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* Murray Auchincloss to become new CFO
* Auchincloss an ally of incoming CEO Looney
* Bernard Looney takes over as CEO on Feb. 5
* Change of CFO could signal new financial strategy -analyst
(In JAN 21 story adds BP comment, paragraph 8)
By Ron Bousso and Yadarisa Shabong
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - BP's finance chief Brian
Gilvary is to step down in June after eight years in the role
and will be replaced by a close ally of Bernard Looney who takes
over as chief executive next month.
Murray Auchincloss, currently finance head of BP's upstream
division, will become BP's chief financial officer on July 1,
the company said on Tuesday.
Gilvary has been credited with overseeing BP's financial
recovery following the 2010 deadly Gulf of Mexico oil spill
which has cost the company more than $65 billion in fines,
indemnities and clean up costs.
The London-based company saw its profits recover sharply in
recent years, allowing it to remove the scrip dividend last
year, an austerity measure on shareholder payouts.
However, in October, Gilvary appeared to backtrack on a
previous hint that the company would boost its dividend payouts,
angering investors.
His departure comes earlier than anticipated and as Looney,
who will replace Bob Dudley as chief executive of BP after a
decade, faces the tricky task of navigating the energy major
through a rising tide of environmentalism and the move to a
low-carbon economy.
"Gilvary's departure may be associated with a more
significant change in the company's strategy including its
financial strategy as the running of BP moves to a new top
team," stockbroker Panmure Gordon said in a note.
Panmure Gordon said Gilvary's departure may also be
associated with "problematic guidance over dividend", a view
which BP later rejected as "not true".
Gilvary, an avid triathlete who joined BP in 1986, will step
down from the board on June 30. He is a non-executive director
at Air Liquide, the Royal Navy Board and the Francis
Crick Institute.
In his current role Auchincloss worked with Looney, who
until being appointed CEO was head of BP's oil and gas
production division, known as upstream. Auchincloss oversaw a
broad cost-cutting drive across the division in the wake of the
2014 oil price crash.
"I have worked side-by-side with Murray for many years and
have the utmost confidence in his ability to step into this
critical role," Looney said in a statement.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard
Orr and Susan Fenton)
