By Andrew Callus
LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - BP Plc boss Bob Dudley'spay fell by a fifth last year because of performance measuresset over a three-year period that began in 2010, the oil-spillyear.
The company's 2012 annual report released on Wednesday showsa zero in the column for performance shares where chiefexecutive Dudley earned some $788,000 in 2011.
The performance measure, applied by BP's own auditors, isbased on oil and gas production growth, profitability in therefining, marketing and chemicals division, and underlying netincome growth over the past three years, all measured againstits peers. The peer group is ExxonMobil >, Shell, Chevron, Total and ConocoPhillips.
First place in the group results in a 100 percent vesting ofstock, second place results in a 70 percent payout, and comingin third results in a 35 percent vesting.
"As the starting point for all measures was before theDeepwater Horizon accident, the impact of this continues to bedominant," the report said. "Results for all measures were belowthe third place required and so no shares vested."
Dudley's total pay, including salary, bonus, and shares, fell 21 percent to $2.673 million from $3.404 million a yearearlier, even though his salary and bonus both increased.
BP's annual report was released during the second week ofBP's trial in a New Orleans court over the spill, which happenedwhen the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank, killing 11men. The Macondo well it was working on spewed some 4 millionbarrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in the United States'worst offshore oil spill disaster.
BP has already been forced to sell a large chunk of itsbusiness, raising some $37 billion to pay for cleanup costs,fines and compensation which already more than match thisamount.
The effect has been to reduce its cash flow - a basicmeasure of earning power - by some $5 billion a year, or 14percent.
Plaintiffs are seeking tens of billions of dollars infurther damages and fines.
