BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney has resigned effective immediately after failing to fully disclose past relationships with colleagues.
Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss will succeed him on an interim basis, the company said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.
“Rooney informed the company today that he now acknowledges that his previous disclosures were not fully transparent,” the statement said. “The company has strong values and the board expects everyone at the company to act in accordance with those values.”
The Financial Times first reported the news, and BP’s American depositary receipts rose 2.9%.
Since taking the top job more than three years ago, Looney has been the strongest advocate among Big Oil CEOs for accelerating the shift to low-carbon energy. Even after reversing some of its strongest ambitions to cut emissions earlier this year, BP has one of the most aggressive plans to cut oil production and expand its electric vehicle charging and renewable energy businesses.
The news comes a month after the London-based company Upregulate It increased its dividend by 10% and said it would buy back another $1.5 billion of stock. Despite these efforts to attract investors, BP’s stock price has lagged behind its peers since Rooney became CEO.
U.S. giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are more focused on their core oil and gas businesses than their European counterparts, making them far more attractive to investors, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices soaring.
Looney, who was born in 1970 and trained as an electrical engineer at University College Dublin, is a life member of BP and rose through the chain of command from drilling engineer to exploration director and in 2020 to chief executive.
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