Murphy USA Creates COO Role, Names New CFO

Mindy West speaks at a Little Rock Rotary Club event in May 2023 (Lara Farrar)

Murphy USA Inc. of El Dorado announced that CFO Mindy West has been appointed as chief operations officer, a new position at the fuel and convenience store chain operator.

West had been CFO since Murphy USA was spun off from Murphy Oil Corp. in 2013. She assumed responsibilities for all fuels activities in 2018.

In her new role, West will have responsibility for both the Murphy USA and QuickChek brands, including store operations, merchandise, marketing and fuels. She’ll be responsible for driving strategic initiatives and enhancing the performance and profitability of the entire business, including “synergistic activities” across the brands, the company said in a news release.

“Today’s changes reflect our continued commitment to deliver profitable growth, disciplined capital allocation, and effective leadership development and succession planning,” CEO Andrew Clyde said.

The company hired Galagher Jeff as West’s successor. He joins Murphy USA from Dollar Tree, where he was treasurer and chief transformation officer.

Before working at Dollar Tree, Jeff was senior vice president of finance and head of strategy transformation at Advanced Auto Parts. He also spent 11 years at Walmart in roles including CFO of Walmart.com and vice president of U.S. merchandising strategy, pricing and assortment and business analytics.

Murphy USA promoted Chris Click from senior vice president of strategy and development to executive vice president of strategy, growth and innovation. In his new role, Click will take on additional responsibility for asset development and digital transformation.

Murphy USA reported a $150 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 27.4% from the same quarter the previous year.  The company said net income rose due primarily to a higher total fuel contribution, higher overall merchandise contribution, and lower general and administrative expenses, which were offset partially by increases in the cost of store operations.

For the full year, net income was $556.8 million, down 17.3%.