HOUSTON — BP announced today the appointment of Starlee Sykes as BP’s regional president for the Gulf of Mexico and Canada, effective Feb. 1, 2018.
Sykes, who will continue to be based in Houston, currently serves as vice president for BP’s global projects organization for offshore projects.
“Starlee is uniquely qualified to take on this important role, with more than 20 years of upstream experience across project management, offshore operations, subsea engineering and finance and a proven track record as a leader,” said Bernard Looney, BP’s Upstream CEO. “She is the right person to lead these two regions into the future.”
Sykes will succeed Richard Morrison, who has elected to retire following 37 years of distinguished service with BP.
After receiving her mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University in 1998, Sykes began her career as a subsea operations engineer. Later, she rose to leadership roles including vice president projects performance, vice president developments for the Gulf of Mexico, and founder and director of BP’s global subsea hardware organization.
More recently, and in addition to leading a global portfolio of over 30 major projects, Sykes was a key leader on two major Gulf of Mexico projects, including the redesign of the Mad Dog 2 platform and the Thunder Horse South Expansion project, which came online 11 months ahead of schedule and $150 million under budget.
In her new role, Sykes will serve as the chairman of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and will be a member of the board of directors for BP America Inc. She also will serve on the board of directors for the Center for Offshore Safety and on the industry advisory board for Texas A&M’s Department of Petroleum Engineering. Elsewhere, Sykes is the executive sponsor for BP’s annual Houston United Way campaign, and she is recognized as an advocate for women in engineering and advancing careers for women and girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
BP is a global producer of oil and gas with operations in over 70 countries. Over the past 10 years, BP has invested $90 billion in the U.S. — more than any other energy company. BP employs about 14,000 people across the U.S. and supports more than 106,000 additional jobs through all its business activities. For more information on BP in the U.S., visit www.bp.com/us.
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