Bernard Looney, chief executive of British hydrocarbon giant BP, will receive an extraordinary bonus of £11.4 million, or CA$18.5 million, as hydrocarbon prices soar, the Times reports in its Sunday edition.
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BP reported full-year results for 2022 on February 7, buoyed by the rise in oil and gas prices, particularly the war in Ukraine.
The British company saw its profit excluding special items, the indicator favored by the markets, more than double in a year to $27.7 billion, a record.
Contacted by AFP, BP has neither confirmed nor denied the size of the bonus awarded to Bernard Looney. “Details of our CEO’s compensation will be included in the annual report to be released in the first half of March,” said David Nicholas, a spokesman for the company.
The size of the exceptional bonuses given to Bernard Looney and other executives at the company have been the subject of consultations with investors, according to the Times.
A dispute with investors over compensation would increase political pressure on BP, which, like other energy giants, has faced calls for higher taxes on windfall profits, the newspaper noted.
Inflation in the UK exceeds 10%, mainly due to energy prices.
With the cost of living rising, workers in sectors ranging from railway workers to teachers and nurses have been on strike in recent months to demand pay rises.