BP appoints Bernard Looney as CEO: what will he do differently?
Looney’s first task will be to look honestly at where BP has distinctive capabilities in renewables
A change at the top is a moment for reappraisal. Bob Dudley, BP’s CEO, rehabilitated the oil major after the fatal Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and spill in the US in 2010. His replacement, Bernard Looney, appointed on Friday, should avoid the temptation to think his job is primarily to sustain that legacy.
Like all the big international oil companies, BP under Dudley acknowledged the need to adapt to a world that craves more energy but fewer fossil fuels. The standard industry blueprint is to target more profitable conventional oil production, while investing in renewables and cutting emissions by, for example, using carbon sinks to store greenhouse gases underground and planting forests. But the precise balance of these goals matters...
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