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* Investors unhappy about misalignment of pay and BP's loss
* Shareholders show they want management to stay
* Dudley likely to last for years rebuilding BP
By Karolin Schaps
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - The future of Bob Dudley at thehead of BP seems untarnished by shareholders' unusualrejection of his pay package as 99.6 percent of them also backedhis re-appointment and trust him to lead the company through aperiod of weak oil prices.
For the 60-year-old American, who was given the top jobfollowing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the vetoing ofhis $20 million compensation package is the first major faux pasin his time as chief executive.
Such a shareholder revolt would claim many a CEO's scalp butDudley seems unlikely to be removed as investor confidence inhis leadership remains strong.
"I'm not a fan of change for the sake of change," saidRobert Smithson, fund manager at THS Partners, whose fund is aBP investor and who voted against the remuneration package.
"Unless there is a really compelling reason of somebody elsewho can do a better job I think it's probably better he stays."
Dudley's record in protecting the company following the Gulfof Mexico explosion won him respect among investors.
His plan to slim down the company to find capital to pay itsmore than $50 billion settlement bill from the disaster wentdown well with shareholders and analysts.
By coincidence it also helped BP prepare for the oil pricecollapse, as the company began cutting costs long before itspeers.
The trust he has earned puts him in good stead to startfinding a route back to growth amid weak market conditions.
Effectively, shareholders want Dudley to continue leading BPbut at a cheaper price.
SEVERAL MORE YEARS
The promotion of Dudley's long-time ally Lamar McKay todeputy chief executive in February could have been seen as apreparation for Dudley's exit but sources close to him say hewants to stay in the job.
"I'd give him several more years in the job. He certainlydoesn't want to become the first American CEO who sold BP. Hewants to grow it," said a former senior BP executive, who hasknown Dudley for many years.
The British government last year signalled it would fiercelyoppose any acquisition of BP by a rival.
Many BP shareholders expressed discontent with the fact thatexecutives' remuneration was not aligned with the company'sperformance or investor returns and the issue could still hauntDudley.
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, BP's third-biggest investor,said it voted in favour of the remuneration resolution atThursday's meeting.
But the $863 billion fund added that it questioned the roleof BP's remuneration committee and its use of discretion.
"We have addressed some concern related to the company'sremuneration and will continue to follow up through directinvolvement," a spokeswoman said.
Ann Dowling, the head of BP's remuneration committee,defended BP's pay policy and highlighted the fact that 96percent of investors had approved it in 2014.
"All are agreed that this has been a very good year for Boband the team," she said.
Despite the vote, Dudley retains his 2015 package butDowling has vowed to make changes to this year's remunerationpolicy and to engage with shareholders. She will report changesat next year's annual meeting.
(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in London and StineJacobsen in Oslo; editing by Giles Elgood)
