BP Names Oil Industry Veteran Helge Lund as Chairman -- Update

By Carlo Martuscelli 

BP PLC has appointed energy industry veteran Helge Lund as its next chairman as the oil giant seeks to move past the Deepwater Horizon disaster and get to grips 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 presided over BP's long and costly recovery from the deadly 2011 accident.

Mr. Lund, a 55-year-old Norwegian, was chief executive of the country's petroleum national champion, Statoil ASA, and then took the helm at BG Group, the British natural gas giant. He negotiated the 2015 sale of BG 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.

He takes over at BP as the British firm 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 large chunks of its business.

More recently, Chief Executive Bob Dudley has tried to turn the page, promising to return BP to its oil exploration glory days, while also betting on its refining operations, which have delivered higher profits amid recent lower prices.

He takes over as prices are rebounding strongly, but also as investor pressure has mounted over the sustainability long term of a petroleum industry 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.

"Helge has a track record of leadership in addressing these issues, characterized by his open-minded and forward-looking approach," he added.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2018 04:02 ET (08:02 GMT)

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