Oil Giant BP’s CEO Bernard Looney Steps Down Over Personal Relationships With Colleagues

Oil giant BP's CEO Bernard Looney has reportedly resigned with immediate effect after he failed to disclose all past personal relationships with colleagues, the company said. Looney served the top most position at the oil giant for less than four years.

Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss will act as CEO on an interim basis, the company further said.

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Looney took the role of CEO at BP in 2020 and had reportedly vowed to reinvent the 114 year old company, lay ambitious plans to achieve zero net emissions by 2050  and to invest billions in renewable and low-carbon power.

He had joined the oil giant in 1991 as an engineer, he then later on became a member of its executive team in 2010.

Looney’s surprise resignation came after the company had launched an investigation over allegations of personal relationships with company colleagues surfaced recently. During that review, Looney disclosed "a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO."

At that time, there were no violations of the company's code of conduct detected, and the board received assurances from Looney regarding the disclosure of prior personal relationships and his commitment to future conduct.

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On Tuesday, Looney informed the board that he did not fully disclose details of all relationships, which prompted him for resignation. Looney’s resignation led to a fall in BP’s shares by 1.5% to the day's lows after the news.