London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

BP boss could be in line for special bonus of up to £11.4m

BP boss could be in line for special bonus of up to £11.4m

Firm set for clash with investors over possible payout to Bernard Looney from three-year share award plan
BP is set for a clash with investors after it emerged that its chief executive could be in line for a special bonus of up to £11.4m. The payment, in shares, would be on top of his £1.38m salary and annual bonus for 2022.

Strong growth in BP’s share price means Bernard Looney is set for a multimillion-pound payout from a three-year share award plan set up in 2020, when countries around the world were in lockdown and the company was cutting jobs amid a global collapse in demand for oil.

The picture now is very different: this month BP announced that its annual profits had more than doubled to $28bn (£23bn) after a sharp increase in gas prices linked to the Russia-Ukraine war. Its share price has now risen above £5.50.

BP has been consulting investors in the run-up to the publication of its annual report in early March, in which Looney’s remuneration will be confirmed. The company has previously acknowledged that some shareholders had talked about the need to improve transparency on executive pay.

One leading shareholder told the Sunday Times, which first reported the potential bonus, that payouts towards the top of the range offered by the incentive scheme would amount to “quite a blatant grab” given the rally in oil and gas prices.

A row about executive pay would add to the pressure on BP, which along with players such as Shell is facing renewed calls for a toughened windfall tax as oil companies reap rewards from higher gas prices while many households and businesses struggle with a sharp rise in energy bills.

Charlie Kronick, a senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “These bumper bonuses would be a slap in the face for millions of UK people struggling with their bills and communities around the world reeling from the climate crisis … Instead of being stuffed in the pockets of shareholders and company bosses, all this extra cash should be redirected towards public goods, whether it’s insulating UK homes or supporting communities suffering the consequences of the oil industry’s carbon pollution.”

BP’s share plan runs over three years, and measures against a range of criteria including comparisons with shareholder returns at similar companies, return on capital and progress on emissions reductions. Looney is entitled to a maximum of 500% of his salary.

BP’s last annual report stated that the scheme granted Looney a maximum of 2,076,677 performance shares with a face value at the time of just under £6.4m, based on an August 2020 share price of £3.08.

However, BP’s share price closed at £5.51 on Friday. Based on that price and assuming the 2020-22 share plan paid out in full, Looney would receive a little over £11.4m.

Looney’s total pay ballooned to almost £4.5m in 2021, with his £1.3m salary boosted by £2.4m in annual bonuses based on financial performance, plus £493,000 in performance shares from a previous scheme. BP introduces a new three-year scheme annually, so that its executives can receive share awards every year.

A spokesperson for BP declined to comment on the specific issues relating to Looney’s pay, saying: “The full details of directors’ pay will be included in the annual report, which will be published in the first half of March.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×