Who is Bernard Looney: Kerry-born BP CEO who resigned as undisclosed relationships come to light
Former BP CEO Bernard Looney (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Credited with navigating one of the world's largest energy companies through its most tumultuous period in modern history, former Irish chief executive of BP, Bernard Looney has resigned after less than four years in the top job as a number of undisclosed personal relationships with colleagues come to light.
The 53-year-old from outside Kenmare took charge in February 2020 after a lengthy career in BP and immediately announced an ambitious plan to reinvent the company by embarking on a net zero path to fight climate change.
Looney's short tenure as chief executive saw him lead the group through the covid pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, energy price shocks and a sustained cost-of-living crisis.
As the energy giant comes out the other side of a challenging four years (BP's saw profits more than double in 2022) uncertainty looms over the future of the company's alternative energy strategy.
As one of its most aggressive advocates steps down, many investors and forecasters remain unconvinced by the energy giant's plan to go green.
With Looney stepping down, BP's remaining executive branch, now led in the interim by CFO, Murray Auchincloss, may have to convince the market that they're up for the challenge without the help of its original architect.
But who is the man in the middle of it all, and how has it come to this?
The son of a dairy farmer, Bernard Looney grew up in Ashgrove just outside Kenmare in Country Kerry. He was the first member of his family to attend university and throughout his lengthy tenure at BP, exhibited pride in his agricultural roots.
Attending college in Dublin, Looney graduated with an honours degree in electrical engineering from University College Dublin in 1991, joining BP as a drilling engineer fresh out of college.
From there, Looney quickly climbed up the ranks, working throughout Mexico, the US, Vietnam and Scandinavia, as well as obtaining an MBA from Stanford in 2005.
In 2007, Looney became the head of BP's chief executive office group, moving then to the energy giant's Norway and North Sea Infrastructure where he became vice president and later, managing director.
Following further vice-presidential and chief operating roles throughout the business, Looney became CEO of BP's Upstream division in 2016 which is responsible for finding and producing oil and gas.
Less than four years later, Looney was handed the top job as chief executive of BP following the departure of former head Bob Dudley, who retired in 2019 following a 40-year career with the company, nine of which were spent as chief executive.
Just one week in the top role, Looney announced a radical strategy shift which would see further investments in alternative energy, with plans to sharply cut net carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
From there, BP began to make big bets on hydrogen and offshore wind, with Looney saying at the time that a "rapid transition to net zero" was needed, adding that "trillions of dollars" were required to rewire the world's energy system.
The move prompted mixed reactions from investors, with BP yet to fully convince stakeholders that it can competitively operate its non-hydrocarbon business.
Increased pushback saw BP's ambitions to cut emissions fall to a 20% reduction, down from an initial 30% commitment by 2030. In addition, the giant's plan to cut hydrocarbon production by 40% by 2030 was later revised to just a 25% reduction, with the absence of the green strategy's engineer prompting some analysts to wonder if BP will roll back on its transition plans even further.
With its net zero strategy revised even more, BP - which employs almost 68,000 people worldwide - saw profit reach a record high last year, surpassing $28bn (€26.1bn) in 2022 on the back of wholesale energy surges following the war in Ukraine.
As BP posted bumper profits, Looney saw his pay more than double compared to the previous year, taking home £10m (€12m) in 2022.
Looney’s total pay slightly exceeded that of his closest peer, outgoing Shell CEO Ben van Beurden. On top of this salary of £1.4m (€1.58m), Looney received an annual bonus of £2.4m (€2.71m) and a long-term share award with a value of £6m (€9.79m).
BP's record performance prompted backlash from climate activists after plans to reduce oil and gas output were rolled back on, with Mark van Baal, activist and founder of Follow This, a group of green shareholders in big oil, adding that the bulk of BP's investment's still remained tied to fossil fuels.
Speaking just this week to the Mr van Baal said that while Looney was the first head of BP to promise a reduction in carbon emissions, the CEO "didn’t shift investments from fossil fuels to renewables.
"After three decades of success in oil and gas, he couldn’t imagine a business model beyond fossil fuels. Moreover, he backtracked when shareholder pressure to transition eased.”
“We hope his successor will realize Big Oil’s business model will soon be over and shift investments to renewable energy.”
Following a strong year of record profits and bumper pay, Bernard Looney has dominated headlines this week for an entirely different, and largely unexpected reason.
On Tuesday, September 12th, BP announced the immediate resignation of Looney as chief executive officer, with the company's CFO, Canadian-born Murray Auchincloss acting as CEO on an interim basis.
In a statement, BP said that 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."
The information came from an anonymous source, with BP adding that during the review, Looney "disclosed a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO.
"No breach of the Company’s Code of Conduct was found. However, the Board sought and was given assurances by Mr Looney regarding disclosure of past personal relationships, as well as his future behaviour."
Despite this, BP said further allegations of a similar nature were received recently, which the company immediately began investigating, the process for which is still ongoing.
BP said that Looney "now accepts that he was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures," adding that he "did not provide details of all relationships and accepts he was obligated to make more complete disclosure."
Following the shock announcement, the company’s shares fell by more than 2% during trading on the London Stock Exchange.
The company also noted that no decisions have been made yet in respect of remuneration payments to the outgoing CEO.
The former BP head is currently reportedly single but was married for a brief period to UK author and newspaper columnist, Jacqueline Hurst, with the couple divorcing in 2019 two years into their marriage.
As uncertainty looms, questions about BP's future strategy remain. Will the 114-year-old company continue on its new path to net zero, or will Looney's ambitions of an alternative fate die at the hands of his resignation?
BP need to decide if it will throw the baby out with the bathwater, or if a new future can be built without the help of its original architect.
