bp CEO Looney resigns following conduct review

Bernard Looney has resigned from his role as chief executive officer of bp plc with immediate effect, the company said in an afternoon release Sept. 12.

Murray Auchincloss, the company’s chief financial officer, will act as chief executive on an interim basis. Auchincloss has served in the role of chief financial officer since July 2020 (OGJ Online, Jan. 21, 2020). 

According to the operator, in May 2022, “the board received and reviewed allegations, with the support of external legal counsel, relating to Mr Looney’s conduct in respect of personal relationships with company colleagues” from an anonymous source.

During that review, bp said, Looney “disclosed a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming [chief executive officer]. No breach of the company’s code of conduct was found.”

However, further allegations of a similar nature were revealed recently and an investigation is ongoing, bp said. Looney “accepts that he was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures” and “accepts he was obligated to make more complete disclosure," bp continued.

Decisions have not yet been made regarding any remuneration payments to be made to Looney, who was named group chief executive and a director of BP PLC in February 2020, succeeding Bob Dudley (OGJ Online, Oct. 4, 2019). Looney previously served as chief executive, upstream, responsible for worldwide exploration, development, and production. He joined BP in 1991.