BP CEO resigns from his job after admitting he had affairs with colleagues

British energy giant BP’s managing director Bernard Looney has resigned from his role, admitting he was not “fully transparent” in statements about relationships with colleagues in the past, the company said on Tuesday.

Bernard Looney took up the role in February 2020 and is leaving with immediate effect and is being replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Murray Auchincloss, BP said.

“BP announces that Bernard Looney has informed the group that he is stepping down as managing director with immediate effect” after admitting that “he has not been fully transparent,” the group said in a press release.

The hydrocarbon giant said in a statement that it became aware in May 2022 of “allegations (…) related to Looney’s conduct regarding personal relationships with bandmates.”

An internal investigation was launched, during which the 53-year-old CEO admitted to “a small number of past relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO.”

“No violations of the group’s code of conduct were observed,” the oil company clarified.

However, “new allegations of a similar nature” surfaced “recently” and “Looney told the panel on Tuesday that he acknowledged that he had not been fully transparent in his previous statements.”

“The group has strong values ​​and the board expects all members to behave in accordance with these values. All managers in particular are expected to act as role models and demonstrate good judgment to gain the trust of others,” BP also states.

Bernard Looney, an Irishman, joined BP as an engineer in 1991 and spent his entire career there, holding various operational and management positions in several countries, including the US, Vietnam and the UK.