BP Names Industry Veteran As Its New Chairman -- WSJ

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)

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