| Bernard Looney | |
| Birth Place: | County Kerry, Ireland |
| Education: | University College Dublin Stanford Graduate School of Business |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
| CEO, BP | |
| Term: | February 2020–September 2023 |
| Predecessor: | Bob Dudley |
| Successor: | Murray Auchincloss |
| Spouse: | [1] |
Bernard Looney (born 1970) is an Irish businessman and former chief executive officer of BP.
During Looney's tenure as CEO of BP, he promised to end BP's relationship with Rosneft, the Russian state-owned energy giant, amid Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Looney was a member of Rosneft's board until February 2022.[2]
Looney was born in County Kerry, and was raised on a small dairy farm in Ashgrove, near Kenmare. He was the first in his family to attend a university. Looney earned a degree in electrical engineering from University College Dublin and a master's in management from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Looney is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the Energy Institute.
Looney, who has spent his entire career at BP, worked in core production and drilling roles in the North Sea, Vietnam and Mexico, serving in other executive roles before taking over the upstream division in 2016.[3] [4]
In October 2019, it was announced that Looney would succeed Bob Dudley as group chief executive[5] in February 2020.[6] [7]
He sold BP shares worth £7.8 million in February and April 2019.[8] [9] [10]
Looney was one of five BP employees who attended COP27 as delegates of Mauritania, where BP has made significant investments. The company said Looney and the others attended for a signing ceremony; however, Looney's attendance was criticised by Global Witness activists who were unhappy at the influence of executives from fossil fuel companies at the conference.[11] In March 2023, it was announced that Looney had received a 2022 pay package of £10 million, more than double what he received the previous year. The package included a £1.4 million salary, a £2.4 million bonus, and a £6 million share award, as well as benefits. It was criticized by Greenpeace and Global Witness, which questioned the appropriateness of such an increase while energy bills are a struggle for some families to pay.[12] [13] In protest against this pay package, Global Witness rebranded a set of billboards initially used for advertising the adult site OnlyFans. The billboards, which previously showed an OnlyFans model in underwear, were altered to depict the BP CEO shirtless.[14]
In September 2023, Looney resigned abruptly from his position for failing to fully disclose details of his past personal relationships with colleagues.[15]
Looney, by virtue of BP's 20% stake in Moscow-based oil-producer Rosneft, formerly served alongside Igor Sechin, who is the chief executive officer, president and chairman of Rosneft's management board.[16] [17]
On 25 February 2022, Looney engaged in talks with the British Secretary of State for Business, Kwasi Kwarteng. The Government of the United Kingdom reportedly asked Looney to relinquish BP's 20% stake in the Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft,[18] which has strong ties to Russian oligarchs and the Kremlin,[19] [20] in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Looney lives in Mayfair, central London, England.[21] He married British life coach Jacqueline Hurst in October 2017. They separated the next year and finalised their divorce in 2019.