BP Names Industry Veteran As Its New Chairman -- WSJ
April 27 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Carlo Martuscelli
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (April 27, 2018).
BP PLC has appointed energy veteran Helge Lund as its next
chairman, as the oil giant tries to put the Deepwater Horizon
disaster to bed while dealing with a fast-changing industry.
The company on Thursday said Mr. Lund would join the board as
chairman-designate and a nonexecutive director on Sept. 1 before
taking up the chairman role at the start of the new year. He
succeeds Carl-Henric Svanberg, who along with Chief Executive Bob
Dudley has presided over BP's costly recovery from the deadly 2011
accident in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr. Lund, a 55-year-old Norwegian, was chief executive of the
country's petroleum national champion, Statoil ASA, before taking
the helm at BG Group. He negotiated the 2015 sale of the British
natural-gas giant to Royal Dutch Shell Group PLC for about $50
billion.
He is currently a director at oil-field services firm
Schlumberger Ltd., a seat he will give up to take the BP role. Mr.
Lund is also chairman of health-care company Novo Nordisk.
BP is still struggling to right itself after the Gulf of Mexico
oil-platform explosion that killed 11 and triggered the worst
maritime oil spill on record. The company has paid billions of
dollars in liabilities, and in recent years has divested itself of
large chunks of its business.
More recently, Mr. Dudley has vowed to return BP to its
oil-exploration glory days, while also betting on its refining
operations, which benefited from a long stretch of low oil
prices.
The chairmanship change comes as oil prices are rebounding, but
also as investor pressure has mounted over the long-term prospects
for petroleum amid rapid shifts in the world's energy mix and
growing worry about climate change.
"Our industry is changing faster than ever as the world focuses
on meeting the dual challenge of more energy with fewer emissions,"
Mr. Svanberg said, adding that his successor has "a track record of
leadership in addressing these issues, characterized by his
open-minded and forward-looking approach."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 27, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
BP (NYSE:BP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
BP (NYSE:BP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024