(London) Investors were in suspense on Wednesday after the surprise departure of Bernard Looney from the post of chief executive of British oil giant BP, for having lacked transparency over past intimate relationships with colleagues.

The oil and gas giant’s shares fell 0.33% to 521.10 pence in a balanced market, and despite an increase in crude prices which benefited the stock of its rival Shell.

Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter notes that “compare to the billion-dollar fines that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill or the negative oil prices” during the pandemic […] this resignation is a surprise, but not a major chapter in the history of BP”.

In its press release released on Tuesday evening, BP explained that Mr. Looney was resigning after admitting “not having been completely transparent” about “personal relationships” with several colleagues.

Financial Director Murray Auchincloss is acting in the interim while a permanent replacement is searched.

BP wants to give the impression that “everything is business as usual, but there will inevitably be uncertainty over the interval required to find a permanent leader” or a possible change in strategy, adds Richard Hunter.

Sophie Lund-Yates, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, notes that “mistakes of this magnitude are not what you would expect from one of the country’s biggest bosses.”

“A clear direction must be proclaimed quickly to limit the negative impact” on the company and its actions, continues Ms. Lund-Yates.

Bernard Looney can be credited with leading one of Britain’s largest groups through the pandemic, which caused oil prices and economic activity to collapse, and then the Russian invasion. of Ukraine, which conversely caused oil prices to soar and inflated the accounts of oil companies.

In its press release on Tuesday, BP explains that it became aware in May 2022 of “allegations […] relating to the behavior of Mr. Looney regarding personal relationships with colleagues within the group”.

An internal investigation was launched, during which the 53-year-old chief executive, who took over as CEO in 2020, admitted to “a small number of long-standing relationships with colleagues before becoming chief executive.”

“No violation of the group’s code of conduct was noted,” BP said.

“But new allegations of a similar nature have “emerged” recently and on Tuesday, Mr. Looney informed the group that he acknowledged he had not been fully transparent in his previous statements.”

Of Irish origin, Bernard Looney joined BP as an engineer in 1991 and spent his entire career there, occupying various operational and management positions in several countries, including the United States, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.