BP’s chief executive Bernard Looney has stepped down from his role after admitting he failed to disclose all of his past personal relationships with company colleagues.

The oil giant said it received anonymous allegations in May 2022 about Mr Looney’s conduct and hired external lawyers to investigate. Mr Looney revealed he had a few historical relationships before becoming CEO, but no breach of the code of conduct was found.

However, the board asked him to be more transparent and to behave appropriately in the future. More allegations of a similar nature were received recently and the company launched another investigation, which is still ongoing.

Mr Looney said he now accepts he was not fully honest in his previous disclosures and did not provide details of all relationships. He said he should have been more open and resigned with immediate effect.

BP’s CFO Murray Auchincloss will act as CEO on an interim basis. The company said it has strong values and expects everyone, especially leaders, to act as role models and to exercise good judgement.

The company has not decided yet whether to pay any remuneration to Mr Looney and will disclose any such decisions later.

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