Niall Fitzgerald favoured to chair BP

Fitzgerald, 63, has been approached by a head-hunter to take over when Sutherland steps down in April after 12 years at the helm of the oil giant.

“Sources close to Mr Fitzgerald say he is interested in taking on one of the UK’s most prestigious industrial jobs. He was chairman and chief executive of Unilever, after working for the Anglo-Dutch household goods group for more than three decades, and chairman of Reuters until it merged with Thomson... After the merger, he took on the deputy chair,” The Independent said.

Fitzgerald has no direct experience of the oil industry. “He is interested in the environment - a big issue for BP - through his work as chairman of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa and serves on the International Business Council, the World Economic Forum, China’s Tsinghua University, as well as advising Morgan Stanley,” the newspaper added. ■