Marathon Petroleum Corp. and its master limited partnership have tapped Molly Benson to replace longtime top lawyer Suzanne Gagle when she retires.

The Findlay, Ohio-based company, which refines, markets, and transports oil, and its affiliate MPLX LP disclosed in tandem Oct. 30 securities filings that Gagle will step down and be succeeded by Benson in early January 2024.

Neither lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment about the legal leadership transition, which comes at a time when the US energy market is being transformed by mega-mergers.

Benson, who serves as corporate secretary and chief securities, governance, and compliance officer for Marathon Petroleum, has spent more than 24 years working for the largest US oil refiner and its predecessors. Gagle began working for the company in 1992 and was named general counsel in 2016.

Marathon Petroleum has undertaken two large transactions in the past five years. In 2021, the company turned to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to advise on the $21 billion sale of its Speedway gas station business to Japan’s Seven & I Holdings Co., the parent company of retail chain 7-Eleven.

Jones Day counseled Marathon Petroleum in 2018 on its $23 billion acquisition of Andeavor, the successor to rival oil refiner Tesoro Corp. The union between San Antonio-based Andeavor and Marathon Petroleum created a combined pipeline giant that is major player in US oil prices.

Marathon Petroleum disclosed in its most recent proxy statement that Gagle received nearly $4.6 million in total compensation during fiscal 2022, down slightly from the year prior. In addition to her role as general counsel, Gagle is also senior vice president of government affairs for the company.

Gagle currently owns almost $7 million in Marathon Petroleum stock and nearly $2.5 million in MPLX shares, according to Bloomberg data.

Marathon Petroleum’s board includes former Andeavor legal chief Kim K.W. Rucker, former Hogan Lovells partner Susan Tomasky, and former U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, who has worked at Cozen O’Connor and McGuireWoods.

The company is a separate entity from Marathon Oil Corp., a Houston-based oil exploration outfit now attracting takeover interest. Marathon Oil, which named a new legal chief two years ago, spun off Marathon Petroleum in 2011.