- By Natalie Sherman
- Business reporter, BBC News
Image supply, Getty Images
The head of oil large BP has resigned as chief government amid a evaluation of his private relationships with colleagues.
In a shock late night announcement, the agency mentioned Bernard Looney, who had led the corporate since 2020, was stepping down with fast impact.
BP mentioned it had just lately began an investigation into alleged relationships Mr Looney had with colleagues, the second in two years.
The agency mentioned he had admitted he was not “fully transparent” initially.
“The company has strong values and the board expects everyone at the company to behave in accordance with those values,” a spokesman mentioned.
“All leaders in particular are expected to act as role models and to exercise good judgement in a way that earns the trust of others.”
Nick Butler, a former head of technique at BP, instructed the BBC’s Today programme that there was “shock” about Mr Looney’s exit.
“BP is a company where the leadership is crucial and Bernard provided a lot of that. We’ll have to see if his successor can achieve even more than he did,” he added.
The firm’s shareholders will now be expecting who’s appointed as BP’s subsequent chief government, Sophie Lund-Yates from funding agency Hargreaves Lansdown mentioned in a notice.
“A clear path forward needs to be forged sooner rather than later to limit negative sentiment,” she mentioned.
Born in Ireland and raised on a farm, Mr Looney had spent his profession at BP, which he joined in 1991 as a drilling engineer. He grew to become a member of its government crew in 2010.
Image supply, Getty Images
Bernard Looney joined BP’s government crew in 2010
He was beforehand head of oil and fuel manufacturing earlier than taking over as chief government from Bob Dudley.
Mr Looney introduced a extra approachable picture as a chief government, taking to Instagram when he took the helm to submit footage of smiling staff at one of many firm’s operations in Germany, and mentioned he needed to make use of the platform to speak “openly” about individuals’s considerations concerning the oil and fuel trade.
He steered the agency by way of a tumultuous interval, together with his tenure coinciding with pandemic lockdowns, when demand for oil and fuel dropped sharply. Just months into his chief government position, he instructed workers BP deliberate to chop 10,000 jobs because of the pandemic.
In 2022 the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine despatched power costs hovering, and prompted the agency to depart Russia after strain from the UK authorities.
Mr Looney had set out a plan to make the power large internet zero by 2050 however had extra just lately come below fireplace from environmental teams for watering down an preliminary goal.
BP mentioned it had not made any selections associated to severance pay for Mr Looney. He acquired greater than £10m in pay and bonuses final 12 months – greater than 170 instances as a lot as a median BP worker – as hovering oil costs pushed the agency’s earnings to a document.
Chief monetary officer Murray Auchincloss will act as chief government on an interim foundation.
Mr Auchincloss has been a central a part of the administration crew because the agency continues to work in the direction of internet zero though there is no such thing as a assure that he’ll get the job as a everlasting position.
Mr Looney’s departure comes as a sequence of excessive profile dismissals of executives within the UK has put a highlight on government private behaviour.
Meanwhile, Crispin Odey was compelled to step down from the hedge fund he based in June after experiences of sexual harassment allegations by 13 ladies. He has denied the claims.
BP mentioned it had launched a evaluation of Mr Looney’s relationships with colleagues following an nameless tip-off in 2022.
At the time, the corporate mentioned Mr Looney disclosed “a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO” and it discovered no breach of firm conduct.
Mr Looney gave assurances then about disclosing the previous relationships, in addition to his future behaviour.
But the board mentioned it had acquired comparable allegations “recently”, prompting one other evaluation.
“Mr Looney has today informed the company that he now accepts that he was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures,” BP mentioned. “He did not provide details of all relationships and accepts he was obligated to make more complete disclosure.”