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Frankly, it's both easy and right to hold Looney to account for the damage he has done. Decisions to cut 10,000 jobs, to turn bp from an IOC to an IEC, to throttle back O&G in favour of wind & solar, to cripple the business by eliminating the res dev team entirely, to cut the dividend, to refuse to give reasonable increases to pensioners . . . and then we learn his decision making was led by his predilections for female staff over rational facts. In what way is he not accountable for the outcome of a massively discounted stock?
That investors have let it be known they want someone of the calibre of Woodburn to take the help says they do not have confidence in the current shortlist of candidates. Clearly, anyone involved in turning bp from an oil & gas supermajor to a utility (aka Integrated Energy Company) probably won't be acceptable. The share price is a couple of quid below where it should be, the dividend has been nearly halved, and the best hope is a $200M bet on LightSource and unaffordable wind farms. Of course, while the board knew full well about Looney's green pretensions, they knew nothing about his private life at work. Did they?
If bp appoints Ms Blanc as the next CEO, it will show Lund for what he isn't.
Staffing at bp is back to where it was pre-Looney. But they aren't oilies.
I clearly remember a (female) member of the LT talk about FOBL's and how it made no difference. Turns out I didn't know she was one of them. Deeply, deeply corrupt senior leadership. Time for sweeping change.
Worth noting that just before he ignominiously resigned, Looney held 1,477,454 shares in bp. So, about five million beer tokens by my count. If he was committing gross misconduct in having and not disclosing intimate relationships with staff over whom he had influence in their progression, it seems odd that these should remain in his position.
Bernard loved to use words like purpose, transforming, egregious and ‘on the fingers of one hand’. Now you can add sha&&er, liar and fule. The fun will be watching the orderly queue of his conquests exit quietly.
Murray was Bob's EA, so arguably coached him when he first arrived at SJS.
Theaky, when you quote a third party (in this case Looney), please at least give them credit:
https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/4q-2022-update-on-strategic-progress.html
Auchincloss is not an accountant. His background is tax.
Let's be perfectly clear, Looney's choice of senior appointments had more to do with FOBL* than merit.
*FOBL - Friend of Bernard Looney, a common acronym used across bp after he took over the former Upstream.
It's the balance sheet, Auchincloss is still repairing the damage from all the (50% fraudulent) Macondo damages. If you want to find the missing dividend, go see the Gulf Coast shrimpers. Even those living way too far inland to own a boat . . .
Is that a comment for OpenTalk rather than this forum?
i couldn't help s****** at this quote: commenting at the time, looney wrote: “it shows the best people are getting the roles they deserve. they weren’t appointed because they are women — they were appointed because they are the best.”
the best at what, bernard?
Hate to say this, but it was Looney / Auchincloss who set the current structure and thus the need to hire grocers.
BP used to be an oil company (+10% returns), now it's a utility (half the returns) but wants to become a retailer (halve them again). Sounds like a good plan.
Dudley was always so proud to get the price back to £6 after taking over following Macondo. His successor has not done as well, and the market has recognised his departure with a bounce.
Asexual? Er, no, definitely not. A trail of broken relationships.
To those hoping for a change in direction post-Looney, don’t hold your breath. Auchincloss is incredibly close to him, nothing will change until a new CEO is in place. And in fairness, most of the board and probably the chairman have to go as well, his fondness for his staff was well known and should have been addressed before he got the job. Plenty of good alternates left and are elsewhere now. It will take twelve months to sort this mess out.
Well, markets don’t lie. If you want the single most significant comment on Looney’s departure, look at the share price. “Ain’t bovvered” would sum it up.