Dudley’s pay and perks up 20pc at BP

BP boss Bob Dudley’s pay and perks package shot up 20pc last year despite the oil giant reporting lower profits.

The oil price slide damaged its performance in the fourth quarter of last year. But Dudley’s total package for 2014 reached nearly £10m.

Iain Conn, who left his role last year as BP’s head of downstream to run British Gas owner Centrica, got £6m.

Dudley’s salary and annual bonus fell to just below $3m (£1.9m) down from $4.2m (£2.7m) in 2013 but deferred bonuses and performance shares’ awards rose to $9.8m (£6.4m) from just under $6m (£3.9m) in the previous year. This meant his total remuneration rose to $12.74m (£8.3m) from $10.17m (£6.6m) in 2013 and when taking into account his pension it reached a total of $15.3m (£9.9m).

The oil company acknowledged the sensitivity of such a huge pay package considering it is in the process of a multi million pound court case over its part in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

The remuneration committee chairman Antony Burgmans said: ‘There are clear concerns in society and among shareholders that remuneration for executive directors is simply too much.’ ÷ ROLLS-Royce boss John Rishton went without a bonus last year and saw his package fall to just under £2.4m from £5.65m the previous year. The engineer issued a string of profit warnings and suffered its worst year in a decade. It also faces bribery and corruption allegations in China, Indonesia and Brazil.