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Oil Giant BP Picks Murray Auchincloss As New CEO

LONDON: British oil giant BP on Wednesday (17th Jan, 2024) named veteran employee Murray Auchincloss as chief executive officer following a period as interim boss in the wake of Bernard Looney’s sacking.

BP’s former chief financial officer Auchincloss took the reins in September after Looney resigned and was later officially sacked over his failure to disclose past relationships with colleagues.

“BP announced today that the board has appointed Murray Auchincloss as chief executive officer with immediate effect,” the group said in a statement, sticking to a policy of promoting from within.

Canadian national Murray, 53, joined BP in 1998, rising to finance boss four years ago.

“The board is in complete agreement that Murray was the outstanding candidate and is the right leader for BP,” chairman Helge Lund added in the statement.

Three months after Looney resigned, BP announced he had been sacked, resulting in the Irishman foregoing more than £32-million ($40-million).

The company said Looney had “knowingly misled the board” and dismissed him for “serious misconduct”.

– ‘Continuity’ candidate –

BP’s shares were down 1.5 percent following the announcement, although analysts said it was mainly owing to tumbling oil prices on weak Chinese growth data and following a surprise jump to UK inflation.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, on which BP trades, was 1.8 percent lower overall in midday trading

Analysts pointed to the benefits of appointing Auchincloss but said he had work to do to improve BP’s reputation, including over its transition away from fossil fuels.

“Auchinloss certainly has a job to do to restore investor confidence,” noted Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Continuity of the existing strategy is no bad thing but the shape of returns from the growing focus on energy transition technologies still needs to be proved.”

As BP chief for less than four years, Looney steered the energy major through a tumultuous period that included huge swings in oil and gas prices owing to the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He meanwhile faced fierce criticism from environmental campaigners, who continue to accuse BP and rivals of not going far enough in their transition to producing cleaner energy.

As for Auchincloss, “there will be some disappointment about the failure to appoint an external candidate for the first time in its history to shake things up and revive a business which has trailed behind its US counterparts in recent years”, noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Wednesday’s announcement comes ahead of BP’s annual results due 6th February.

The oil titan rebounded strongly into net profit in the third quarter after large accounting charges had pushed it into the red a year earlier.

Auchincloss will earn £1.45 million a year but could earn many times that amount thanks to performance-related bonuses.

Looney became CEO in February 2020, just as the pandemic took hold around the globe, causing him to axe thousands of jobs.

While BP suffered a huge loss on its exit from Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the war sent oil and gas prices soaring, handing energy majors massive revenues.

BP Adds: bp board has appointed Murray Auchincloss as bp chief executive officer with immediate effect. 

Murray, who has been interim CEO since September 2023, will continue as a member of the bp board. 

His appointment has been made following a robust and competitive search process, carried out by the board over the past four months with support from international search advisers.

This included detailed consideration of a range of candidates, including external to bp. 

Helge Lund, chair of bp said: “Since September, bp’s board has undertaken a thorough and highly competitive process to identify bp’s next CEO, considering a number of high-calibre candidates in detail.

The board is in complete agreement that Murray was the outstanding candidate and is the right leader for bp.

“It’s an honour to lead bp – this is a great company with great people.”

Murray Auchincloss, chief executive officer:

“Many already know Murray well, and few know bp better than he does.

“His assured leadership, focus on performance and delivery, and deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges in the energy transition will serve bp well as we continue our disciplined transformation to an integrated energy company.”

Murray Auchincloss said: “It’s an honour to lead bp – this is a great company with great people. Our strategy – from international oil company to integrated energy company, or IOC to IEC – does not change. I’m convinced about the significant value we can create.

“Now, more than ever, our focus must remain on delivery – operating safely and efficiently, executing with discipline, and always focusing on returns.

This is how we will deliver real benefits for our customers and other stakeholders and continue to grow long-term value for bp’s shareholders.”

The search process for the new CEO was led by a committee of the bp board, headed by Helge Lund together with three other non-executive directors.

The appointment decision was approved by the full bp board, excepting Murray Auchincloss.

Before becoming interim chief executive officer in September 2023, Murray had been bp’s chief financial officer since July 2020, at which time he also joined bp’s board.

He had previously served as CFO, deputy CFO and head of business development for bp’s Upstream segment.

From 2010-2013 Murray was head of bp’s group chief executive’s office, working directly with Bob Dudley.

Murray, 53, joined Amoco Canada in 1992. Following financial and planning roles in Canada and the US, his career included periods as commercial director for bp’s Onshore North America business and CFO for bp’s North Sea business.

He has a degree in finance from the University of Calgary and is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is also a member of the Aker BP board.

Murray Auchincloss’s remuneration arrangements will include:
* Annual salary of £1.45 million.
* Provisions relating to bonus opportunity, bonus deferral and performance shares are all in accordance with BP’s 2023 remuneration policy as approved by shareholders.
* A cash allowance in lieu of pension equal to 20 per cent of base salary, in accordance with BP’s remuneration policy and aligned with the majority of the wider UK workforce.

Newspakistan.tv/APP/AFP

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