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BP named Kate Thomson as interim finance chief following a management shakeup triggered by the sudden resignation of chief executive Bernard Looney last week.
Looney resigned after admitting he failed to disclose the extent of past personal relationships with colleagues. Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss has temporarily replaced him.
On Tuesday, the oil giant said Thomson, who has been with the company for 19 years and held several senior financial positions, will temporarily replace Auchincloss in the finance role.
Auchincloss said Thomson “combines deep technical knowledge with a detailed understanding of BP and has a best-in-class leadership record across our finance function”.
Thomson is BP’s senior vice president of production and operating finance and previously served as group finance director and group tax director.
BP did not reveal details about the process for selecting Looney’s permanent replacement. The company’s chairman, Helge Lund, told investors he would not take on the role of chief executive.
The company is looking for internal and external candidates. While Lund said he expects the company’s strategy to remain unchanged under new leadership, investors are watching whether BP’s push to be more aggressive than rivals in renewable energy can be sustained.
BP shares generally lagged peers while Looney was at the helm, but they have been rising since his departure was announced, rising another 1% on Tuesday.
Energy company stocks were boosted in part by rising oil prices, with Brent crude above $95 a barrel for the first time on Tuesday.
Higher prices and a broader fuel crisis triggered by Russia’s reduction in natural gas supplies to Europe have created additional tensions for an industry that is trying to figure out how best to navigate the energy transition.
While the International Energy Agency says it expects global demand for oil, gas and coal to peak before the end of the century, some of the world’s biggest oil producers have pushed back and warned the industry still needs investment.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and the head of state oil company Saudi Aramco warned on Tuesday that predictions of peak oil demand were wrong.
Speaking at the same conference in Calgary, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren Woods warned there would be no sudden abandonment of fossil fuels and that investments in the industry must continue.
BP in February scaled back its plans to cut oil and gas production by 2030, reducing the expected decline over a decade to 25% from the previous 40%, while also increasing the amount of investment in transformation.
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