There was an air of menace and political intrigue swirling around the Moscow building that serves as the headquarters for the Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP, but inside the man at the eye of the storm was unruffled, if not positively nonchalant. No, said Bob Dudley, the company's chief executive, he was not concerned about his safety, but yes he was optimistic a settlement could be found to what outsiders believed were rows not just between BP and its Russian oligarch shareholders, but also between it and the Kremlin.
This was back in the turbulent spring of 2008. Security forces from the modern version of the KGB had raided the office and by 13 July Dudley had booked himself a seat on a plane out of Russia, as speculation mounted that he was to be arrested the following day. Later he cited "harassment" for his need to take flight but even at the spring meeting it was difficult to imagine his apparent sang-froid was not bravado.
The BP top brass were always convinced it was not. As one insider put it: "Bob was in control all the time. He was carrying out the BP strategy to the letter but equally he knew when to personally withdraw and took that decision himself."
That same source claimed that those same Russian shareholders were the first to congratulate Dudley when BP announced at the end of July that he was to be made boss of the whole BP group, a role he formally begins today. This story suits the interests of the London-based oil group, of course, but it could well be recognition from some of the toughest businessmen in the world that they admire Dudley's calmness under fire.
The 55-year-old, now married with two grown-up children, does have a military background. Dudley senior was a naval officer, albeit a trained physicist, and the new BP boss was born on a military base in Queens, New York City. Aged five, he was moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, before going on himself to naval college, where he was forced to drop out owing to a serious shoulder injury. Dudley then changed direction and decided to study chemical engineering at the University of Illinois, and then management at the Southern Methodist University near Dallas, Texas.
His early years in the southern states of America, with a slight accent still in evidence today, were helpful for tackling yet another crisis that blew BP's way and helped him secure the top job.
Soothing the US
The Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 workers, knocked billions off BP's share price, smashed a corporate reputation already suffering from previous accidents in the US, and led to the demise of Tony Hayward, the chief executive Dudley replaces. Dudley had been called in to try to soothe the US public and political establishment, who had taken against Hayward's very British manner. The soft-spoken American was asked to head the Gulf of Mexico clean-up and added to his reputation as a man who not only gets things done but does so in a way that encourages support from those around him.
One of his friends described that skill: "He has, to use oil rig drilling terms, superb dynamic positioning. That is where a rig remains on station no matter how much the sea swirls and swells by using special "thrusters" in all directions. Bob can keep focused on the issue in hand even when mayhem is breaking out all around."
Another, much older, friend from his childhood remembered Dudley as a high-flier who rarely lost his cool. "He was very intelligent and unflappable. Nothing, nobody, could get him angry. He never said anything bad about anybody."
BP's first non-British boss inherits BP at a very low ebb. Potential predators such as ExxonMobil and Shell are prowling, and some City analysts argue BP should be broken up. The number-one issue is to create some goodwill in America, where the Macondo well blowout followed the Texas City refinery fire and Alaskan pipeline spills. The second big issue is to rebuild trust with the City investors, by coming up with a wider growth strategy and find a way of restoring the dividend, which was cut under pressure from the White House.
A measure of his determination to shake complacency out of the BP citadel was underlined by a series of statements this week, even before he has moved into Hayward's old office. Yesterday he told the BBC: "If we meet our obligations like we have been, then over time people will say – this was a good corporate citizen to respond to an accident that has been a wake-up call to the entire oil and gas industry. If we ensure this doesn't happen again then maybe we can restore our reputation in the US."
Dudley also held out hope that BP might restart dividend payouts to shareholders, which sent a share price that was down 36% since the accident on April 20 racing 3.5% ahead at one stage. He said: "The board will get together and talk before the end of the year about restoring a dividend in some form in the first quarter. It's for the board to decide, [but] from what I see happening, I believe we will get there."
Last year BP paid out about £7bn in dividends, the biggest in the FTSE 100 list of leading companies, and Dudley said he was determined to again make the company "a good compelling investment for shareholders".
The growth story is expected to be achieved by concentrating on areas for which the company has built a strong reputation, including deepwater drilling, despite the problems of the Gulf. BP has already seen itself forced to withdraw from the licensing of new frontier areas such as Greenland, but is still regarded as a big player in places such as Angola and Azerbaijan.
Earlier this week, Dudley cleared some of the decks "upstream" by removing the head of exploration and development, Andy Inglis, and unveiling plans for separate heads of exploration, development and production as well as establishing a new safety division with strong powers to intervene.
Paying the bills
BP has already started to sell off "non-core" upstream assets in Venezuela and Asia to help raise $30bn (£19bn) potentially needed to pay off liabilities and claims resulting from Deepwater Horizon but Dudley can also be expected to withdraw further from "downstream" areas – refineries and petrol stations.
It is not all doom facing the man from Mississippi. Analysts at Morgan Stanley recently undertook a widespread review of the oil majors and concluded that ENI of Italy and BP had the best growth prospects – although they said this would only be achieved by taking strong and decisive action to ramp up spending on new exploration and production.
No one who has tangled with Dudley would describe him as other than a strong leader and while he is no exuberant conversationalist, he is still seen as a decent man with a closely held commitment to Christianity.
But then many saw his predecessor as a "good guy" until he faced the kind of calamities that seem to turn up when the worlds of oil, politics and business collide. At least in this case the new man could be said to be pressure-tested by his past march from Moscow.
CV
Born September 1955, Queens, New York City
Education United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; University of Illinois; Southern Methodist University, Texas
Career 1979, joined Amoco, eventually becoming head of its Russian operations; 2003, named chief executive of TNK-BP; 2009, joined BP executive management team; 2010, appointed chief executive of BP's gulf coast restoration; 2010, named chief executive of BP.
Family Married, with two children
