Oil Giant Faces Future
The time has come for the oil giant to bid a fond farewell to Peter Sutherland , its Irish chairman, but what is next for the CV of the man who’s already run the World Trade Organisation?
Peter Sutherland was not in a great mood on Monday morning: the day preceeding Ireland’s loss to Argentina in the Rugby World Cup, he could scarcely contain himself. He’d been at the game at Parc des Princes with his children and words such as “suicidal” and “bejesus” poured from his lips.
Barely a few hours previous, he was on the Eurostar, travelling back to Paris, for a meeting that was a fusion of not only business but politics also. Such are the contrasting worlds of Sutherland: Dubliner, father of three, huge rugby enthusiast, chairman of BP, chairman of Goldman Sachs International, new chairman of the London School of Economics, diplomatic fixer and afterdinner speaker supreme.
If when we reach the gates of heaven we are presented with a choice I’d wish to come back as a smart Irishman. In the past, I might deliberated over being an English aristocrat but it’s the Irish who are the masters these days. They seem to be in charge of everything. None more so than, a key figure in two business powerhouses as well as an extremely wealthy individual, thanks to his partnership at Goldman. But he’s served for a decade at BP and has begun the search for someone to take the reins. Suddenly, the oil giant needs to accept the reality of life without him .
It’s very easy to establish through talking to anyone at BP, these past few years to realise what a force Peter Sutherland has been in the background. While the company has had a variety of issues in America, they have been operational. On personnel matters, notably the attempt by Lord Browne and his friends to get the chief executive’s term extended, and then Browne’s departure following his lying under oath, Sutherland has played a pivotal role. His contribution in bringing BP forward is something which few can dispute.
