BP CEO Bernard Looney resigned after failing to disclose personal relationships with colleagues

Bernard Looney, the Chief Executive Officer of BP the multinational oil and gas company, resigned on Tuesday over allegations of inappropriate relations with other coworkers.

Looney’s resignation was immediate and followed his acknowledgment that he had not been “fully transparent” in disclosing his previous relationships, as stated in the company’s statement.

Murray Auchincloss, Chief Financial Officer of BP, will be taking charge of the CEO until any further replacement, the company said.

In February 2020, BP appointed Looney as CEO. Three months later, the board said that he had past personal relationships with some of his colleagues at the company. This information was provided by an anonymous source, but the company did not reveal the names of the employees. When the board investigated this matter, Looney disclosed “a small number of historical relationships” with colleagues before becoming the CEO of the company.

However, the board recently revealed that it received additional allegations “of a similar nature.” The company promptly started looking into these claims, and they are still being investigated. “He now accepts that he was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures,” the statement said. “He did not provide details of all relationships and accepted he was obligated to make more complete disclosure.”

BP said it has “strong values” and expects its employees − mainly leaders, “to behave in accordance with those values.” The company mentioned that they haven’t made any decisions about compensating Looney.

Born in Ireland, Looney began working at BP as an engineer in 1991 and stayed with the company throughout his career.