(Corrects paragraph 2 to show Looney received 351,000 pounds
(not 351 million pounds))
* BP scrapped all bonuses during the coronavirus crisis
* Looney, BP chairman to donate 20% of salary to charity
* GRAPHIC: Majors' share performance https://refini.tv/3p1trlL
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - BP Chief Executive
Bernard Looney's remuneration was 1.735 million pounds ($2.4
million) in 2020 after it scrapped all bonuses during his first
year in office due to the pandemic, the energy group said in its
annual report.
Looney's pay included 1.18 million pounds in salary and
351,000 pounds in shares, while he and BP Chairman Helge Lund
agreed to give 20% of their salaries to mental health charities
in recognition of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By comparison, BP's competitor the overall pay package of
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden's dropped by 42%
to $7 million in 2020.
Looney's total remuneration for 2020 could have been up to
11 million pounds ($15.24 million) based on BP's remuneration
plan, more than the $13.23 million his predecessor Bob Dudley,
who stepped down in February 2020, earned in 2019.
But the 50-year-old Irishman's first year was dominated by
BP's response to the coronavirus crisis, with BP plunging to a
$5.7 billion loss, its first in a decade, as energy demand
tanked and it slashed the value of its oil and gas assets by
nearly $20 billion. It also halved its dividend.
Looney took office with an ambitious plan to rapidly grow
BP's renewables energy business, while cutting oil output by 40%
by 2030.
This "reinvention" plan included a major overhaul and laying
off 10,000 employees, roughly 15% of BP's workforce.
This year BP is launching its first share award scheme to
rally its more than 60,000 employees and also expects to resume
bonuses.
Looney's new strategy was met coolly by investors, with BP's
shares hitting their lowest since the mid-1990s late last year,
a bigger fall than any of its rivals.
BP's shares have nevertheless gained nearly 20% so far this
year, lifted by stronger oil prices.
($1 = 0.7216 pounds)
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Alexander Smith)
