BP Head Of Exploration Richard Herbert Departs
May 17 2016 - 1:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Kent
LONDON -- BP PLC's head of exploration, Richard Herbert, is
leaving the U.K. oil giant.
Mr. Herbert took on the role in 2013, when BP was working to
recover from its 2010 Gulf of Mexico explosion and oil spill by
cutting costs and finding new, cost-effective areas to produce oil
and gas.
But since 2014, a prolonged slump in oil prices has forced the
company and its peers to cut spending on finding new resources. BP
expects to spend about $17 billion on finding and producing oil
this year, down from nearly $23 billion in 2014.
BP said Mr. Herbert's departure follows a decision to streamline
the executive team managing exploration and production, known as
"upstream" in industry parlance. Howard Leach, who is currently
head of technical functions in exploration, will take over from Mr.
Herbert on an interim basis.
"This simplifies and streamlines BP's upstream executive team,
but the change in reporting does not reflect any reduction in
commitment" to exploring for new resources, the company said in an
email.
The move is the latest shake-up in the company's upstream
division. Earlier this year, BP promoted its
exploration-and-production chief, Lamar McKay, to the role of
deputy chief executive.
Mr. Herbert worked with BP for a total of 26 years. He took on
the role of head of exploration in 2013 after leaving BP to work
for several years at Canadian oil company Talisman Energy.
Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 17, 2016 12:45 ET (16:45 GMT)
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