John E. Swearingen | Oil executive, 89

John E. Swearingen, 89, who led Standard Oil Co. of Indiana to become the sixth-largest U.S. company, died Friday.

Mr. Swearingen died of pneumonia at Brookwood Medical Center, Birmingham, Ala., according to his wife, Bonnie Bolding Swearingen. She said he also suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He was at the helm of the American Petroleum Institute in the 1970s in the role of industry spokesman during the energy crisis.

Mr. Swearingen joined Standard Oil when he was 20 years old and rose through the ranks to become its chairman, retiring in 1983. During the 44-year tenure of Mr. Swearingen, the company's profits rose from $84 million to $1.8 billion, according to his 2004 memoir, Think Ahead. After he left, he took over the troubled Continental Illinois Bank, Chicago, where he served until 1989. - Associated Press