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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10(c)

                                                               Form Rev. 9/24/97

                    EXECUTIVE RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT AGREEMENT

         THIS EXECUTIVE RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT AGREEMENT made effective as of
                  between Energen Corporation, a corporation (the "Company"), 
and                 (the "Executive").

                                    RECITALS

         The Executive has been employed by the Company and/or one or more of
its subsidiaries for a number of years, and as an employee has provided capable
executive leadership and management so as to enable the Company to operate
efficiently and effectively. The Company and the Executive desire to enter into
this Agreement to provide for payment to the Executive and the Executive's
eligible spouse certain deferred compensation in the form of a retirement
supplement under certain circumstances.

         NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises of the parties
and the parties agree as follows:

                             ARTICLE 1--DEFINITIONS


         1.1 Agreement: This document, including any attached schedules, and any
amendments to the same.

         1.2 Birthday: An anniversary of the Executive's birth regardless of
whether the Executive survives to such anniversary.

         1.3 Cause: Termination of employment by the Employer for "Cause" shall
mean TERMINATION based on any of the following:

             (a) The willful and continued failure by the Executive to
substantially perform such Executive's duties with the Employer (other than any
such failure resulting from such Executive's incapacity due to physical or
mental illness) after a written demand for substantial performance is delivered
to the Executive specifically identifying the manner in which such Executive has
not substantially performed such Executive's duties;

             (b) The engaging by the Executive in willful misconduct which is
demonstrably injurious to the Employer monetarily or otherwise; or

             (c) The conviction of the Executive of a felony.

         1.4 Code: The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as the same may from time
to time be amended.

         1.5 Committee: The Officers Review Committee of the Board of Directors
of the Company or any person or persons appointed by the Board of Directors to
administer the Agreement.


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         1.6 Compensation: The sum of A plus B. For purposes of this definition,
A shall equal the average aggregate monthly basic pay from all Employers for the
36 consecutive calendar months during which the Executive had the highest
average monthly basic pay out of the 60 calendar months immediately preceding
the Severance Date. For purposes of this definition, B shall equal C divided by
12, where C equals the average of the Executive's three highest annual cash
incentive awards under the Energen Annual Incentive Compensation Plan (or
successor annual cash incentive plan) for the five Company fiscal years
immediately preceding the earlier of (i) the fiscal year during which the
Severance Date occurs or (ii) the fiscal year during which the Executive's 61st
birthday occurs. Compensation shall be calculated without reduction for any
amounts deferred by the Executive pursuant to the Energen Corporation 1997
Deferred Compensation Plan and without increase for any amounts distributed to
the Executive under said Deferred Compensation Plan.

         1.7 Disability: Total and permanent disability which entitles the
Executive to a disability benefit under the disability program sponsored and/or
maintained by the Company or the Executive's Employer.

         1.8 Eligibility Date: The earliest date on which the Executive could be
entitled to receive the Executive's "primary insurance amount" or any portion
thereof under the federal Social Security Act as amended and in effect on the
Severance Date assuming that the Executive survives to such date.

         1.9 Employer: The Company and any and all subsidiaries of the Company
and their respective successors and assigns.

         1.10 Lump Sum Election: An election made by the Executive pursuant to
Section 2.5 to receive a lump sum payment in lieu of the Supplemental Retirement
Benefit.

         1.11 Normal Retirement Date: The first day of the month on or next
following the Executive's 60th Birthday; provided, however, if the Executive's
employment with an Employer continues beyond such date, the first day of the
month on or next following the date on which the Executive actually Retires
shall be Normal Retirement Date.

         1.12 Present Value: The present value of a benefit or benefits
determined using (i) the mortality assumptions which would be utilized to
determine actuarial equivalent benefits under the Retirement Plan for a
participant retiring on the Severance Date and (ii) either the RIP Discount Rate
or the Section 280G Discount Rate, as specified below. The "RIP Discount Rate"
is the discount rate which would be utilized to determine actuarial equivalent
benefits under the Retirement Plan for a participant retiring on the Severance
Date. The "RIP Discount Rate" shall be used to determine Present Value under
this Plan if the Severance Date results from a termination of the Executive's
employment due to death, Disability or Retirement; provided, that the RIP
Discount Rate shall not be used in connection with a Retirement if its use will
result in a parachute payment for purposes of Section 280G of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The "Section 280G Discount Rate"
is the discount rate used to determine the present value of payments under
Section 280G of the Code (or a successor provision of the Code), which rate is
in effect at the date payment is to be made. The 280G Rate shall be used to
determine Present Value under this Plan in all instances in which the RIP
Discount Rate is not applicable. If there is no Section 280G Discount Rate, then
the RIP Discount Rate shall be used. In determining whether use of the RIP
Discount 


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Rate will result in a parachute payment, the Committee may rely on the advice of
its tax and/or legal advisors and, upon the request of the Executive, will at
the Company's expense obtain an opinion as to such issue from a nationally
recognized firm of certified public accountants to be selected by the Committee
in its reasonable discretion (if it otherwise qualifies, the Committee may
select a firm that is then or has previously been engaged as the Company's
independent auditor).

         1.13 Retire or Retirement: Termination of employment (for whatever
reason including death) from all Employers after attaining age 60.

         1.14 Retirement Plan: The "Energen Corporation Retirement Income Plan,"
as the same may be amended and in effect from time to time hereafter.

         1.15 Retirement Plan Benefit: The monthly amount of retirement benefit
payable to the Executive from the Retirement Plan in the normal form, with no
election of an optional form of payment, calculated under the terms of the
Retirement Plan as in effect on the Severance Date and with the following
assumptions: (I) the Executive will accrue no Years of Service or partial Years
of Service under the Retirement Plan after the Severance Date; (ii) the first
payment to the Executive under the Retirement Plan will be made on the first day
of the month on or next following the later of the Executive's 60th Birthday or
the Severance Date; and (iii) the Executive will live to the payment date
described in the preceding clause (ii).

         1.16 Service: The number of the Executive's completed months of
continuous employment with the Employer ending on the Executive's Severance
Date.

         1.17 Service Factor: If the Executive has 240 or more months of Service
then the Service Factor shall equal one (l). At any time prior to the time when
the Executive has both earned a vested benefit under the Retirement Plan and
been continuously employed by an Employer for five years, the Service Factor
shall be 0. Except as otherwise provided in the foregoing sentences, the Service
Factor shall be a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of the
Executive's months of Service and the denominator of which shall be 240.

         1.18 Severance Date: The earlier of (I) the first date on which (for
whatever reason) the Executive is no longer employed by an Employer, or (ii) the
date of termination of this Agreement pursuant to Article 3.

         1.19 Social Security Benefit: The amount of the monthly benefit, as
estimated by the Committee in a consistent and uniform manner, which, under the
provisions of the federal Social Security Act as amended and in effect on the
Severance Date, such Executive is, or will be, entitled to receive as the
Executive's "primary insurance amount" or any portion thereof at the later of
the Eligibility Date or the Normal Retirement Date assuming (i) that the
Executive has or will make appropriate and timely application for such benefit,
(ii) that no event has occurred or will occur by reason of which the amount of
such benefit has been or will be delayed, suspended or forfeited in whole or in
part, (iii) that if the Severance Date occurs prior to the Executive's 60th
Birthday, the Executive will continue to receive, until the Executive's 60th
Birthday, earnings at the Compensation rate taxable as wages by the Social
Security Act, and (iv) that, after the later to occur of the Executive's 60th
birthday or Normal Retirement Date, the Executive will have no further earnings
taxable as wages by the Social Security Act.


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         1.20 Spouse: The spouse to whom the Executive was married at the date
of the Executive's death and throughout the twelve-month period preceding the
Executive's Severance Date.

         1.21 Supplemental Retirement Benefit: The benefit described in Section
2.2.

         1.22 Supplemental Spouse's Retirement Benefit: The benefit described in
Section 2.3.

         1.23 The masculine gender shall be deemed to include the feminine; the
feminine to include the masculine; the singular to include the plural; and the
plural to include the singular in each case where appropriate.

                             ARTICLE 2 -- BENEFITS

         2.1 Eligibility. The Executive and Spouse, as applicable, shall be
entitled to the benefits described in Sections 2.2 and 2.3; provided, that no
benefits shall be paid under this Agreement if (I) the Executive's employment by
an Employer is terminated for Cause, or (ii) the Severance Date occurs for any
reason before the Executive has both earned a vested benefit under the
Retirement Plan and been continuously employed by an Employer for five years.

         2.2 Supplemental Retirement Benefit. Subject to the other provisions of
this Agreement, commencing on the Executive's Normal Retirement Date the
Executive shall be entitled to receive a Supplemental Retirement Benefit, which
shall be payable monthly during the Executive's life with the last payment being
the payment made or due for the month in which the Executive dies. No benefit
shall be payable under this Section 2.2 if the Executive dies on or before the
Normal Retirement Date.

                  The Supplemental Retirement Benefit shall be an amount equal
to the product of "A" multiplied by the Service Factor. With respect to
Supplemental Retirement Benefit payments made for periods commencing prior to
the Eligibility Date, "A" shall equal the amount by which 60% of Compensation
exceeds the Retirement Plan Benefit. With respect to Supplemental Retirement
Benefit payments made for periods commencing on or after the Eligibility Date,
"A" shall equal the amount by which 60% of Compensation exceeds the sum of the
Retirement Plan Benefit plus the Social Security Benefit.

                  If the Executive terminates employment due to Disability, (I)
the period that the Executive receives disability benefits from a disability
program sponsored or maintained by an Employer shall be treated as Service, and
(ii) the Supplemental Retirement Benefit shall not commence, and the Executive
shall not be deemed to have had a Severance Date, while the Executive is
receiving disability benefits payable from a disability program sponsored or
maintained by an Employer. For purposes of this Section 2.2, reclassification
under the Retirement Plan from Disability Retirement to Retirement shall
constitute cessation of disability benefits.


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         2.3 Supplemental Spouse's Retirement Benefit.

                (a) Subject to the other provisions of this Agreement, following
the Executive's death the surviving Spouse shall be entitled to a Supplemental
Spouse's Retirement Benefit, which shall be payable monthly commencing on the
later of (i) the first day of the month following the month of the Executive's
death or (ii) the first day of the month of the Executive's 55th Birthday, and
continuing until the Spouse's death. The Supplemental Spouse's Retirement
Benefit shall be an amount equal to 50% of the monthly Supplemental Retirement
Benefit which the Executive would have been entitled to receive had death not
occurred (based on Service through the Severance Date and adjusting on the
Eligibility Date); provided that if the Executive's death occurs after the
Severance Date, for each of the first three months following the Executive's
death the Supplemental Spouse's Retirement Benefit shall be 100% of such amount.

             (b) If the Executive shall die while a Lump Sum Election is in
effect and while the Executive is still employed by the Employer, the surviving
Spouse shall receive in lieu of the benefit described in Section 2.3(a) above, a
lump sum payment equal to one-half of the Present Value of the Supplemental
Retirement Benefit which the Executive would have been entitled to receive based
on Service through the Severance Date if the Executive had survived to the
Normal Retirement Date. Such benefit shall be paid as promptly as practicable
after the Executive's death and, in all events, within forty-five (45) days
after the Executive's death. For purposes of this Section 2.3(b), the
determination of whether a Spouse has survived the Executive shall be made in
accordance with the provisions of Section 43-8-43 of the Code of Alabama of
1975, as the same may from time to time be amended (as of the date of this
Agreement, Section 43-8-43 generally treats a person as having predeceased a
decedent unless the person survives the decedent by five days).

             (c) If the Executive shall die after the Severance Date, while a
Lump Sum Election is in effect, and prior to receipt of the lump sum payment,
the lump sum benefit shall be payable to the Executive's estate and no
Supplemental Spouse's Retirement Benefit shall be payable to the surviving
Spouse, if any.

             (d) If the Executive dies after payment of a lump sum pursuant to
Section 2.5, no Supplemental Spouse's Retirement Benefit shall be payable to the
Executive's surviving Spouse, if any.

             (e) No benefit shall be payable following the Executive's death
except as provided in this Section 2.3.

         2.4 Spouse's Age. If a Spouse who is entitled to a benefit under this
Article 2 is more than ten (10) years younger than the Executive, any benefit
payable to the Spouse under Section 2.3(a) (but not 2.3(b)) shall be reduced by
1/20 for each full year of age difference more than ten (10).

         2.5 Payment Elections.

                  (a) By checking the appropriate box on the signature page of 
this Agreement, the Executive may elect to receive, in lieu of the Supplemental
Retirement Benefit to which the Executive will otherwise become entitled under
Section 2.2 hereof, a lump sum payment 


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that is the Present Value, as of the date payment is made, of such Supplemental
Retirement Benefit. Such payment shall be made as promptly as practicable after
the Executive's Severance Date and, in all events, within forty-five (45) days
after such Severance Date.

                  (b) By executing and filing with the Company a form 
substantially identical to Exhibit I hereof, or such other form as the Company
may prescribe or approve, the Executive may revoke an election made pursuant to
paragraph (a) above or may make any election which could be made pursuant to
such paragraph, but any such election or revocation of an election shall not
become effective if the Executive's Severance Date occurs within one year from
the date such revocation or election is made.

         2.6 Leave of Absence. In the event the Executive is granted a leave of
absence, the Executive's employment shall be deemed to continue and shall be
treated as Service, during the period of such leave of absence unless
specifically determined to the contrary by the Committee.


               ARTICLE 3 - - AMENDMENT OR TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT

         3.1 Subject to Section 3.2 below, the Company reserves the right to
terminate this Agreement at any time by action of its Board of Directors or the
Committee, and the continuance of this Agreement is not guaranteed to the
Executive.

         3.2 No termination of this Agreement shall operate to reduce, cancel or
void the Company's obligation to pay benefits provided for under this Agreement
and accrued prior to the Severance Date.

         3.3 This Agreement may be amended by written instrument executed by the
Executive and by an officer of the Company thereunto duly authorized by the
Board of Directors of the Company.


                           ARTICLE 4 - - MISCELLANEOUS

         4.1 This Agreement shall under no circumstances be deemed to have any
effect upon the terms or conditions of employment of the Executive. The
establishment and maintenance of this Agreement shall not be construed as
creating or modifying any contract between an Employer and the Executive nor is
it in lieu of any other benefits. This Agreement shall under no circumstances be
deemed to constitute a contract of insurance.

         4.2 This Agreement shall not give the Executive the right to be
retained in the employ of an Employer or any right or interest hereunder other
than as specifically provided herein.

         4.3 Benefits under this Agreement shall not be subject in any manner to
anticipation, alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge or encumbrance by
the Executive or the Spouse and any attempt to so transfer or encumber the
benefits shall be null and void. Benefits under this Agreement shall not be
subject to or liable for the debts, contracts, liabilities, engagements or torts


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of the Executive or of the Spouse nor may the same be subject to attachment or
seizure by any creditor of the Executive or the Executive's spouse under any
circumstances.

         4.4 In the event of the Executive's Retirement, Disability or death,
the Executive or the Executive's Spouse, as the case may be, should notify the
Committee promptly, and the Committee will then provide a Claimant's statement
form for completion which should be returned to the Committee together with
evidence of Disability or with an official death certificate, if applicable. In
the event that any claim hereunder is denied, the Committee will provide
adequate notice in writing to the Executive or Spouse, setting forth the
specific reasons for such denial and, in addition, the Committee will afford a
reasonable opportunity for a full and fair review of those reasons.

                  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to
be executed by its duly authorized officer and the Executive has hereunto set
his/her hand and seal all as of the day and year first above written.

                                      ENERGEN CORPORATION


                                      By:    
                                         --------------------------------------
                                      Its:   
                                          -------------------------------------


                                      EXECUTIVE


                                      -----------------------------------------



                                    ELECTION

         / /      I hereby elect to have my benefit paid as provided in
                  Section 2.2 of this Agreement.

         / /      Pursuant to Section 2.5 of this Agreement, I hereby elect 
                  to have my benefit paid in a lump sum.


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                                    EXHIBIT I

                                    ELECTION
                                   PURSUANT TO
                    EXECUTIVE RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT AGREEMENT


                  I hereby revoke any and all elections heretofore made by me
pursuant to the terms of that certain Executive Retirement Supplement Agreement
entered into by and between Energen Corporation and myself dated as of         ,
and elect to have my benefit

         / /      paid as provided in Section 2.2 of such Agreement.

         / /      paid in a lump sum pursuant to Section 2.5 of such Agreement.

                  I understand that the foregoing election (and revocation, if
applicable), will not become effective if my Severance Date occurs within
one-year from the date of acceptance indicated below.


                                      -----------------------------------------
                                                      EXECUTIVE

                                      -----------------------------------------


                                      Accepted by:
                                      ENERGEN CORPORATION


                                      -----------------------------------------
                                      By:
                                         --------------------------------------
                                      Its:
                                          -------------------------------------
                                      Date:
                                           ------------------------------------


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