LONDON (Reuters) – British Petroleum (BP) Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney resigned on Tuesday with immediate effect after less than four years in the oil major’s top job for failing to fully disclose details of past personal relationships with colleagues, the company said. .
The company said CFO Murray Auchincloss will take over as CEO on an interim basis.
Looney, 53, became CEO in February 2020 with a pledge to reinvent the 114-year-old company, setting out ambitious plans for the British energy giant to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, and invest billions in renewable and low-carbon energy. .
Looney’s sudden resignation came after allegations of personal relationships with colleagues at the company emerged recently, prompting the company to launch an investigation.
This followed similar allegations investigated by the board in May 2022. During that review, Looney disclosed “a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO.”
No violations of the company’s code of conduct were found at that time, and the board received assurances from Looney “concerning the disclosure of past personal relationships, as well as his future conduct.”
Looney told BP’s board of directors on Tuesday that he had not fully disclosed details of all relationships, which led to his resignation.
BP shares in London rose 1% before the Financial Times announced Looney’s resignation. Its New York-listed shares fell 1.5% to intraday lows after the news.
Reinventing BP
Auchincloss, 52, became CFO in July 2020 and Looney has helped guide the company through some of the most turbulent years in recent history, from COVID-19 to the rapid exit from Russia after last year’s invasion of Ukraine, the energy price shock, and the cost of living crisis. Globalism.
Bernard Looney, CEO of BP, speaks during a session at the 5th Egypt Petroleum Exhibition (EGYPS 2022) in the Egyptian capital Cairo, Egypt, on February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File photo Obtaining licensing rights
Auchincloss, a Canadian citizen, began his career as a financial analyst at Amoco, before the company was acquired by BP in 1998. He has since held several positions including CFO for BP’s North American gas business.
Earlier this year, BP scaled back its plans to cut oil and gas production by 2030, to 25% of 2019 levels from 40% previously – still the most radical reduction in oil and gas production this decade among oil majors.
BP is struggling to convince investors of its ability to achieve competitive returns from its non-oil business.
Over the past three years, the performance of BP shares has been lower than the performance of its European competitor, Shell, as well as its American counterparts, Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
After posting a record profit of $28 billion for 2022, BP’s second-quarter earnings fell 70% from a year earlier to $2.6 billion but still allowed the oil major to increase its dividend by 10%.
It is not clear whether Looney’s departure will lead to a change in strategy.
“Depending on the new CEO, BP could theoretically push back on its transition plans further,” Morningstar analysts said in a note.
“But if the board likes the current trend, regardless of how the stock price is lagging, it will likely appoint someone who will keep BP on the same path.”
Looney’s 2022 pay package more than doubled to about $12 million on the back of bumper profits amid rising energy prices, while BP’s emissions were broadly unchanged from the previous year.
BP said that “no decisions have yet been made regarding any wage payments” to Looney.
Looney replaces Bob Dudley, who led BP in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010.
(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru and Shadia Nasrallah in London – Preparing by Muhammad for the Arabic Bulletin – Preparing by Muhammad Al-Yamani for the Arabic Bulletin) Editing by Krishna Chandra Illuri and Margarita Choi
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