The British oil company BP has announced that Carol Howle, deputy chief executive and executive vice president of supply, trading, and shipping, will leave the company upon her retirement after 26 years with the firm. At the same time, it has made public the appointment of her successor, Sam Skerry, and of the new executive vice president of people and culture, Sonya Adams, as part of the reorganization process initiated several months ago.
In this regard, the current executive vice president of people and culture, Kerry Dryburgh, will also leave BP after 16 years with the multinational for personal reasons. Both Dryburgh and Howle will cease their duties in the third quarter of this year, and the changes will take effect from August 1.
Howle served as interim chief executive during the transition period that involved Murray Auchincloss's departure from the role and his replacement by Meg O'Neill, who currently holds the top executive position since December of the past fiscal year.
"Carol (Howle) led the company through a crucial transition phase as interim chief executive and then as deputy chief executive. Following her departure, I have decided not to fill the deputy CEO position. We have important measures underway to optimize the organizational model, and we have a committed leadership team," stated Meg O'Neill.
Sam Skerry has nearly 30 years of career at BP, where he has held leadership positions in the oil trading, natural gas, and derivatives businesses. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions and business development, responsible for simplifying BP's portfolio.
For her part, Sonya Adams has over 25 years of experience with the company and has held senior management positions in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the United Kingdom, recently serving as chief of staff to the chief executive.
"Sam and Sonya bring valuable leadership experience to these roles. Sam is highly respected for her commercial and strategic vision, and for her ability to navigate complex and high-impact business situations. As chief of staff, Sonya developed a deep understanding of the company and the key factors driving its performance," said the BP chief executive.
Since O'Neill's arrival in the position in December, BP has implemented various modifications in its structure, among them the dismissal of Albert Manifold, president of the company, for "supervision and conduct problems" considered "unacceptable".
In addition, the company opted to simplify its organization into only two major business areas, exploration and production ('upstream') and refining and marketing ('downstream'), appointing Gordon Birrell and Richard Harding as executive vice presidents of each segment, respectively. With this measure, BP reinforced the shift in its strategy towards the traditional energy sources business.