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BP replaces CEO
GLOBAL
BP has confirmed reports that Bob Dudley will next year end a decade-long tenure as its chief executive, the UK major said on October 4. He will be replaced by BP’s current head of upstream operations, Bernard Looney. Dudley, now aged 64, will step down after BP delivers its 2019 financial results on February 4, 2020, and will retire on March 31.
“Bob has dedicated his whole career to the service of this industry. He was appointed chief executive at probably the most challenging time in BP’s history,” BP chairman Helge Lund said in a statement. “During his tenure he has led the recovery from the Deepwater Horizon acci- dent, rebuilt BP as a stronger, safer company and helped it re-earn its position as one of the leaders of the energy sector. This company – and indeed the whole industry – owes him a debt of gratitude.”
Dudley, BP’s first American-born CEO, took the helm within months of the April 2010 Deep- water Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest marine oil spill in history. Since the incident BP has had to pay out more than $60bn in compensation and other related costs, divesting large swathes of its oil empire to cover these expenses.
ThishasnotbeentheonlychallengeDudley has had to meet. Like many of its peers, BP has also contended with a prolonged market down- turn since the 2014 oil price crash. The impact of low prices and continuing costs from Deepwater Horizon culminated in the company booking a
record annual loss of $6.5bn in 2016.
The producer is now faring considerably
better, reporting net profits of $4.76bn in the first half of 2019, although this was down on the $5.27bn it achieved a year earlier. It has also expanded production in recent years, raising this to the current level of 2.6mn barrels of oil equiv- alent per day (boepd).
Dudley’s successor Looney has been with the company since 1991 and has served as upstream CEO since 2016. The 49-year-old will receive an annual salary of GBP1.3mn ($1.6mn), along with bonuses and a pension allowance of 15% of his salary. Dudley earned $14.7mn in sal- ary, bonuses and pension in 2018, down from $15.1mn during the previous year.
The changeover comes at a time when BP and other leading oil companies are coming under mounting pressure from shareholders to reduce their carbon emissions. Several large investors have sold shares in fossil fuel firms over their failure to address climate change, including UK-based asset manager Sarasin & Partners, which offloaded a 20% stake in Royal Dutch Shell in July. Oil companies have also had sponsorship deals cancelled, with the UK Royal Shakespeare Company becoming the latest ben- eficiarytodeclinetoacceptfundingfromBP.
“As the company charts its course through the energy transition this is a logical time for a change,” Lund said, commenting on Looney’s appointment. “Bernard has all the right qualities to lead us through this transformational era.”™
Bob Dudley will retire next year.
Dudley, BP’s first American- born CEO, took the helm within months of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
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