MOSCOW (MRC) -- Incoming Chief Executive Bernard Looney will not take up either of BP’s seats on the board of Rosneft when he takes over in February because of the complexity of the relationship with the Russian oil giant, reported Reuters with reference to five company sources.
Under an arrangement between Looney and outgoing Chief Executive Bob Dudley, Dudley will keep one of the seats when he retires in March, the sources said.
Guillermo Quintero, a Venezuelan national who is also a former BP executive and has ties to the South American country’s national oil company PDVSA, will keep the other seat, they said.
The sources said Rosneft had been informed of the arrangement but did not say how long it was expected to last.
BP owns nearly a fifth of Rosneft, its biggest foreign investment and the source of a third of its total output.
But Looney has not worked in Russia and cannot rival 64-year-old Dudley’s long experience of working in and with the country and his deep ties with Rosneft, the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Dudley will stay on the board of Rosneft because the relationship between BP and Moscow is very complicated," a senior BP official told Reuters.
Looney’s decision not to take either of the board seats has not been previously reported. Dudley said in October he would stay on the Rosneft board after retiring in March, but did not explain why.
"With his unrivalled experience of both the international oil industry and Russia, Bob will continue to provide valuable experience on the Rosneft Board," BP said in a statement to Reuters.
Quintero’s ties to Venezuela are also important for Rosneft, as the Russian company became an important buyer of oil from the country after it was hit by sanctions by Washington.
Rosneft did not reply to a written request for comment.
Dudley is chairman of Rosneft’s strategic planning committee which focuses on long-term development and sustainability issues, according to Rosneft’s 2018 annual report.
He and Quintero regularly take part in Rosneft board discussions and vote on topics ranging from long-term strategy to dividend payments to shareholders, including BP.
It is unclear whether either will receive remuneration from BP for sitting on the Rosneft board. Neither Dudley nor Quintero hold shares in Rosneft and neither received remuneration from Rosneft last year, according to the 2018 annual report.
As MRC informed before, several companies have just announced the formation of a new consortium that aims to address the problem of plastic waste by speeding up the commercialization of BP Infinia enhanced recycling technology that was developed by London-based BP. Businesses involved in the partnership include those that manufacture, use, collect and recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging. BP Infinia is designed to turn opaque and hard-to-recycle PET plastic scrap into recyclable feedstocks that can be used to make high-quality PET packaging with no loss in quality, according to BP.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall estimated PET consumption reached 42,020 tonnes in October 2019, down by 32% year on year. PET consumption in Russia increased to 593,480 tonnes in January-October 2019, up by 5% year on year.
BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. BP’s business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, BP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world's hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
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