Murray Auchincloss: BP paid boss £8m last year and clawed back £3m from ousted chief Bernard Looney

BP's new boss, Murray Auchincloss was paid more than £8 million last year, before he took over the top job full time from his ousted predecessor. The Canadian businessman, who was appointed permanent chief executive of BP in January, was paid more than £1.5 million in salary, benefits and cash in lieu of pension as part of his pay package. The 53-year-old was also handed a £1.8 million bonus, and a little under £4.7 million in shares that were linked to performance.

Mr Auchincloss was chief financial officer for most of 2023, but took over as interim chief executive in September when his predecessor, Bernard Looney, stepped down. According to the company's annual report that was revealed on Friday, his pay for 2023 is around £2 million more than he made in 2022 as finance boss.

It also showed that former chief executive Looney’s pay package for 2023 saw him hand back £1.8 million to the business. His pay was £1.2 million for the year, but the company clawed back nearly £3 million from him from past years’ pay.

Mr Looney, who left BP with immediate effect in September, was accused by the board of not being honest when discussing past romantic relationships with colleagues. The board said it had initially been told about Mr Looney’s former relationships in May 2022 by an anonymous source.

It was reported that Mr Looney disclosed "a few past relationships with colleagues" when questioned. The company stated that there were no violations of BP's code of conduct at the time and that Mr Looney provided assurances regarding disclosure.

However, additional allegations of a similar nature surfaced last year, and Mr Looney did not provide details of all relationships. Consequently, his three-decade career with BP came to an end, resulting in significant financial repercussions for him.

The company subsequently revoked a £32.4 million payout, citing "serious misconduct" on his part. This included £25 million in unvested share awards based on performance, as well as a portion of his cash bonus for 2022. The board determined that he should not retain any variable pay related to his service following the issuance of misleading assurances.

Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness, said: “The millions paid out to BP’s CEO contrast with the millions of Brits in energy poverty, showing the sickening reality of our broken energy system.

“People everywhere, struggling to feed their families or heat their homes, have every right to be angry at BP’s huge profits and payouts". She added: “The Government is missing the opportunity to introduce a serious windfall tax and CEO bonus tax.”