairman and a senior advisor at Tudor, Pickering, and Holt 2008–2016.

Foster was chairman of Tenneco Oil Company and executive vice president and director of its parent, Tenneco Inc. He began with Tenneco as a Junior Petroleum Engineer in Oklahoma City in 1957. After serving in several engineering positions in Lafayette, Louisiana while Tenneco was establishing its Gulf of Mexico operations, he became Chief of Planning and Economic Analysis for Tenneco Oil Exploration and Production in Houston in 1968. He rose through the ranks of Tenneco Oil becoming its president in 1978. In 1981, he was named to the Board of Directors of Tenneco Inc. and assumed corporate level responsibility for all of Tenneco Inc.’s upstream, downstream, and gas pipeline businesses. He left Tenneco when its board elected to divest Tenneco Oil in 1988.

Joe B. Foster (July 25, 1934 - May 9, 2020) is an American businessman, oilman and philanthropist from Texas. From 1989 to 2005, Foster was Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Newfield Exploration Company, headquartered in Houston. Previously, Foster was Chairman of Tenneco Oil Company and Executive Vice President and director of its parent, Tenneco Inc. He was with Tenneco for 31 years and also served as Chairman of the Tenneco Gas Pipeline Group.