ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

BP CEO pay doubles to US$12M as high energy costs surge profit

A sign at a BP petrol station in London, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File) A sign at a BP petrol station in London, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
Share
LONDON -

Total pay for BP's CEO more than doubled to US$12 million last year, the energy giant said Friday, as soaring energy costs allowed oil and gas companies to rake in record profits while squeezing households and small businesses.

London-based BP's disclosure came a day after rival Shell reported a similar multimillion-dollar pay package for its top executive on the heels of both companies posting their highest-ever annual earnings last month.

BP said in its annual report that CEO Bernard Looney was paid a total of 10 million pounds (US$12 million) in 2022, up from 4.5 million pounds the previous year. Looney's pay package includes a cash bonus of 2.4 million pounds and 6 million pounds in bonus company stock.

BP reported in February that its profit doubled to US$28 billion as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring.

Fat profits at fossil fuel giants and big salaries for top executives have spurred demands for the companies to do more to shield consumers from high energy costs that have fuelled decades-high inflation and ratcheted up utility bills.

Activist groups such as Global Witness and some opposition lawmakers in Britain have called for expanding taxes on the windfall profits of energy companies and taxing bonuses.

It's a "twisted irony" that a wealthy minority got even richer "precisely because bills have been so unaffordable for the majority," said Jonathan Noronha-Gant, a senior campaigner at Global Witness.

Britain's Liberal Democrat party on Thursday called for a one-off "bonanza bonus" tax for energy company executives after Shell reported that then-CEO Ben van Beurden's pay package jumped by half in 2022, to nearly US$12 million, thanks to a record $40 billion annual profit.

The proposed tax is similar to a levy on bankers' bonuses that the U.K. government imposed in 2009-10 amid the fallout of the global financial crisis.

"It is outrageous that oil and gas bosses are raking in millions in bonuses while families struggle to heat their homes," party leader Ed Davey said. "Whether it is executive bonuses or soaring profits, the money being made out of Putin's illegal war should be helping struggling families not oil and gas barons."

The BP committee that sets executive pay said it has "carefully sought to moderate outcomes" and its decisions "reflect a sensible approach."

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.

Stay Connected