BP names first woman chairman of BP America

British oil major BP has appointed the first woman chairman and president of BP America Inc., BP’s chief representative in the United States.

BP said on Tuesday that Susan Dio would take the positions of BP America’s chairman and president on May 1, 2018.

Dio succeeds John Mingé, who will move to chair a study by the National Petroleum Council (NPC) into carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies and their potential deployment. In addition to his work on the study, he will continue to provide BP with strategic advice on work to advance the energy transition. He will retire from BP in March 2019.

John Mingé was the head of BP America since February 2013. He led the recovery of BP’s reputation in the US through the years following the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

More recently he headed BP’s response to the severe impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Houston area and BP’s US headquarters. Mingé had a 35-year career with BP, and he held executive and engineering posts in the US, UK, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said: “Susan’s breadth of operational and commercial experience gained with BP around the world – including leading our global shipping business, running a major refinery, and managing a chemical plant – make her ideally suited for the key role of representing BP in the US.

“The US is a vital part of BP – we have invested more than $100 billion here since 2005. All our businesses, from exploration to refining to renewable energies, operate at scale in the US and together they make up the largest portfolio of businesses we have anywhere in the world.

“John has been a superb leader of BP America through a period of great challenge. He has driven a culture of safe, reliable and compliant operations throughout our businesses, worked steadily to rebuild our reputation, and been a tireless advocate for BP and our industry in Washington and across the US.”

Susan Dio, a chemical engineer by training, has been the chief executive of BP Shipping for the past three years, responsible for BP’s shipping business worldwide, including its fleet of over 70 operated and time-chartered vessels.

During her 33-year career with BP and heritage companies, she held a series of senior commercial and operating roles in the US, UK, and Australia.

As for the CCUS technologies, the study will consider CCUS technologies, the factors and policies required for their successful deployment, and possible pathways for integrating CCUS at scale into the energy marketplace, particularly in the petroleum industry.