BP seeks to reduce ex-CEO’s termination pay

BP is denying former CEO Bernard Looney, who resigned in September, a payout of more than $40 million, the oil company announced Wednesday.

In the announcement, BP said Looney “knowingly misled the board” of the oil company about his personal relationships in July 2022, more than a year before his resignation. The company wrote that this constituted “serious misconduct” and said it has dismissed Looney, cutting short the 12-month period during which he was entitled to his salary after stepping down.

The firing means Looney will lose access to other benefits to which he was entitled, including his pension and any annual bonus for 2023, and he will be required to pay back half of his 2022 bonus, about $1.27 million. 

Overall, BP estimated it would deny or claw back a total of $41 million from Looney.

Looney stepped down after taking the reins as CEO in 2020, with BP saying he “was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures” with colleagues at the time. A full-time replacement has not yet been named, with chief financial officer Murray Auchincloss serving as interim CEO since September.

“The company has strong values and the board expects everyone at the company to behave in accordance with those values,” BP said at the time. “All leaders in particular are expected to act as role models and to exercise good judgment in a way that earns the trust of others.”  

Looney started working at BP in 1991, and during his tenure, he severed the British oil giant’s ties with state-owned Russian energy company Rosneft, pulling its 20 percent stake from the Russian firm after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. His predecessor, Bob Dudley, also left the Rosneft board at the same time.  

The Hill has reached out to BP for comment.