Surprising Departure of Looney: Former BP CEO Explains the Unexpected Exit

Former BP CEO Bob Dudley expressed his surprise at Bernard Looney’s sudden resignation last month and denied any prior knowledge of Looney’s past personal relationships with colleagues.

Dudley, a 40-year veteran at BP who served as CEO for nearly a decade, assured that the British energy major will find a suitable successor soon and that Looney’s departure will not significantly impact the company’s strategy. Looney took over from Dudley in 2020.

Looney resigned with immediate effect on September 12 after less than four years in the role. He admitted to not being “fully transparent in his previous disclosures” about relationships with colleagues before becoming CEO, according to BP.

The Financial Times reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that Looney had promoted women with whom he had undisclosed previous romantic relationships. The report clarified that these relationships occurred prior to Looney’s promotion to CEO. CNBC has not independently verified these allegations.

“It’s a shock to the organization. It came out of nowhere, and I think that the company has great assets, great people,” Dudley told CNBC at the Abu Dhabi International Progressive Energy Congress.

“It is not about one person, and it won’t be long before there will be replacements in there, and the company will do fine because it is a really strong company with a wide portfolio,” Dudley added.

When asked whether he had knowledge of the situation due to his mentorship of Looney, Dudley replied, “I didn’t know anything about it, and neither did the deputy CEO, others, and the board. Should I have known? I don’t know. Maybe I was a bit naive, but I had no clue. No clue at all.”

Looney’s sudden departure has raised questions about the future of BP, but current and former executives maintain that the company’s medium- and long-term strategy remains unchanged.

Interim BP CEO Murray Auchincloss stated during a CNBC-moderated ADIPEC panel session, “Things at BP are OK. We move forward as you would expect, despite the change that happens.”

Auchincloss emphasized that the company remains “firmly committed” to the outlook it presented earlier in the year. He highlighted that “the strategy is not dependent on a single individual; it reflects the collective efforts of the management team and the board.”

“Look, we laid out an update to the strategy in February, seven months ago, that’s a strategy that’s endorsed by the management team, endorsed by the board. One person leaving does not change the strategy,” Auchincloss reassured.

He added, “It’s focused on providing energy today as cleanly as we possibly can. On the transition growth engine, it’s unchanged. We have five of them. We particularly like biofuels, both sustainable aviation fuel and biogas.”

Dudley, who now chairs the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, an organization supported by BP, Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil, and other major oil companies, echoed Auchincloss’ sentiment. He stated that BP’s strategy will likely remain “business as usual.”

“It was a very ambitious strategy, and I think the world changed when Russia invaded Ukraine. The need for energy security altered everyone’s perspective on this,” Dudley explained when asked about Looney’s track record, particularly in terms of decarbonization.

“Previously, it was about clean, affordable energy, which meant reducing carbon emissions in any way possible. After the invasion, look at the energy flows in Europe, the absence of gas pipelines, and global shortages,” Dudley continued. “You can’t run a major energy company and ignore the realities of the world, so Looney scaled back on that, and to me, it made a lot of sense.”

Shares of BP on the London Stock Exchange have increased by 9.5% year to date.

– CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed to this report.