NATCHEZ — Callon Petroleum announced recently that Steven B. Hinchman has been confirmed as executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer, and begins his service with the company recently.

Prior to joining the company, Hinchman, 50, was executive vice president of technology and services for Marathon Oil Corporation, a position he had since April 2008, and served as a member of Marathon’s executive committee, a position he had since October 2000.

He originally joined Marathon in 1980 as a field engineer and subsequently had a number of technical, staff and managerial positions of increasing responsibility in their domestic and international exploration and production organizations.

In addition to his annual salary and potential annual cash bonus incentive, as inducement for employment, the company granted awards to Hinchman of 500,000 stock options for the purchase of company common stock at a price of $2.755 per share and vesting over three equal increments based upon the future trading price of the company’s common stock; 100,000 shares of time-based restricted common stock with cliff vesting on June 1, 2013; and 100,000 shares of restricted common stock which may vest between 0 percent and 150 percent depending on the company’s performance as compared to peer companies.