BP names new chief executive of US Lower 48 onshore business
New CEO hired to improve competitiveness of onshore oil and gas assets
HOUSTON – BP announced today that it has named David Lawler chief executive officer of its US Lower 48 Onshore business.
Lawler, who brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the role, will begin on Sept. 15 and report to Lamar McKay, BP’s Upstream Segment chief executive. Lawler, 46, takes over just months before BP formally establishes a separate business to manage its onshore oil and gas assets in the continental United States. The move is designed to give the business the flexibility it needs to aggressively compete in the rapidly changing market.
“With an impressive track record at integrated oil and gas companies as well as independents, Dave is uniquely qualified to lead our onshore business during this exciting transition,” McKay said. “His experience and skills match up perfectly with our goals for the business. I’m confident he will create a competitive and sustainable operation that will be a key component of BP’s portfolio for many years.”
Lawler joins BP from SandRidge Energy, Inc., an Oklahoma City-based independent oil and gas producer, where he most recently was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Before that, Lawler was the CEO and president of PostRock Energy Corporation, another independent oil and gas producer in Oklahoma. Lawler spent the first part of his career working for major integrated oil and gas companies, including Shell for 10 years.
“It is an honor to join BP and have the opportunity to work with the talented members of the Lower 48 organization,” Lawler said. “I’m looking forward to leveraging BP’s talent and resources while running the business as if it were an independent.”
In March, BP announced that in early 2015 it would establish this separate business. BP will continue to own it but Lawler and his leadership team will develop and implement the strategy to expand the company’s crude oil and natural gas liquids portfolio.
The new business also will have separate governance, processes and systems designed to address the unique operating environment in the onshore industry. BP is expected to begin disclosing separate financials for the business in 2015. It will maintain a rigorous focus on safety, integrity and reliability of the operation. These changes are chiefly intended to materially improve the cash flow of the US Lower 48 Onshore business.
Today, the business operates in multiple gas basins from the onshore Gulf Coast north through the Rocky Mountains, and its portfolio includes an extensive unconventional resource base of ~7.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, across 5.5 million acres and an interest in ~20,000 wells.
About BP
Over the past five years, BP has invested nearly $50 billion in the U.S. – more than any other energy company. BP is a leading producer of oil and gas and provides enough energy annually to light the entire country for a year. Employing approximately 20,000 people in all 50 states, BP supports more than 260,000 jobs total through all of its business activities. For more information, go to www.bp.com/us.
About David Lawler
- Dave Lawler, 46, joins BP on Sept. 15, from SandRidge Energy, Inc., an Oklahoma City-based independent oil and gas company, where he most recently was executive vice president and chief operating officer.
- Before joining SandRidge in 2011, Lawler was the CEO and president of Post Rock Energy Corporation and its predecessor entities where he worked for four years.
- Lawler began his career as a production engineer with Conoco and later joined Burlington Resources, where he served in drilling engineering and well site leadership positions. He then spent 10 years with Shell Exploration and Production in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including business planning for EP Americas, and engineering and operations manager for the US Gulf Coast business unit.
- He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering and he earned his Masters of Business Administration from Tulane University.
Cautionary statement
This press release contains certain forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements regarding BP's plans to establish a separate business to manage its onshore oil and gas assets in the US Lower 48, including regarding: the expected timing of the establishment of such business; expectations that such business will be a key component of BP’s portfolio for many years; the expected governance, processes and systems that will be in place in such business; and the expected timing of the disclosure of separate financial statements for such business. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors including future levels of industry product supply; demand and pricing; operational problems; economic and financial conditions generally or in various countries and regions; political stability and economic growth in relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental regulations; regulatory or legal actions; exchange rate fluctuations; the timing and volume of refinery additions and outages; the timing of bringing new fields onstream; the timing, quantum and nature of certain divestments; the development and effective use and maintenance of new technology; the actions of competitors, trading partners, creditors, rating agencies and others; natural disasters and adverse weather conditions; changes in public expectations and other changes to business conditions; wars and acts of terrorism, cyber-attacks or sabotage; and other factors discussed under "Principal risks and uncertainties" in our Stock Exchange Announcement for the period ended 30 June 2014 and under "Risk factors" in our Annual Report and Form 20-F 2013 as filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cautionary note to US investors: This press release uses terms, such as "unconventional resource base", and contains references to non-proved resources that the SEC's rules prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 20-F, SEC File No. 1-06262. This form is available on our website at www.bp.com. You can also obtain this form from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or by logging on to their website at www.sec.gov
