BP Trading Chief Carol Howle to Retire in Third Quarter as Sam Skerry Steps Up
Two senior BP executive vice-presidents depart in the same quarter, handing leadership of the company's trading arm to an internal successor.
BP's executive vice-president of supply, trading and shipping, Carol Howle, has announced plans to retire, with Sam Skerry named as her successor, Energy Voice reported on Friday (2026-07-03). Kerry Dryburgh, BP's executive vice-president of people, culture and communications, also announced plans to leave, with both departures scheduled for later in the third quarter of 2026.2
The simultaneous exit of two executive vice-presidents from BP's senior ranks comes as ICE Brent crude front-month was trading at $72.12 as of Friday's (2026-07-03) close — a level that reflects a substantial retracement from the highs reached during the Strait of Hormuz disruption earlier in the year. Howle's supply, trading and shipping brief spans crude procurement, shipping logistics and refined products; the function is central to BP's physical market positioning.2
The article in Energy Voice covering the BP appointments was part of a broader industry round-up. Separately, the same column reported a new appointment to Rathlin Energy, the operator of the PEDL 183 Licence covering the West Newton gas development in the UK.2
Reabold Resources, which holds approximately 79.8% of Rathlin, announced the hire, according to the Energy Voice report.2 The incoming technical director had previously served as exploration and technical director at Impact Oil and Gas, where he was described as having grown the company's value from £50 million to £1 billion.2 Rathlin holds a 66.67% operating interest in the PEDL 183 licence covering West Newton.2
Stephen Williams, Reabold's co-chief executive, cited the new hire's "extensive experience and proven track record in the industry, particularly in driving technical development and creating significant value."2 For UK domestic gas supply, West Newton is a small onshore development; its market relevance depends on whether it can progress to production given planning and regulatory timelines.
Back at BP, the Skerry succession is an internal appointment. The company's trading arm manages physical crude and products flows across markets where the OPEC basket was at $69.33 and ICE Brent front-month at $72.12 as of Friday (2026-07-04).2 Dryburgh's departure from the people, culture and communications role is less directly market-facing but comes alongside the trading leadership change.
The combination of two departures from BP's EVP tier in the same period reflects a period of turnover at senior levels of the company. The EIA's short-term energy outlook, released in May (2026-05-17), noted that US marketed natural gas production averaged 120.2 billion cubic feet per day in the first quarter of 2026, up 4% from the same period in 2025 — an indication of the supply environment in which BP's trading desk is operating.1
For West Newton, the next signal will be permitting and development timelines from Rathlin and Reabold. For BP, the Q3 close will mark the formal handover from Howle to Skerry across a trading operation whose scope extends well beyond any single market.2