BP chooses replacement as CFO decides to retire

British oil major BP has named a new chief financial officer (CFO) following the decision by the current CFO to retire from the company and step down from the BP board on June 30, 2020.

BP said on Tuesday that its CFO Brian Gilvary had decided to retire from the company after a 34-year career with the company, including over eight years as CFO.

He will be succeeded by Murray Auchincloss, currently CFO of BP’s Upstream segment, who will take up the role of BP CFO and join the board on July 1, 2020.

Gilvary and Auchincloss will work together between now and the end of June to ensure an orderly transition.

BP chairman, Helge Lund, said: “We will miss Brian’s financial stewardship and strategic insights. He is one of the architects of today’s BP, key to its transformation into a safer, simpler and stronger company. After a thorough selection process, the board is pleased to have chosen Murray as BP’s next CFO. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Brian for all he has done for BP and look forward to welcoming Murray to the board.”

Bob Dudley, BP CEO, added: “It is difficult to overstate the contribution [Gilvary] has made to BP: few CFOs have faced challenges of the scale that he has, and far fewer have managed them as successfully. As now we both approach retirement, I will miss working with him.”

Gilvary joined BP in 1986 and after a variety of commercial and financial roles internationally in BP’s upstream, downstream, and trading businesses, he became chief executive of BP’s integrated supply and trading function in 2005 and in 2010 deputy CFO and head of finance. He became BP CFO and joined the board in January 2012.

He was responsible for the resolution of complex litigation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, managing the impacts of the oil price crash of 2014/15, and playing an integral role in evolving BP’s position in Russia.

Gilvary is also a non-executive director of Air Liquide, the Royal Navy Board, and the Francis Crick Institute. Since 2018 he has chaired the 100 Group of FTSE 100 finance directors.

Regarding his retirement, Gilvary said: “My career with BP has been a privilege, bringing opportunities and challenges that I could not have imagined when I first started out. But now is the right time to move on: BP is in good shape – strong and ready to face the future with new leadership. I’m certain BP will be in good hands.”

As for Auchincloss, he has served as CFO for BP’s Upstream segment since 2015. He took up the role after two years as Upstream deputy CFO and head of business development for the segment. Before this he had been head of the group chief executive’s office from 2010-13, working directly with Bob Dudley.

Bernard Looney, the chief executive Upstream and BP CEO from February 5, 2020, said: “All of us at BP will greatly miss Brian’s clarity of thought, his candor and his commitment to the company. I appreciate that he has agreed to stay in post until mid-year to ensure a successful handover to Murray.”

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